Misdirection

Misdirection uses attention and expectation to conceal a method or guide focus elsewhere. It is used in magic, performance, and deception.

Selective attention: The process by which attention prioritizes some information while filtering out other available information. Misdirection exploits limited attention so a consequential action can go unnoticed.
Sleight of hand: A set of manual techniques used to manipulate objects secretly, especially in magic. Misdirection often conceals the hand movements that make an illusion possible.
Perception: The organization and interpretation of sensory information by an organism. Misdirection exploits the difference between sensory input and conscious interpretation.
Distraction: An interruption or diversion that shifts attention away from a current task or stimulus. Distraction can redirect attention without concealing a method or exploiting expectations.
Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin: A nineteenth-century French magician whose theatrical performances helped establish modern stage magic. His performances helped shift conjuring toward deliberate theatrical presentation and audience management.
Inattentional blindness: Failure to notice a visible object or event when attention is engaged elsewhere. It explains how spectators can miss an unobstructed action during a trick.
Conjuring: The performance of magic tricks that create effects appearing impossible or supernatural. Conjurers coordinate attention, timing, and technique to hide how effects occur.
Attention: The selective concentration of mental resources on particular information or tasks. Control of attention is the central resource misdirection aims to influence.
Deception: Communication or action intended to cause another person to accept a false belief. Misdirection is one possible technique within the broader practice of deception.
Slydini: The stage name of Tony Slydini, an Italian-American magician known for close-up magic and misdirection. His teaching emphasized timing, body movement, and audience attention as parts of a method.

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