Magician Zoom Party: Thanksgiving for Family Who Can't Travel
Magician Zoom Party: Thanksgiving for Family Who Can't Travel
Every Thanksgiving leaves people out. Somebody is working, somebody couldn't afford the flights, somebody is too far, somebody is newly in another country, and they spend the day getting a phone call and seeing photographs of a table they weren't at.
An hour online doesn't replace being there, and it's considerably better than the phone call. I'm Magical Katrina, an award winning magician and mentalist, and I want to set out how a magician Zoom party works at Thanksgiving, which is mostly about timing it around meals that aren't happening simultaneously.
Don't Compete With the Meal
Start with the scheduling, since this is where these gatherings fail. Thanksgiving dinner is the fixed point in everybody's day and nothing should be arranged against it, including an online gathering that somebody has to leave the kitchen for.
Either the afternoon before the meals start, or the evening afterwards when everybody has eaten and is sitting down, works considerably better than anything in the middle. The evening after is frequently best, since people are full, relaxed, and no longer cooking, which is the most sociable any household is all day.
Households Eat at Different Times
The practical complication. Across time zones and family traditions, your relatives will be eating anywhere from early afternoon to late evening, which means there's no single hour when everybody is equally free.
Pick a time that works for the person who'd otherwise be most alone, and accept that somebody will be joining mid preparation. Saying so in the invitation helps, since people are considerably more relaxed about an awkward time when it's acknowledged rather than assumed to suit them. And keep it short enough that nobody has to choose between it and their own dinner.
It's for the People Not at a Table
Worth being clear about the purpose. A gathering that's mostly households showing each other their meals is pleasant and brief, and it isn't what this is for.
The value is in including the relative who's alone this year, the one working a shift, the student abroad, or the family who couldn't travel. Designing around them rather than around the big household produces something they'll remember, and the rest of the family enjoys it regardless. If one person is the reason you're doing this, build the hour around them.
Keep It to Forty Five Minutes
Practical and worth stating in the invitation. Thanksgiving is a long day, people have been cooking since morning, and children are in various states by the evening.
Forty five minutes is generous. Say the finish time, hold to it, and let anybody who wants to carry on do so informally afterwards. A short gathering everybody enjoyed is the success condition, and an hour and a half with people drifting off is the thing to avoid on a day when everybody is already tired.
Give It Something to Do
The design point. A Thanksgiving call has a predictable shape: everybody says hello, the food gets described, somebody holds up a dish, the children are paraded briefly, and then the conversation runs out while nobody wants to be first to leave.
Something happening in the middle gives the hour a shape, and at Thanksgiving particularly it means the gathering is an event rather than a check in. A magician Zoom party reaching every age at once suits a call where there are children in three households and grandparents in another, which is the usual arrangement.
Children Are in Several Houses
Worth planning around, since it's the specific Thanksgiving shape. Cousins who'd normally spend the day together are in different states, and the children are frequently the ones who miss each other most and have the least to say on a video call.
Something they all participate in simultaneously, in their own hands, gives them a shared experience rather than a round of being asked how school is going. For cousins who only see each other at holidays, that's a genuinely better version of the call than the one they'd otherwise have.
Somebody Who Isn't Cooking Should Host
Practically important on this day specifically. Whoever is hosting the big meal cannot also be managing a video call, admitting people, and chasing somebody whose audio isn't working.
Ask a relative who isn't cooking, or one of the people joining from elsewhere, to run the call. They handle the admissions, keep an eye on the chat, and close it down at the stated time. It's the only arrangement that works on a day when half the family is standing over a stove.
Practical Notes
A few things worth getting right. Send the household objects list with the invitation and again on the day, since people are busy and will miss it once.
Give the time in the relevant zones, since this is a day when everybody's schedule is different. Ask older relatives whether they'd like a test call beforehand. And tell people the finish time, since on Thanksgiving an open ended invitation competes with everything else happening in their house.
Why Book Magical Katrina
If you're organizing something for Thanksgiving, here's my case. I'm a member of the Magic Circle in London and the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood, I've earned multiple magic awards including a Family Entertainer of the Year honor, and I've appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Masters of Illusion. My virtual material is built for video with everybody participating using ordinary household items, it works for every age at once, I keep to the finish time, and I handle the technical side.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should we schedule it?
Not against the meal, since that's the fixed point in everybody's day. The afternoon before meals start, or the evening afterwards when everybody has eaten and is sitting down, works considerably better, and the evening after is frequently best since people are full, relaxed, and no longer cooking.
Our families eat at different times. How do we pick an hour?
Choose one that works for the person who'd otherwise be most alone, accept that somebody will join mid preparation, and say so in the invitation, since people are more relaxed about an awkward time when it's acknowledged. Keep it short enough that nobody chooses between it and their dinner.
Who is this actually for?
The people not at a table: the relative who's alone this year, the one working a shift, the student abroad, or the family who couldn't travel. A gathering that's mostly households showing each other their meals is pleasant and brief, and designing around the person who'd otherwise be excluded produces something they'll remember.
How long should it be?
Forty five minutes, since Thanksgiving is a long day, people have been cooking since morning, and children are in various states by the evening. Say the finish time, hold to it, and let anybody who wants to carry on do so informally rather than stretching the whole gathering.
Won't it just be everyone describing their food?
That's the predictable shape without something in the middle: hellos, the food, a dish held up, the children paraded, and then the conversation running out while nobody wants to leave first. Something happening gives the hour a shape and makes it an event rather than a check in.
What about the children?
They're frequently who misses out most, since cousins who'd normally spend the day together are in different states and have the least to say on a video call. Something they all participate in simultaneously, in their own hands, gives them a shared experience rather than a round of being asked about school.
Who should host the call?
Somebody who isn't cooking, since whoever is hosting the big meal cannot also manage admissions and chase somebody whose audio isn't working. Ask a relative joining from elsewhere to run it, handle the chat, and close it at the stated time.
How do I book you, and what do you need to get started?
Reach out with your date and time, the platform, roughly how many households will join, the time zones involved, and the ages of any children. That's enough for me to check availability and send a quote, and I'll tell you the household objects to mention when you send the link.
Include the People Who Aren't There
Thanksgiving is organized around a table, which means it's organized around the people who could get to one. A magician Zoom party is for the others: the relative alone this year, the cousin abroad, the family who couldn't travel, and the children who only see each other at holidays and have nothing to say on a video call.
Hold it the evening after rather than against the meal, keep it to forty five minutes, let somebody who isn't cooking run it, and give the hour something to do beyond describing what everybody ate.
Reach out with your date and who's joining, and let's make the hour count.