2020 started in the same way as many previous years for me and my business. As a close up magician my diary is always booked up well in advance for weddings, big corporate events and theatre shows…..and 2020 was looking extremely busy! Having a visual reminder of all of the amazing events I have coming up makes my heart sing, so much so that I actually have a yearly planner pinned up on the wall of my office which gets updated every time I take a new magic show booking.
So, to say that I was upset when we got to Marchand I had to start removing show bookings would be an understatement. I was gutted, not just for myself but for every single person that was due to attend these events too. My heart went out (and still does) to all of the couples who had planned their special day, the people who had organised the complex events, only to have to cancel or rearrange every element and contact every supplier involved. Not to mention all of the other suppliers who were losing business at a rapid rate. For every single business that has been affected by the Coronavirus and lockdown, which is all of them in some way, the question was ‘How do we get through this??’ The only way forward for me to continue to do what I am so passionate about was to adapt by completely changing the way I deliver my magic tricks.
I have been a professional magician for 18 years now and have performed close up magic tricks that are very interactive and rely on lots of audience participation for all of that time. Like the rest of the world, in March I was going to have to move everything online, but it was clear that none of my shows or tried and tested tricks were going to work via a screen. I had to get to work learning new tricks and adapting a few of my existing tricks. I learned a host of new tricks and many of those just didn’t work for the screen at all. I rehearsed all of my new material on screen with a select few friends and family members over and over and over, lol. A special thank you goes out to them for their time and support, you know who you are After a few very busy and stressful months I had a screen friendly show that I was proud of and on the 22ndMay I finally performed it via Zoom to actual people.
I have to say that this has been a really tough year as a performer, but I feel hugely proud of the fact that I have been able to deliver performances all over the world in the last 6 months. To bring magic, smiles, laughter and a touch of escapism to my audiences at a time where we all need those things is priceless. ️