One of the casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic has been that magic clubs have not been able to meet in their clubrooms.
Hopefully this will start to change as other indoor venues, with appropriate social distancing measures in place, have started to open up again, and I see no reason why magic societies couldn’t recommence as well.
However, for the vast majority of time this year, attendance of the local club has naturally had to be put on hold. Some societies have been proactive and put on Zoom style meetings and lectures in an attempt to keep the membership engaged and involved, but of course there are always going to be some for whom this is not an attractive option.
Apart from those who are a bit technically challenged and who either don’t have the right computing equipment or who are slightly ‘afraid’ of joining in with something which feels alien to them, there are also others I’m sure for whom the club is not first and foremost about the magic.
If you consider for a moment your own society and its members, I’ll bet you can identify those who are the real enthusiasts and those who, while being very interested in magic, really see it more as a social club.
Many societies meet in pubs or venues with bars. The members collect together sometimes both before and after the meeting, and chat, do informal magic to each other and have a drink and maybe something to eat. For some, it’s the best part of the evening, as it feels more relaxing perhaps than the night’s programmed event. It’s actually their main reason for going at all.
So when the club puts on a Zoom lecture or encourages members to take part in trick nights, while this may satisfy the magic enthusiasts, there is no real social element to it. Unfortunately, the somewhat stilted conversations that take place before the ‘meeting’ is called to order, can never replace the 10 minute chat with a magic buddy while trying out a new move you’ve just learned.
I do hope that normal club nights can be resumed sooner rather than later because I think there is a real danger that some of the social members may get used to not attending and simply not bother to come along any more. They may already feel a bit disconnected from the club and perhaps even feel a little nervous about reintegrating.
Regular club meetings are habit forming. For some members, Thursday night every other week is magic night! They turn up systematically almost without thinking. Take that habit away and it may be harder to restart than might at first be imagined.
The other issue with Zoom meetings is that new magic relationships are less likely to form. Because there is no practical way to integrate someone new, over a protracted period it could lead to a reduction in new members. It’s hard to build lasting relationships over a computer link. It only works at all at present because the friendship groups are already established and are simply being maintained rather than new ones being formed.
Numbers attending magic meetings have gradually been falling for some time, so let’s hope COVID-19 is not accelerating a general demise of the magic club.