Zoom Magic Show: The Host’s Settings Cheat Sheet for a Show Everyone Actually Sees
Zoom Magic Show: The Host’s Settings Cheat Sheet for a Show Everyone Actually Sees
Here’s something most people don’t realize about a Zoom magic show.
The magic can be flawless. The performer can be brilliant. The guests can be thrilled to be there. And the whole thing can still fall flat because of one setting nobody thought to check.
I’m Katrina, known on stage as Magical Katrina, a professional magician and mentalist based in Las Vegas. I perform live online for remote teams, holiday parties, client events, and celebrations across distance. Over time, I’ve learned that a great Zoom magic show depends on two things: what happens on my side of the screen, and how the meeting is set up on yours.
This post is a practical cheat sheet for hosts. It covers the Zoom settings, features, and planning choices that help your guests get the most from the show.
And at the end, I’ll tell you about the single view setting that matters more than all the others. Get it wrong, and your guests miss the best part of the show without even knowing it.
What Is a Zoom Magic Show?
A Zoom magic show is a live, interactive performance of magic and mentalism delivered over Zoom. With me, guests don’t just watch. They make choices, think of words or memories, follow along on camera, and react in real time.
Mentalism, the art of seemingly reading minds and predicting decisions, is especially powerful on Zoom. It relies on thoughts and choices rather than small hand movements, so it comes through a webcam beautifully. When a guest thinks of a word in their kitchen and I say it out loud from hundreds of miles away, there’s no camera angle to explain it away.
Meeting or Webinar? Choose Carefully
This is the first decision, and it’s an important one.
Zoom offers both Meetings and Webinars. In a standard Zoom Webinar, attendees typically watch without sharing their own video, which limits interaction. A Zoom Meeting lets everyone appear on camera and react together.
For an interactive Zoom magic show, a Meeting is usually the better fit. If your organization uses Webinars for very large events, let me know early so we can talk through how to keep the experience engaging.
The Zoom Magic Show Settings Cheat Sheet
Here’s what to check before your event. Your IT team or event producer can help if any of these are locked down by your organization.
1. Turn Off Focus Mode
Zoom’s Focus Mode lets participants see only the host’s video, not each other. It’s useful for classrooms, but it’s a problem for a Zoom magic show, because guests won’t see their colleagues’ reactions. Make sure it’s off.
2. Let Participants Unmute Themselves
Reactions are half the fun. If participants can’t unmute, the gasps, laughs, and “No way!” moments stay silent. Allow participants to unmute themselves, and encourage everyone to stay muted between moments for clean audio. Magical Katrina will guide guests on when to unmute during the show.
3. Keep Chat On
The chat often becomes a live commentary track during a Zoom magic show. Guests type theories, exclamation points, and the occasional all-caps “HOW?!” It’s also useful for some interactive moments, so keep chat enabled for everyone.
4. Allow Renaming
Being able to address guests by the name they prefer makes interaction smoother. Ask guests to set their display name to their first name before the show starts. It’s a tiny detail that makes a Zoom magic show feel far more personal.
5. Plan Who Can Spotlight
At key moments, it helps if the host can spotlight a volunteer so everyone sees their reaction clearly. Make sure your designated tech host knows how to spotlight and remove spotlight in Zoom. We can walk through this together so Magical Katrina and your host are on the same page.
6. Use the Waiting Room Wisely
A waiting room helps with security, but make sure someone is admitting guests promptly, especially in the first few minutes. Nobody wants to miss the opening of a Zoom magic show because they were stuck in the lobby.
7. Test Screen Sharing Permissions
If anything during the event needs screen sharing, confirm the right people have permission ahead of time. We’ll cover this during planning, along with any other settings your Zoom magic show needs.
A Quick Note for Guests
It also helps to share a few tips with your attendees ahead of time:
Join from a quiet spot with decent lighting
Use a laptop or desktop if possible, since phone screens show fewer faces
Update Zoom before the event to avoid last-minute surprises
Log in a few minutes early
Small steps like these help every guest get the full Zoom magic show experience.
Planning Choices That Make a Difference
Settings are only part of it. A few planning choices help any Zoom magic show land.
Tell guests it’s interactive. A line in your invitation encourages cameras on and helps people arrive ready to participate.
Assign a tech host. One person on your side who handles admitting guests, spotlighting, and troubleshooting makes everything smoother, and lets Magical Katrina focus entirely on your guests.
