Like most businesses, our company “Magician Toronto inc” has been severely affected by COVID-19. We do about 500 show per year and outsource another 500 shows or so and all of that has come to a screeching halt. Many clients who regularly book us for events like company anniversaries, Holiday Parties, and corporate events have all had to hold off this year do the Pandemic. We have never seen this in our 20 years of business and dealing with this new challenge is now a reality.
How are we using our time? This is a great time to constantly focus on our clients and give back to the community. I have had the pleasure of doing some non-for profit magic shows for clients that have always wanted to have me, but I unfortunate did not have the time. It feels so good to give back to the community. I have also been working with Project Magic - David Copperfield’s personal program to help challenged individuals to use magic tricks as a therapy to help them recover and bolster their self confidence.
Virtual Magic Shows
Virtual Magic Shows
It’s amazing how so many magicians are now performing their art virtually! Using Face time or Zoom, we can create an interactive piece of magic for a private audience in their own home! It’s also a great way to interact with people who cannot go our because they are respecting being socially distant. There is something about performing live -even on camera that people love. Maybe its the fact that anything can happen (or go wrong) as opposed to it being pre filmed with several takes. The virtual interactiveness provides magicians a new arena to dazzle the mind and move the heart.
Working on New Illusions
We have also taken this time to work on creating new magic and illusions. Many clients hire me year after year, but also demand a new show or new content. This can be very challenging, as it can take anywhere form 3 months to 2 years to design a new magic illusion. Using this down time has been very educational to create and design new magic that will push the art forward.
This has been a very tough time for many. The entire Live-Entertainment Industry has been shut down, but the good news is that many artists such as magicians, actors, and singers have all taken the opportunity to show the world the good they all bring. This too shall Pass! We need to support them all to create and innovate because this is why we will emerge from this stronger, wiser, and more magical!