Updated: Oct 11, 2023
Magic Seats is bringing you a series of mini reviews this week.
MagicFest 2020 is an annual event that is now virtual, with daily Zoom shows taking place over 5 days from Wednesday the 16th of December. Stunning, live, virtual magic performances.
Featuring the best Scottish magicians, the first show was the “Close-Up Magic Experience” with Elliot Bibby. Taking place at 1900 GMT on Wednesday the 16th of December.
Having previously attended an online Zoom show to watch Elliot perform, I had high expectations. A great opening act to set the scene for the festival.
Elliot is a leading magician, who has a lot of experience performing via Zoom with great success. If you haven’t already, you can view his website to check out his services here. An associate member of the Magic Circle with Silver star.
Prior to the performance, joining instructions were sent for the Zoom performance by MagicFest 2020. The email featured good clear instructions about how you can join the performance and how to check your home setup.
It was good to see a large audience join online to watch the show. At peak, about 40 screens were viewing. Bearing in mind that many screens had multiple viewers, it was quite a large audience with about 50 to 60 viewing.
Some famous magicians were also in attendance, some of whom are performing in MagicFest 2020 this week. So if you haven’t already, book your tickets or even a festival pass for all shows by visiting the MagicFest 2020 website here.
Elliot performed for about 50 minutes, live from his home studio/office and he kept everything fun and interactive for the audience.
The quality of the stream was excellent, with no technical issues and good picture quality. Audience members were managed and encouraged to mute and offered technical help.
Elliott waited on screen as the audience joined for the show and greeted everyone, having a chat. He also gave a run down of the festival and what was to come during the week.
As for the show content itself, I like to keep my reviews spoiler free. Elliot performed card magic, sleight of hand and mentalism.
He has a nice way with the audience, drawing everyone into the show. Very interactive and funny. A family entertainer who is great at narration and also uses some story telling.
Zoom is not always an easy medium to manage but Elliot is able to manage the audience and perform with ease. While already an experienced professional magician, I could tell that he has become very accustomed to performing on Zoom this year and presented a confident and flawless performance.
Congrats to the MagicFest 2020 team and of course Elliot for a great opening show. Fantastic.
Looking forward to seeing all the performances this week, and of course, keep checking this site for reviews.
Leave a Reply