Digital Wizardry: How To Make Money As An Online Magician

Some people think of them as supernatural beings, while others, including some magicians themselves, think of them as just plain, common people – just individuals who went through rigid practice and discipline. With their clever showmanship skills, some magicians are actually earning huge piles of wealth.

What you’ll learn here:

Are you one of those people – those who seem to appear to be supernaturally gifted mainly due to their smartly designed props and amazing sleight of hand techniques? If you are, then let me ask you a question, “Have you thought about showcasing your skills for an internet audience?”

Or maybe you’re someone who’s mesmerized by the idea that existing internet technologies could be “magically” utilized to make some earnings? Read on, I have something really cool to discuss with you.

Why are people still fascinated with magic even in the Internet age?

The answer to this question would be that there will always be…

The need to be amazed.

For the same reason that we are so engrossed in movies and TV serials even though we know they are not exactly as real as it gets, people in this generation still love to stare and behold magical performances. We know that the triumph or defeat of someone onscreen is just the machinations of a brilliant director. Why do we still cry or laugh so hard that we tend to forget that it’s just a movie?

The reason for this is that people will always have the desire to be amazed at high levels. Regardless of their ages, people from all races and cultures will always be fascinated with magicians doing their stunts on stage, or on video.

The need to experience the unreal.

We live in this real world for the majority of our lifespans and even though we may hate to admit it, reality gets really boring sometimes. If we get to experience the same reality, again and again, we’d get depressingly, frustratingly sad.

As a solution, people seek ways to get enthralled with situations that appear to be unreal.. because, in connection to the item above, they want to be in moments that seem inexplicable.

The need to see that “the unbelievable” could happen.

Logic is often what dictates the flow of reality. And since the same thing seems to happen over and over again in our dull and predictable lives, we occasionally feel the urge to witness events that are truly remarkable, things that can’t be easily explained via natural perception.

In connection with our movie-watching habits, we hate seeing things that are so typical in terms of entertainment. For this reason, magicians have a very strong appeal even in this digital era.

Many people, even in this superbly high-tech generation still resort to the likes of mediums, psychics, and magicians to bring about an “unnatural” experience for themselves. Many are even choosing to absorb the enchantments of those kinds of people as the main deciding factor of their lives’ directions.

Call it cheapness, call it irrationality, but such a trend is still here and is actually well-loved by people from various cultural backgrounds.

Why should a seasoned or experienced magician hop into the online platform?

Musicians are doing it. Businessmen are getting rich with it. Even teachers are educating with it too! As someone who wants to project some “magical prowess” so people could be entertained, why not utilize the internet to make some income with your talent?

Also, the scary tendrils of the COVID pandemic are still here. Getting live bookings could still be difficult, if not impossible. Why not use a camera and a computer to still conduct magic gigs?

If you can’t bring people to your magic shows, then you have to consider bringing your magic shows to people. Most of them are at home these days, spending most of their time on their cellphones and tablets. Enchant them and mesmerize them, it’s the best method for you as an entertainer.

How should an online magician be different from a traditional magician?

Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos, popularly known as “Criss Angel” once mentioned in one of his shows that there are tricks that he does purely on TV, while there are those that he prefers doing on stage, or on the streets.

As a magician, you should highly think of that knowledge since it came from one of the most successful magician celebrities in existence.

Because of the prevalence of visual effects and video-conferencing tools these days, conducting an online magical show is easier to do as well. But the downside to this is that it would seem to make magic “less magical.”

People would just think that you’re not a real magician after all because your tricks and antics could just be done by digital and software technology.

But of course, there’s a way around this problem. Ponder upon the following points why the likes of Criss Angel and David Blaine are so successful these days.

David Blaine and Criss Angel, 2 of the most well-known TV magicians.

Why David and Criss are declared as the best magicians today is that…

They communicate with people on a “street-level” approach.

It is a very common scene in Criss’s and David’s shows: they walk on city streets, talk to people, and then execute their well-crafted tricks. They don’t just approach people and “show-off.” They engage with them and deal with them in a truly personal and heart-warming way. They treat those people like their close friends. They make them feel that they are just next-block, or next-door guys.

While performing as a magician within the online platform (should you decide to hop on it), make sure you communicate to your audience first. Perhaps, you could teach them some life lessons about why your tricks are important, and what are some important facts and trivia that they could obtain from it.

They utilize common objects from typical environments.

Card tricks are by far the easiest to learn among the typical magic tricks. They are so overused already that they are now considered to be a cliché when seen on a magic show. Should you still use them at your own shows? Absolutely… yes. But of course, you need to provide some fresh spin on it.

