What is the Right Audience Size for a Virtual Magic Show?
In this video, I discuss the various audience sizes that can join in for a virtual magic show. In the last few months, I've performed for groups of 10, as well as several thousand. While there's no limit, the number of people does influence the KIND of interactions I get to have.
I've created certain tricks so that every single person can participate from home, and other tricks that highlight one particular person in the room.
The closing of my show is all about multiple working together to create a spectacular finish. It's been a joy to create this whole new virtual show and my overarching purpose is simple: to use the technology we have to highlight people and maximize the human connection.
Video Transcript
(00:00):
You know, the best part about these virtual magic shows is the human interaction. I mean, that's the real purpose of using this technology—is to maximize our ability to connect and communicate with each other, which is what my show is all about. It's about the people and it's about highlighting the people that are joining us and participating. That's why it's so important for me to have gallery view and show the people up on the screen. In fact, the TV that I use right here, this is what people get to see. They see themselves. And they realize that in that moment, that they're part of a greater audience. Now, with that in mind, how many people get to interact? Well, I will call individually on anywhere from 10 to 20 screens. And in each screen, there'll be multiple people. So the show can be presented anywhere from five to 5,000 and up to as many people as you like, if we're streaming it, however, the human interaction, which is what's key about it—
(00:47):
It allows me to engage one-on-one with about 10 to 20 people and people ask me, well, is there a certain limit of people we can have? No, you know, the number of people will change the kinds of interactions that we have. If there's only 12 people in a very intimate show, well then everyone's going to participate. We're all going to know each other, one-on-one when we're done. When it's a group of, let's say 50 to 150 people, well then I get to see screens and screens of joyous smiles. And they're happy when they see their coworkers come up to the screen and be a part of the show. Now, of course we can present to up to 500, like I said, a thousand or more people, it has no impact. However, what I love is when the audience knows that it's a live event and they could be called up on stage anytime. That's really what maximizes the human engagement throughout the process. So to answer your question, it does not matter how many people you have, but the number of people you have will determine how I engage with them and how I highlight them to make it an extra special experience.
