Misdirection: The Real Magic

A documentary film that follows two young men on a 3-year odyssey, through small triumphs and big set-backs, as they train to become professional magicians – the unconventional career they hope will lift them past poverty and old mistakes - and make them rich and famous! Our main characters are: Miles, whose mental health issues both inspire and hinder his magic; and Devonte, a former gang member. They make a living doing magic at kid’s parties, and their idols are David Copperfield and David Blaine (who appears in the documentary in one of the film’s most beautiful scenes). Their practical mentors are the older men who hang out at Rogue’s, a magic shop on bleak Queen's Boulevard, where ex-gang members and kids from broken families have found a second home and look for tricks to change their lives. Rogue and other mentors shepherd their protégés (with varying degrees of success) to prestigious magic competitions in Reno and Nashville.... and to less glorious gigs in dingy back street clubs. Ultimately, Miles and Devonte increasingly use magic to express pain and joy, and work into their magic acts compelling stories about real life in the communities that made them.