Zoom Magic Shows: Behind the Scenes

Can I really do all this in Zoom? 

It's one of my favorite questions. I recently had someone watch our main promotional Zoom magic show video showing how the show looks. They called me and said, “Look, we need to schedule a Zoom call because I don't believe that what I saw in your promotional video is what you can do on Zoom. That's impossible!” 

And I laughed because I'd never heard that before! So here I am to tell you—everything that you see in these videos is exactly what the audience will see. The technical secret is that I'm using a combination of software on my computer to run different scenes and a manual switcher to change things up and to change the angles as we go.

How I switch camera angles on the fly during Zoom magic shows

So let me show you how this looks in an actual performance. Usually, I'll start off the show right here with this angle. This is my laptop camera. I'm looking directly at the audience, and they're looking at me. I get to introduce myself and tell them about who I am. We'll often introduce the host of the program, a representative of the client’s company who booked the show. This person will kick off the hour by sharing why they’ve brought me on to entertain their group.

In the opening shot of the Zoom magic show, I address the audience directly from my laptop’s camera.

Then I'll cut over to a wider view so they can see the whole entire studio set up, including my overhead camera.

That camera I’m looking up at enables me to show you close-up magic on the black mat below.

And this is where they get to see my hands up close presenting close-up magic. Using my set-up, I can also bring up a visual of my face at the same time so that they can see me as I'm presenting. This box that I appear in is replaced by the spectator’s camera when I'm performing a magic trick. That way you can see the audience’s awesome reactions and feel like a true part of the live experience.  

I often layer audience reactions with the close-up magic to make the Zoom magic show experience feel more communal and interactive.

Now what you’ll see here on the TV is a Gallery View of the entire audience. This is how I make all of the guests feel like they're part of a bigger audience. 

Throughout the show, I’ll bring up gallery view on the TV behind me so that I can interact with everyone, and the audience members can feel a part of a larger shared experience.

So this is what seems very strange. When people watch this, they go, are you really doing this on Zoom? I am. I'm using a third-party software, including a virtual camera that integrates with Zoom. I'm using the switcher to change these angles as we change things up on the fly. What you’re watching in the video is not edited—I’ve changed these angles live with the touch of a button just like I would in a live performance. I'm able to create all these moments, show everyone the Gallery View and do all of these awesome things. 

So, that's what I love about this. As I mentioned in other videos, we have produced or performed over 70 virtual shows since March. This has been our new full-time job, and I love using this technology to make it invisible.

Even though I’m sharing it with you here, it’s important to make the technology disappear. That way, what the audience members really get to focus on is the joy on all the faces and all the excitement from the audience. 

I'm more than happy to schedule a Zoom call with you. If you want to say, “Hey, Kostya, I want to see it for myself,” then let’s invite your decision-making team to a Zoom call so that I can show you this in action. We can bring up graphics or do any kind of custom-branding that you like for your company as well. But I want you to know that everything you see here is exactly as the audience sees it. And that's how I maximize the virtual magic show experience as a Zoom magician.