Social Distancing Entertainment

Here in the UK, there is a lot of talk about social distancing entertainment. As I write, things are going back to ‘normal’ and people are starting to chat about various parties and corporate events for later in the year. One of the major things is of course, entertainment.

A big part of my job, up until March 2020, was performing as a close up magician. Hopefully things will slowly go back to the way they were before, but it might be a while. And would everyone feel comfortable with a close up magician? People usually have to pick a card or touch the magicians props. Will people want to do this so soon after lockdown?

Social Distancing Entertainment Ideas

Over the past few months, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands, as you can imagine, so I’ve come up with various ways in which you can still have brilliant magic at your event. I’ll list a few here with a brief synopsis of each one and how it would work. Please get in touch for more details and availability.

Stage Magician

As long as people are sat apart, a stage magician is the ideal solution for social distancing entertainment. It means everyone gets to enjoy the magic from a safe distance.

Usually, in the good old days, I would get volunteers to help on stage. I can still do this as long as it’s all from a safe distance and safety measures are in place. I think simple things like asking people to clean their hands with antibacterial gel as they get up and as they leave the stage will go a long way. Also, keeping props to a minimum. Mind reading will work excellently for this type of show.

Not so close up magic

A popular time to book a close up magicians is during a drinks reception or between courses at a dinner. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how these events start to work to see what can and can’t be done.

One solution, is to have a close up magician set up a separate table which people can come and watch them perform from a safe distance. Everyone could stand at a safe distance away and yet be close up enough to witness brilliant sleight of hand magic.

The main difference would be the handling of props. I’ve already come up with all the workarounds. Instead of picking a card, you just think of a card. I’ll tell you which card you are thinking of. Amazing! Instead of signing a card, I can ask someone to give me a word I can put on a card – that way we all know it’s unique. Then if it appears in my wallet, you know it was the same card. There’s a workaround for everything pretty much. I’ve been performing a lot of the magic and mind reading in my online virtual Zoom magic show for the past few years. The reactions have been incredible so I know it works well. If you haven’t downloaded Zoom yet, give it a try and get in touch. It’s amazing and perfect for Zoom team building activities.

The Secret ‘Socially Distanced’ Room

One of my favourite things to perform at parties is The Secret Room. This is were I set a room aside and people come in to see a magic show. Usually the show admits anywhere from 5 – 10 people at a time. This is probably one of the easiest ways of performing social distancing entertainment.

People can still enter the room, and as long as the chairs are laid out correctly with adequate distance between them, it will work perfectly. The show can be anywhere from 5 – 30 minutes each time depending on how many groups we have to get through.