RESUMEN EJECUTIVO (CONCLUSIONES)

Magic is composed of tricks and illusions—what magicians do to amaze and amuse us. Those tricks and illusions are composed of techniques—what the magician does to make the tricks work. Some of those techniques take advantage of basic facts of nature: the way grav-ity and electricgrav-ity work; how numbers behave when they are added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided; and the psychology of perception and misperception. The magician’s crafts take advantage of the very natural way humans create patterns in their minds, make choices, and fill in missing information based on their experience.

Other techniques of the magician are the result of carefully prac-ticed skills. The ability to manipulate coins or balls or cards without looking at them or drawing the audience’s attention to the manipula-tions are important skills in the art of the magician. Body control, the ability to move about the stage, and chat amiably with the audience while performing a difficult manipulation, and the ability to plant objects on volunteers and remove them at will are equally important in creating mystifying effects and stunning illusions.

The world of magic, like so many trades and crafts, has an extensive body of language, concepts and ideas, tools and techniques—many of them overlapping. Tricks, for example, are also referred to as “effects”

and “illusions.” A trick that has gone awry is referred to as having

“flashed” or “talked” or been too “busy” or having “busted.” Among the hundreds of items in the magician’s bag of techniques, three have a di-rect corollary to the creation of Service Magic: (mis)didi-rection, pattern interruption, and force.

You will see these techniques used and referenced throughout the book in a variety of ways. As you read the various applications in the context of Place, Process, and Performance Magic, you’ll come—as we have—to appreciate their power. Here they are defined and illustrated in their most straightforward and simplest form.

(Mis)direction. Misdirection—or direction if you prefer—is the art of establishing a frame of reference or stating a premise that occupies audience attention while something completely different is happening.

Misdirection is a fundamental of magic: the magician who gestures and

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looks off to the left or right of the audience is almost always moving the audience’s attention to where the trick is not happening—to be precise—away from where the effect is subtly being set up or staged.

Misdirection in everyday life is a frequent phenomenon, although—

of course—we usually don’t notice it. The nurse asks about the pa-tient’s weekend while giving a flu shot; the bellman calls the guest’s attention to a beautiful plant or painting opposite the site of new con-struction; the dentist chitchats about his latest ski trip or the weather while the patient has a mouth full of stainless steel and goo—all are in-stances of misdirection. We even practice misdirection on ourselves.

Listening to the radio while mowing the lawn or turning on the televi-sion while paying bills are ways of distracting ourselves or redirecting our own attention.

Francie Johnsen is a pharmacist in an Eckerd Drug Store in Dallas.

She is also a master of redirection. When a familiar customer chooses to wait for a prescription, Francie has, for instance, been known to put a customer to work: “Nancy,” she asks, “can you do me a big favor? My nephew’s birthday is coming up in a couple of days and I haven’t had time to find him a card. Would you mind picking out a cute card for him? I’ll pay for it before I leave the store tonight.” A simple, but flat-tering and effective, misdirection.

Pattern interruption. Also referred to as pattern alteration or

“breaking set,” pattern interruption is based on a simple psychological principle: Humans are perpetually and automatically in search of pat-terns to make sense out of what they see and experience. Reinforce a pattern so the person is confident with it, then alter that pattern, and you have the basis for insight, humor . . . and magic. Groucho Marx was a master of the art: “Next to a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside a dog, a book is next to impossible to read.”

Two-card monte is a simple but well-known trick that relies on pat-tern interruption. It begins with two supposedly “normal” playing cards:

one held face up, the other face down in the magician’s hand. The ma-gician turns his hand 180 degrees to reveal the other sides and to

“show” that they are indeed two cards—for instance, a three of clubs and a queen of diamonds. The cards are returned to their start posi-tions, the “up” card is separated and moved away from the viewer’s line of sight—held under table edge or simply palmed. The viewer is now looking at the back of the “down” card, and assumes it is the opposite card of the removed card. The magician asks the person to name the

“down” card. Since the viewer saw the three of clubs moved away, he names the queen of diamonds. The magician brings back the removed

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card and reveals that it is the queen of diamonds. The magician usually repeats the effect several times and each time the viewer’s guess is wrong.

The magician is relying on the viewer’s misperception that the cards in use are two normal playing cards. In fact, one card has two faces and the other has two backs. The “trick” works because of a mis-perception of what is being shown and the assumptions that follow—

and a little verbal adroitness on the performer’s part.

Pattern interruption in Service Magic is not a shifty ploy or an at-tempt to dupe or confuse the customer. In fact, pattern interruption is a routine part of our lives. Pattern interruption is at play, for instance, when we successfully stage a surprise party, or when we are delighted by the speed or ease with which a customer service rep fixes a problem we thought would be a hassle or lead to a confrontation.

Pattern interruption was at play on the automated call forwarding system of a bank we recently called. The recorded voice was bankerly formal and professional. “For new accounts press 1. For information press 2. . . .” And so on—until the very end of the menu where a little pattern interruption was lurking. “If you’d like to hear a duck quack, press 7.” And sure enough, there was a duck quack at that address.

According to an official of the bank, the duck quack option was se-lected more than 1,000 times a day when first added to the otherwise easily forgettable menu.

Force. Force is a technique in which an audience member is of-fered what seems to be a fair and free choice (like a playing card), but in reality the magician has predetermined the outcome. Force can be programmed or guided.

A programmed force is one in which the spectator is seemingly given a choice but some factor strongly tilts the choice in a predeter-mined direction. There are riddles that rely on a quirk of arithmetic that guarantees the teller of the riddle will seem clairvoyant. Programmed forces are used in the service world in a number of ways. An angry cus-tomer calls a company and gets the call center. “Let me immediately speak to the manager,” he demands. The call center rep uses a pro-grammed “force” and responds with, “Certainly, sir, what seems to be the problem?” In the great majority of the cases, the customer will vent to the rep as if he just got his wish and is speaking with the manager.

Guided force is indirect or subtle influencing of the outcome. The magician says words that entice the audience member to make the choice the magician has predetermined. Similarly, when a restaurant hostess asks a customer, “Would you prefer a table near the entrance or

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a table by the window where you will be able to watch the fireworks as you enjoy dessert?” she is guiding the choice. She is making the window table seem a special treat. Had she no window tables available and only a table near the entrance, she might say, “I have a very nice table where you can see all the action.”