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.
Misdirection takes advantage of the limits of the human mind in order to give the wrong picture and memory. The mind can concentrate on only one thing at a time. The magician uses this, and the "victim's" idea of how the world is supposed to be, to his or her advantage
Attention can be controlled in various ways as well. A magician will first grab attention with a coin, or other small, shiny object-a shiny object captures more attention and seems less likely to disappear or be manipulated- and then direct attention away from the object (hence, "misdirection") through a combination often including comedy, sleight of hand, or an unimportant object of focus to provide just enough time for the magician to do whatever he wishes with the original object, whether it vanishes, transforms, or teleports.
One of the most important things to remember when thinking about misdirection and magic is this: A larger movement conceals a smaller movement.
