In this video I’m going to talk about my journey performing virtual or online, live
shows.
So stay tuned.
Well I recently performed my first virtual magic show and while this in no way qualifies
me as an expert, I’m offering this series of videos on virtual magic shows as something
of an ongoing journey.
And I hope that what I’ve learned along the way may help those of you who are venturing
into virtual shows and allow you to avoid my mistakes.
Overall, I was happy with the response that I got from my first virtual show and felt
that I had successfully connected with my audience.
The thoughts, observations and tips here may be in a somewhat random order but I’ll do
my best to organize them.
And of course, if you have questions, just comment below and I’ll do my best to answer
them.
And please comment to let me know if you want to see more videos on this topic.
I’ve got four shows this month and I hope that each will yield more insights.
Let’s start with the magic.
After you get your hardware setup and internet issues resolved, you have to decide whether
you'll perform standing up or sitting down.
This was an easy decision for me because I almost never perform while seated at a table.
I perform in two ways: 1) in stand-up shows, and 2) my close up work has me mostly standing
during cocktail hours and at restaurants where I entertain people who are seated at tables
while I stand.
In a virtual show you can switch your routines between a standing and a table view, but I
wanted to avoid that situation where I’m reaching towards the camera and adjusting
it down and then back up.
Remember, I’m a one-person shop - I have to do everything myself.
But if you have a helper who can operate your camera, you’ll have a definite advantage
and this won’t be a concern for you.
If you’re standing up and using a separate camera the way that I am, you’ll want your
laptop to be on a high table just below the camera.
This way, you can look into the camera as you perform but still be able to glance slightly
down to view your audience.
You’ll still want the visual feedback, even if you can’t hear them.
By the way, I think it’s generally accepted that it’s best to have your camera, whether
it’s on your laptop or a separate one, at your own eye level.
So whether you're standing or sitting, you’ll want your camera adjusted accordingly.
Most of all, you’ll want to avoid that camera angle where your audience is staring up from
underneath into your nose.
Of course, any routines that you perform where you bring an audience member on stage with
you are completely out.
I was able to adapt some of my routines into shorter ones without the on-stage volunteer.
I’ll admit that without a volunteer my routines aren’t as strong as when I perform them
live in normal circumstances, but they were workable.
I found that performing to the camera during a virtual show allowed me to easily mix stage
and close-up effects.
I mostly presented my stage routines where I stood further back from the camera, but
I found that I could also move closer and perform close-up material.
I enjoyed having this flexibility and it gave me more options for material.
Because I wasn’t using a table, the close-up routines I performed had the action occurring
with my hands up in front of me at chest level.
No cups and balls or card work on the table in this show.
It’s bizarre to perform into a void, a camera, and not have a live audience.
Because I’ve been doing many of my routines for so long, I already have the timing - the
pauses and such - already built in.
These pauses just evolved over the years over endless performances.
And while the audience members were tiny thumbnails on screen, I could see that they were reacting,
even if I couldn’t hear them.
I’ll talk more about audio later.
But it was gratifying to see that I was making a connection with my audience.
Make sure that you at least run through your routines and watch yourself on your camera
as it would be set up in your show.
This way, you can make sure that your props and especially the magic effects stay in frame.
I found, for example, that ropes tended to be too low and fell out of frame.
I was able to adjust for this by holding my hands higher, but it was slightly awkward
and not my normal positioning.
One could also adapt by standing further back from the camera.
It’s quite different to be performing for a camera with its limited framing and this
can result in advantages.
For example, in a real, live stage show, I often walk a couple steps to put away a prop
in a case when a routine is over.
But on camera, I simply dropped the prop into a laundry basket that I had sitting on the
floor just below my feet.
And this framing does allow for some creativity to add to your magic effects.
With a helper out of frame, you have the potential to accomplish some miracles.
Some observations on hosting the show.
I was asked if I wanted to host the Zoom session myself or if I wanted the client to host it.
This was an easy choice.
By having the organization host the show, I could make use of their subscription account
that allowed for longer than 45-minutes.
And, of course, it saved me the expense of paying for the Zoom subscription.
The real advantage is that someone at the company would oversee and control Zoom which
allowed me to focus on the show.
In particular, the host would take care of admitting and checking in the guests.
This is important for handling the late arrivals who might interrupt and divert your attention
during a performance.
This allowed me to simply stand out of the camera's frame and step in after the introduction.
Having someone monitoring Zoom also allows you to continue the show should there be an
interruption to the system, such as a “Zoom bomber.”
Something I arranged with the Zoom IT person, I asked them to mute the audience so their
responses wouldn’t interrupt and take over the show.
If you’ve worked with Zoom, you know that when individuals talk, they automatically
take control of the audio.
I’m not 100% sure that this is the best approach to take, but it’s what I thought
would be best.
And the approach seemed to work in this show.
I also went over a procedure to ask the IT person to select a spectator during my show
who could provide interactions or inputs and temporarily unmute them.
This allowed me to have someone in the audience name a color or a birthdate for a particular
effect.
I think that interactions with audience members are integral to the shows that I perform.
I have some camera topics that I can discuss but they are rather technical.
If you’re interested, I’d be happy to discuss these in the comments.
And if you have questions, please just comment below.
I sincerely hope that this need for virtual shows is a short-lived phenomena.
And that soon, we’ll be back to performing live shows as we did in the past.
None of us knows what’s in store for the future and how soon we can return to some
sense of normal.
But to all my viewers out there, stay safe.
Stay healthy.
Thanks for watching.
See you next time.