I was sceptical about performing magic online at first. It sounded like too much of a compromise and terrible fun. A good friend of mine who has kids decided he was going to do it and so I helped him come up with ideas and get it off the ground.
When I finally decided to give it a go, I was pleased how the first few shows went and got a real buzz that I could get reactions similar to the real world, over the internet. It was mostly friends and family at first, and then opened up to the public.
But I had one big problem – The Internet. I was living in the middle of Soho, London – somewhere you would expect to have the greatest internet on the planet, but for some reason our connection was similar to dial up circa 1995. This meant that sometimes during the big moment of a trick, everything would freeze and everyone would have to just take my word for it that it was quite amazing.
It wasn’t until I moved to a new place that I finally got internet that Iron Man would be jealous of and was able to perform truly solid shows where everyone could see and hear the online entertainment without any interruption.
Since then I have equipment in my studio that I couldn’t have told you what it was a year ago. My show is multi-layered with various cameras, and involves audio visuals as well as me flailing about on camera like a magician madman.
I now perform almost daily all around the world, this week alone has seen me in London, Scotland, Colorado, Canada and New York. I have been a professional magician for the last 10 years and I never could have predicted this! Every day I open my laptop and there are another 50 or 100 eager faces from around the world, basically in my house! It took a little while getting used to having so many strangers in my home, but I absolutely love it!
So where is all of this headed into the future? Well last week I performed my first two actual live events for the first time in seven months.
I was quite nervous trying to remember what it was I actually used to do! I have become so happy and used to performing remotely that I haven’t had much of an appetite for live gigs. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was curious to see what it was like.
Fortuitously, I had an incredible time performing! I really came alive and it was a lot like watching myself perform as my memory automatically played out everything I used to do. It was an incredible high and it reminded me why I have been doing this job for so long now.
I was greatly satisfied to realise that the virtual shows and in-person shows both offer their own fruits to enjoy. I am very excited at the prospect of performing both into the foreseeable future. Also instead of my career being just one thing as it was before (live events), I am very keen to enjoy a more varied experience and am feeling highly motivated to create and sustain this.
During the pandemic, virtual shows have solved the problem of having social events and providing entertainment for families, companies and friends.
It worked far better than I ever could have hoped, however once things get back to normal, given the choice between a real party and an online one, the choice is almost always going to be in favour of the actual, in-person event.
But virtual events have a clear place in our future, especially as more people keep working from home. End of week team socials, family get togethers when everyone lives all over the globe, product launches, and even impromptu ways to pass the time!
I now have a fully functional Zoom studio where I can broadcast professional quality performances all around the world. This is a unique and original show, where the magic is every bit as powerful as in real life. This isn’t a compromise of having a real magician at an event, it is now a genuine alternative.
I would love to say I had considered this as a way of performing in the past, but I was not so progressive in my thinking. It took a global crisis for me to realise what a fantastic new medium this is with a very exciting future!
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