What kind of spin? How about a deck of playing cards that can appear inside a fully unskinned coconut? Or an 8 of Spades that can transform itself into a car? Or how about a Jack of Hearts that bursts out from the belly of a dog? Okay, that’s a bit too brutal… forget that.

What I’m implying is that whether it’s a typical magic prop utilized in your chosen trick or a very common magical act you’re executing, make sure to include some everyday objects that can be found in standard environments. And most importantly, provide a different spin on it to come up with a truly unique brand of performance.

They greatly intensify the drama of magic.

Another factor that makes Angel and Blaine so successful is that they are great actors – not the ones for movies or TV serials, but for the live stage. Many magicians on TV and on the web today portray emotions on their shows, but only very few of them are on the same level as those of the craft of Criss and David.

To become a truly successful online magician, you need to master the art of creating drama too, preferably, on video. Although doing it live would still be the most impressive way to do it, utilizing a camera to record your act and sell it to people should be a very viable option for you too, considering the global crisis we’re currently experiencing.

Even Harry Houdini, considered to be the greatest magician of all time leveraged the advancements of videography to further enhance his fame. He was active from 1891 to 1926. Videos and filmmaking weren’t really that widespread during those days, but he still utilized those techniques to bring more life and creativity to his performances.

Harry Houdini is known as the most popular magician in the “golden age of magic.”

If Angel, Blaine, and Houdini are into videos, you as an aspiring online magician should do it as well.

How much can you earn as an online magician?

Before we talk about the best steps to take as a magician for the web, let us first know how much you could possibly earn with that gig.

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that all professional performers make a mean hourly wage of $18.60 an hour, which roughly translates to $38,688 a year. The upper 90 percent of all professional performers make $33.27 an hour, and the lowest 10 percent make $8.69 an hour. State University says, though, that the median annual salary of a professional magician can go up to $49,000 per year.”
– careertrend.com

Sounds so tempting, right? But here’s an advice, don’t focus on that too much. Since most of your shows will just happen via video-streaming (more details on that a little later), setting a goal with such an income could be unrealistic for you, especially if you’re just starting out.

But here’s the thing, if the platform where you’re showing your videos will gain enough popularity, you could earn a lot more! Seriously! It is common knowledge among those who create content for the Internet that the more you gain some viewership, the more income you can earn.

How can you conduct magic shows online?

As stated above, the best way to showcase your talent with magic is through videos. Yes, you can write about your magic tricks and teach them to your readers, but mentioning again the popularity of Criss Angel and David Blaine, the best option would be to perform in front of a camera.

But this doesn’t mean that earning through writing is a really bad choice. If you chose to do it, the following would be ideal actions to take.

Write an ebook

Do the writing yourself, or hire a writer that can clearly explain what you want to tell, both methods are applicable. Either way, you have to make sure that what you’re trying to demonstrate is properly shown and illustrated with diagrams and pictures.

For a thorough discussion about publishing and selling ebooks, read this.

Publish a blog

Blogs flock the Internet like bees and mosquitoes, they comprise the biggest bulk of the kinds of websites within it. Another great way to publish your writings about magic would be to make a blog out of it.

For a thorough discussion about starting a blog, read this.

To come up with the best ideas on how to put your magic tricks into writing, either as a blog or an ebook, browsing through the pages of wikihow.com would be a good start.

Should you choose to tread on the easier, and not to mention the more profitable way of monetizing your magical skills, the following would be the best methods:

Start a magician’s vlog channel

Youtube would be the most ideal platform for this, although we have Vimeo and Facebook Videos as alternatives. Be reminded though, that a lot of magicians are extremely famous on those platforms already. You might find it hard to gain some popularity especially if your acts are very similar to theirs.

To carve yourself a name within the competition, put the “fresh spin” advice mentioned earlier in this article into high consideration.

Create a magician’s online course

If many people are interested in seeing a magic trick, they are actually more interested in learning how that magic trick is done. Should you decide to choose this, you may create a social media ad about how eager you are to reveal your secrets to people, for a reasonable fee of course. The best way to conduct it would be via a webinar.

In contrast to a finished uploaded video, a webinar would be more interesting to aspirants since they can directly interact with you as you do your thing. They can witness you live, and ask questions or give comments while on the process.

Read this for a comprehensive way of doing webinars.

Another reason why performing on video is the best method is that your show could live on and on, as long as you don’t remove it from your channel. Even if you have already quit performing, a digital version of yourself will still be available for viewing by countless magic enthusiasts all over the planet.

They scour the internet for magic shows just like yours endlessly and your performances could be something that they will watch and rewatch for more times than you could imagine.

Singers, dancers, and musicians are so visible on the Internet these days. Such kinds of performers are so plentiful already, but online magicians are quite few. Maybe you should hop into the online platform and make money as a magician… the world is waiting for you.

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