Human beings are drawn to magic and illusions, which often leave us wondering how they are done. But it turns out most magic tricks are a combination of entertainment and misdirection.
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Entertainment
The primary goal of a magician is to entertain. That’s why Dave and Denise Hamner have worked to perfect their craft for more than two decades! They want their audience to be wowed and amazed. To do that, you need to hold their attention for an extended period of time. If you want the audience fully engaged in your act so that you can keep their attention for the payoff.
One great way to do that is to tell a story. It can be a real story or a made-up story, but it has to be one that your audience wants to hear. An interesting story will keep your audience focused. It helps you perform the trick because it allows you to direct their attention exactly where you want it to be.
When you have their attention, it makes it easier to bring in the second component of magic, the misdirection.
Misdirection
Misdirection occurs by getting the audience to look in one direction while you perform the magic in another direction, even for a split second. It’s not a bad thing. It’s human nature! For example, you may ask the viewers to look at your right hand, and while they do so, you quickly move something away with your left.
Misdirection simply relies on the science of innattentional blindness. Innattentional blindness occurs when the brain is focused heavily on one object or action, so it fails to notice other seemingly unimportant actions happening at the same time.
The brain does this to help it focus better on the object of importance so that unimportant stimuli do not interrupt our train of thought, like gluing the parts of a model together or working diligently on a report. Magicians utilize this aspect of human psychology by asking the audience to focus on one thing so their brain won’t notice what else is going on, either through audio or visual elements.
By the time you direct the audience’s attention back to the end of the trick, they are awed things ended up the way that they did.
The Perfect Combination
When a magician combines intriguing storytelling with simple misdirection, it creates an amazing magic trick that is sure to leave the audience astounded. Though it sounds simple, misdirection can be difficult to accomplish, which why great magicians are truly masters of their craft.
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Magic Shows in Branson, MO
At Hamners’ Unbelievable Variety Theater, you will experience magic and more! Denise and Dave Hamner welcome you to experience our show four days a week at 8 p.m.
Purchase tickets to the only magic and variety show in Branson! Contact us or call 417-334-4363 for more information. Are you bringing a group of 15 or more? We have group discounts!
