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This show with Harris appeared popular with about 16 audience members online for the evening performance. The show that I reviewed took place on Saturday the 10th of October 2020.
While numbers of tickets that are available for different artist shows will always vary, many run with only 5 or 6 audience members. It was good to see an artist cater for a larger number on Zoom.
Marketing of Zoom shows is important. One reason for demand for this show maybe related to the trailer. With competition now heating up and many online shows being produced, you need to stand out. The trailer was entertaining and Harris seemed energetic. The flyer on the eventbrite app advertising the show was also good, communicating all the main details that you needed to know about the show. Harris also has a website with further details. Here.
You can pay what you wish for the tickets. The show was called the 10-10-10 online show. The advertising states that the magic is for adults, though children aged 10 and up are also likely to enjoy. Quite a few children were in attendance and enjoyed the performance.
In the UK, the show started at 1900 with opportunity to log on from 1845. Prior to the show, a couple of emails arrived with joining instructions. The waiting screen while you waited for the doors to open reminded you to have playing cards and index cards at hand. Once in and able to see other audience members, music played that allowed you to check your settings. Harris chatted with everyone prior to the official show start to check technical requirements and audio. He played his trailer which was also a good idea so we could check visuals were working.
Harris has a lot of energy. Very charismatic, with a varied routine and a natural way about him. Harris welcomes you all individually and treats you like you are all his mates hanging out to join in the fun. I liked that approach.
Some of the interactive elements when he had all audience members work with playing cards was amazing.
Unfortunately, the show was not without its difficulties. However, you can tell that Harris is very accommodating, wanting to please and quickly correct any problems. Technically, Harris suffered from a low bandwidth issue that did gradually degrade the quality of picture. This made it difficult to follow some parts of the show. However the issue was identified and once rectified, the video quality improved and was smooth.
As a new medium and variances in bandwidth quality can exist, issues are not necessarily the performer‘s fault either. As our broadband/bandwidth infrastructure improves, so will the quality of picture for all Zoom shows. As audience members, we perhaps need to get quicker at flagging issues with bandwith using chat. Otherwise, if we don’t flag an issue, how is the performer going to know.
Lots of work had gone into the graphics and general presentation. One unique element was that Harris had a front facing camera and an overhead camera focused on his card mat. This worked very well and more performers need to do this when performing on Zoom. I really liked the multiple camera angles.
Harris is a comedy magician and he is very entertaining to watch. He would be great to see live and I would certainly book to see Harris again as I got the impression that he does vary his act. I‘m sure the online show will continue to grow and improve as more online shows take place.
Some of the interactive card magic with audience members was truly amazing. So do make sure you have playing cards.
Zoom magic is still a new medium and Harris does perform magic made just for Zoom. Progression in this area is moving fast and I would be interested to see Harris perform again in the future.
To book Harris and view his services, check out his site. Here
He is also advertising a new show for the 11th of November. Please see poster below for worldwide timings. Tickets available via eventbrite.
Thank you Harris.
