HONEST LIARS


WHAT MAGIC TEACHES ABOUT MANIPULATION


This model project was successfully developed and implemented in 2025/2026 in collaboration with Medienzirkus e.V. and the Sächsische Jugenstiftung.

In this project, young adults explore the parallels and differences between deception in stage magic and manipulation in the digital world during an interactive project week in the form of a laboratory workshop.

Participants become TRICK EXPERTS, applying strategies of deception from stage magic themselves, MEDIA CRITICS, questioning manipulation in the digital world, and CREATORS, creatively developing and presenting their own messages.

TRICK EXPERTS


In five different labs, participants work in groups to learn magic tricks, adapt them with personal narratives, and analyse their underlying mechanisms. Each lab focuses on a specific strategy of deception:

  • How can attention be deliberately directed?
  • What happens when we evoke strong emotions?
  • What is the effect of using false identities?
  • How does controlling perspective shape our perception?
  • How do magicians play with our expectations?

Within this playful framework, we also explore fundamental psychological mechanisms that make people susceptible to deception, such as selective perception or the confirmation bias. Building on their own everyday experiences, participants reflect on individual patterns of perception and gain insight into unconscious biases and their own blind spots.

MEDIA CRITICS
The Participants build a bridge from stage magic to the digital world: they analyse clips and posts from their own everyday media use, reflect on their experiences, and identify how information is intentionally staged or manipulated. Together, we explore:
 
  • When do deception and manipulation function as harmless entertainment?
  • When do they cause harm or become deliberately used for
    anti-democratic purposes    ?


GESTALTER:INNEN


The Participants creatively apply everything they have learned and discovered in the previous stages: they produce their own video clips by filming their magic performances and making the underlying strategies of deception visible. In addition, they develop their own campaign messages for these clips, reflecting on the following questions:

  • Which strategies of deception did we use? 
  • Where do similar strategies and forms of manipulation appear in our digital everyday lives? 
  • When can they become harmful, and how can we actively respond to them?

The videos can optionally be shared on social media. However, the focus is on the participatory process: young people actively create, reflect on their strategies, and practise communicating their messages consciously and effectively.