The majority of the special effects were executed in-camera. By avoiding the use of computer graphics, many of the effects hold up on screen as magic tricks themselves. For this reason, many of the effects were carried out in a single-shot so that editing could not break the illusion. The only shots that utilized computer graphics were the two involving the glowing orb of light and the shot of the falling cards (the cards themselves were shot at 1000fps with a Phantom camera falling against a blue-screen, the only computer enhancements were the removal of the blue and compositing of the different card drops to create one seamless image of all the cards falling). The titles were generated in AfterFX, but the fire in the opening was also real fire shot with a Phantom and ramped to different speeds with software.
Every other effect, from the "acme hole" top hat to the glowing eye, was achieved using in-camera methods developed by Doron Kipper and Joshua Nitschke using optical tricks and secrets of the magician trade. Even the fireball was shot on set.
Look out for the LensBaby optical effects used during the CU of the squirrel bulbs in the poker room. Custom apertures were cut by Joshua Nitschke to achieve the special shapes.
The card that Castulo hands off to Peter in the first scene is a Joker card. It is a Piatnik brand Tudor Rose Deck limited edition card, and was tracked down on eBay by the director to include in the film as an homage to the episode of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories titled "Mr. Magic". This episode was directed by Donald Petrie, the directing mentor for "Misdirection", and the exact same Tudor Rose deck was featured in the episode as the McGuffin.