Zoom Magic for the Amateur Magician

It’s been interesting to see the way magic has changed since the start of the pandemic. In the days after the lockdowns started, I was doing a series of posts on this site about “Magic in the Time of Coronavirus.” Not long after that, professional magicians all over the world were reconfiguring their shows and thinking of ways they could not only continue to work in this new paradigm, but even take advantage of the opportunities presented from performing virtually rather than in person. A whole new crop of tricks popped up that would only work virtually. That’s pretty industrious of us as a community. I mean, I don’t really keep up with other performance arts in the same way, but were jugglers so quick to adapt? Did mimes take advantage of the limitations of the Zoom medium in order to be more convincing? Were they like, “Shit… I just had a great idea. I think I could actually put myself in a real glass box and no one would be able to tell. They’d just think I was really good at miming."

A lot of the advice that has come out for virtual performances over the past year has been aimed at the professional; things like how to light yourself and mic yourself and structure your show. But that sort of advice is counterproductive for the amateur who (generally) would want an online performance to feel unique and spontaneous, not planned and scripted.

For the professional performer, an online show is meant to be thought of as an “online show.” But for the amateur performer, that’s not what an online performance should feel like. Ideally the “online” nature of what they’re seeing would feel like it wasn’t a choice, it just happened that’s where this is playing out. This is advice not necessarily for pandemic-era performing, but also for any time you want to do something over Zoom going forward.

To make a video chat (or phone, or text) performance feel more organic, it should be predicated on one of these factors.

Urgency: For some reason or other, you need to show someone this thing now. It can’t wait until the next time you see that person in the flesh. You’ve had some sort of sudden insight, or you’re up against a time constraint, and you need to show this to someone immediately.

Distance: You need to show something to this particular person, but they live so far away that it’s not practical to wait until the next time you see them in person.

Convenience: You’re already on a video chat with someone and the idea of showing them a trick comes up naturally in conversation. Ideally they bring up the idea (perhaps based on something that you’ve put in the frame to hook them into a performance)

Consider these three transitions into an online magic performance:

Urgency - “Hey, I know it’s late, but I just had this idea come to me and I need to try it out while it’s still fresh. Are you able to hop on Zoom for a minute?”

Distance - “Hey, I was wondering. Are you coming to New York anytime soon?... No? Damn. I had this super vivid dream about you last night. It felt almost… prophetic in some way. I wanted to try something. Hopefully next time we see each other I’ll remember the details. Actually… are you able to hop on Zoom for a minute?”

Convenience - “Okay, great meeting. I’ll get you those figures by Thursday… huh? What’s hanging on the wall behind me? Oh… that? Oh, it’s nothing. It’s part of this thing I’m working on, but I doubt it’s really going to work. Actually… do you have a minute to try something?”

Now compare those to sending someone this text message:

“Hey. Will you get on Zoom so I can show you a magic trick?”

Do you feel how limp that is? There is nothing propelling you into the performance. Not only is it a graceless way to get into a trick, but with no other rationale behind the performance, there’s a good chance they might feel like this is a trick that must be done over video chat. 

Whereas if you’re already on video chat and they bring up the idea of you showing them something, or if you imply you want to show it to them in person but your schedules just won’t allow it, or something like that, then it’s probably not going to have the feel of a webcam-only trick.

My final piece of advice for video chat magic is to not bother with a trick you can do in person. Save that and do it for that person in real life someday. You are given the gift of being able to frame the spectator’s field of vision, and the gift of static angles, and the gift of off-screen assistants, and the gift of a less clear visual image, and the gift of using unexaminable objects with impunity. Take advantage of those gifts. I feel a trick loses at least 50% of its power when performed over video chat compared to when it’s performed in person. So if you have a trick that’s really great in person, you’re sacrificing it for a reaction that will max out at “pretty good” over video chat. It’s a waste. Instead focus on tricks that would be impossible or very difficult to pull off in real life.