SYNOPSIS:
Magic by Misdirection is Dariel Fitzkee’s systematic study of how magicians influence an audience’s attention, interpretation, expectations, and memory to create deception. Rather than treating misdirection as simply making spectators look elsewhere, Fitzkee examines the broader psychology behind magical conviction: establishing normal conditions, disguising method, controlling attention, encouraging assumptions, and shaping how an effect is understood. Practical trick examples demonstrate how these principles operate during performance. First published in 1945, it is the third volume of the Fitzkee Trilogy.
Book Details:
Author/Creator: Dariel Fitzkee
Publisher: Lee Jacobs Productions Publications
Edition: 5th
Publication Year: 1987
Subjects: Magic Theory
Pages: 227
Skill Level: Intermediate
Availability: Amazon
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I – Real Secrets of Magic (p. 29)
Chapter II – The Importance of Interpretation (p. 35)
Chapter III – Conviction and Naturalness (p. 43)
Chapter IV – What Actually Deceives the Spectator (p. 51)
Chapter V – The Psychological Expedients (p. 61)
Chapter VI – Reaching the Spectator’s Mind (p. 70)
Chapter VII – Processes Within the Spectator’s Mind (p. 78)
Chapter VIII – The Importance of the Norm (p. 86)
Chapter IX – The Norm in Speech (p. 95)
Chapter X – The Norm in Properties (p. 104)
Chapter XI – Disguise and Attention Control (p. 114)
Chapter XII – Simulation (p. 123)
Chapter XIII – Dissimulation (p. 132)
Chapter XIV – Maneuver (p. 145)
Chapter XV – Ruse (p. 152)
Chapter XVI – Suggestion and Inducement (p. 159)
Chapter XVII – Attention Control (p. 164)
Chapter XVIII – Anticipation (p. 172)
Chapter XIX – Relaxation, Monotony, Confusion (p. 180)
Chapter XX – Diversion and Distraction (p. 190)
Chapter XXI – Samples of Attention Control (p. 200)
Chapter XXII – Real Deception (p. 211)
Chapter XXIII – The Most Important Skill (p. 221)
