Performance magic

My family love magic, it has been a passion of mine since I was a little boy. There is is a wonderful overlap of my interests in performance magic and the crowd sciences. The art of direction (misdirection), what we see, what we think we see, what the magician wants us to see, all have practical applications to the placement and visibility of signage and information in my own field of research - crowd safety.

The sign may be "over there" but how do we perceive, record and act upon the information on the sign? What do we see, think we see, remember what we thought we saw and what do we act upon based on the way that information is stored in our internal map?

There is very little published on the human reaction (and perceptions) that relate to signage, but there is a vast library of the art of directing a crowds attention to specific, VERY specific elements of a directing attention during magical performance. Of course I'm bound by the magician's code not to reveal those techniques, but I do apply (and teach) the same fundamental principles of directing attention to crowd management, site design, information and crowd reactions.

Magic and Crowd Science TV programme on Crowd Control with David Mead. Click here for a link (1.36Gb)

_______________________________________________________

Among my studies are the "short cons" (Fast and Loose, Three Card Monte and the Shell Game). These short con games have a specific interest to my research as the operator manipulates the crowd to great effect. Scalpers and ticket touts operate in a similar manner, understanding the crowds needs and playing to their weaknesses.

Here's my finale to the three shell game