“Magic is the only honest profession. A magician promises to deceive you and he does.” ~Karl Germain
Misdirection is a form of deception in which the attention of an audience is focused on one thing in order to distract its attention from another.*
What is it we love so much about being fooled? It’s fascinating to see a talented magician in action. He makes a coin disappear right before your eyes. “How did he do it?” The coin re-appears under your dinner plate. How did that happen? You write your name on a dollar bill and he makes it disappear. Later you find it in your pocket. Or inside an uncracked hard boiled egg. Or some other impossible place.
I can’t tell you how it was done, or I’d have to kill you. What I do know is that misdirection is a central ingredient in all magic performances. The past few years I have enjoyed being in the Duluth Dylan Fest circle not only because of our shared appreciation for the music of Bob Dylan, but also because of our shared fascination with the magic of the late John Bushey, who hosted KUMD’s Highway 61 Revisited for over 26 years. Whether at a private party, or riding the rails on the annual Blood On The Tracks Express, it was not uncommon to find John with his “bag of tricks” and with some guaranteed-to-delight entertainment offered at some point during the evening.
That entertainment break was a form of theater. It was especially thrilling because of the intimacy of the occasion. There’s nothing…
