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Magic Tricks

Magic tricks have been performed to audiences for far longer than recorded history, but it was not until the eighteenth century that magic began gaining public popularity. Often magic was used by religious zealots to scare or confuse uneducated populations into believing their ideas. In modern times it is agreed that magic is not a supernatural force, but it is still entertaining to people because of magicians sense of performance and cunning.

Most magic tricks involve sleight of hand, which is also called “quick fingers” and is literally that. It is most often used with cards or coins and a close audience. Most sleight of hands involve a cleverly placed gesture that either takes the viewers eyes away from what is really happening (also called misdirection by magicians) or is seems natural and meaningless, even though that is where the trick took place. The hand is not faster than the eye, which is what a magician will profess, but actually they are using a combination of psychology, natural choreography and misdirection to achieve the effect.

Misdirection is the most important part of many magic tricks. A magician choreographs their efforts so the audience looks at what the magician decides, and looks away from the actual mechanisms of the trick. This how most magic tricks are performed, not necessarily with special apparatus and materials.

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