Written by: Alexander Boyce
As a magician who specializes in entertaining groups at corporate events, I never even considered performing virtually before 2020. Over the previous few years, I spent my time creating memorable moments like making money disappear out of the accounting executive’s hand, performing my favorite sleight of hand for a corporation’s VIP clients, or making a signed playing card appear in the most impossible of places.
When the pandemic began and all of that quickly became impossible, I wasn’t sure what direction I should head in. It was unclear how long the “stay at home” orders would be in place, or how long until vaccines would arrive. Amongst the uncertainty I felt stuck. Then, one of my favorite clients reached out and asked if I could perform at a Zoom meeting they had. Knowing that interactive entertainment would be challenging in the virtual medium, I had my reservations about virtual magic shows, but decided to take on the challenge. How wrong I was. It was incredible to see people laughing, applauding, and enjoying each other’s company in a Zoom room that can other times feel cold.
All of the things I learned that were previously important for in-person shows became even more important for these zoom magic shows: quickly building the unique feeling of a premium experience, engaging an audience directly, and knowing the goals of the event to understand how I fit in the bigger picture.
After the first few virtual magic shows I performed, I was thrilled and encouraged by the positive responses I received like:
“Alexander Boyce! He’s the man! Our team used him for 2 magic shows this season and highly recommend him! He does a great job with the virtual shows incorporating the audience, adapting to our requests and needs (even put the logo on his screen the whole show!), not to mention delighting us twice with awe-worthy magic.” – Ashley Chiu, Chief Operations & Happiness Officer, Chaves Perlowitz Luftig
Since that first show it’s been a pleasure to share interactive entertainment with company teams and their clients all over the world (somehow without leaving my home in Brooklyn).
As the world begins to transform again, I feel a heightened sense of excitement and confidence to now transition once more, this time to hybrid magic shows. I didn’t know what 2020 would bring. I didn’t know I’d share my magic virtually. I didn’t know that my magic would play such a strong role in bringing some joy during the pandemic. I guess didn’t know a lot.