This article includes quotes from magicians such as Shawn Farquhar, Ken Scott, Stephen Bargatze, Alexander Boyce, Jason Michaels, Kayla Drescher, and John Wolfson!
From the October 31st article "What if They Could Make the Pandemic Go Poof?" by Kenneth Sturtz in the New York Times:
Mr. Farquhar turned to virtual magic out of boredom. Homebound and desperate to perform for an audience, he arranged a free Facebook Live show. He committed to an hour, thinking he could adapt existing material. He was struggling after 15 minutes.
“I realized I was talking to a green light on a camera and there was no interaction,” he said. “It wasn’t Zoom, it was just me talking and trying to keep an energy up.”
He found not being able to interact with an audience in real time to be “soul-sucking.” He tried Instagram Live, but he soured on that too. It wasn’t until a friend recruited enough paying customers for a Zoom show that Mr. Farquhar changed his mind. There were stumbling blocks, like keeping people engaged and dealing with dozens of audio and video feeds. But when he learned he could interact with the audience, he developed a dedicated virtual show.
...
“Magic thrives when people are at their worst because people at their worst need hope,” Mr. Farquhar said. “And that’s what magic is.”