Choose the right moment. Magic can open your event, energize the middle, or close on a high. Share your agenda, and I’ll suggest where it fits best.
Share your audience size. Interaction works differently for twelve people than for several hundred.
Consider time zones. If guests are spread out, pick a time that works for most of them.
Do a quick tech check. A short check before the event confirms audio, video, and settings. We’ll arrange it during planning.
What You Get With Magical Katrina
A Performer Fluent on Camera
I spend a lot of time performing for a lens. I’ve posted Instagram Reels every day for the past year and built an audience of around 200,000 followers at @magicalkatrina. That daily practice shapes how Magical Katrina paces and frames a live Zoom performance.
Credentials You Can Trust
I’ve been performing for more than 13 years across over 20 countries. I’ve appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Masters of Illusion, won five magic awards, and I’m a member of The Magic Circle in London and the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood. My work includes events connected to Formula 1, the Olympics, Porsche, Prada, and Ritz-Carlton.
Volunteers Who Always Look Good
On camera, people can feel exposed. Every volunteer walks away feeling like the star, and anyone who’d rather watch can simply enjoy it.
Transparent Pricing
My virtual shows range from $1,400 to $5,000, depending on format, audience size, and customization. Once I know your details, I’ll give you a clear quote for your Zoom magic show.
Events That Suit a Zoom Magic Show
Remote team events and all-hands celebrations
Virtual holiday parties, especially for teams across cities or countries
Client appreciation events that need to feel polished
Conferences and kickoffs, including keynotes with magic on marketing, entrepreneurship, communication, and ADHD
Birthdays, reunions, and celebrations across distance
The holiday season is close, so if you’re planning a December Zoom magic show, now is a great time to reach out to Magical Katrina.
What Your Guests Experience
Picture a remote team’s end-of-year celebration. Thirty people log in from home offices, kitchen tables, and one very festive guest bedroom.
I ask a guest to think of the first concert she ever went to. She keeps it to herself. A moment later, I name it. She throws her hands up, laughing. Twenty-nine other faces in the gallery react at the same time. The chat lights up.
That shared reaction, all those faces responding together, is the heart of a great Zoom magic show. Which brings me to the setting I promised to tell you about.
The One View Setting That Matters Most
So here it is.
Make sure your guests are in Gallery View.
By default, many people join Zoom in Speaker View, which shows whoever is talking in a large window and hides most other participants. During a magic show, that means guests see me, and maybe the volunteer, but not the rest of the group.
And the rest of the group is the best part.
When a guest’s secret thought is revealed, the real magic isn’t just their reaction. It’s seeing twenty other colleagues react at the same instant. The hands over mouths. The people leaning toward their screens. The coworker laughing so hard they nearly fall out of frame. In Speaker View, guests miss all of it. They experience the show alone, even though they’re in a room full of people.
In Gallery View, everyone sees everyone. The Zoom magic show stops feeling like a broadcast and starts feeling like a shared event.
So before the show begins, ask your guests to switch to Gallery View. It takes two seconds, and it turns a screen full of individuals into an audience. That’s the experience Magical Katrina wants every guest to have.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Zoom magic show?
A Zoom magic show is a live, interactive magic and mentalism performance delivered over Zoom. With me, guests participate by making choices, thinking of words or memories, and following along on camera.
Should I use a Zoom Meeting or a Zoom Webinar?
For an interactive show, a Zoom Meeting is usually the better choice, because everyone can appear on camera and react together. If you need to use a Webinar, let me know early so we can plan accordingly.
What Zoom settings should I check?
Turn off Focus Mode, allow participants to unmute themselves, keep chat on, allow renaming, assign a tech host who can spotlight, manage the waiting room promptly, and ask guests to use Gallery View.
How much does a Zoom magic show cost?
My virtual shows range from $1,400 to $5,000, depending on format, audience size, and customization. I’ll provide a clear quote once I know your details.
What should I include when I inquire?
Your date, time and time zone, expected number of attendees, whether you’re using a Zoom Meeting or Webinar, type of event, and goals. That helps me confirm availability and recommend the right format.
Let’s Set Up Your Zoom Magic Show
If you’re planning a remote team event, virtual holiday party, client gathering, or celebration across distance, I’d love to hear about it. Tell me your date, audience, and what you want people to feel when they log off.
Get in touch to check availability with Magical Katrina, and let’s make sure every guest has the best view in the house.