Virtual Shows, Virtual Conventions, and Magic Podcasts with Kayla Dreshcer from Shezam!

This week Jonah and Kayla Drescher team up for a crossover episode with Discourse in Magic and Shezam! In it they talk about producing magic podcasts, hosting virtual conventions, and the challenges facing the magic community today. Podcasting With Magic Jonah and Kayla break down the differences and similarities between their two shows and ask each other what they would like to see done in the world of magic podcasting that hasn’t been done before? They also talk about the different purposes that their shows serve and Kayla shares with Jonah the lessons she’s learned from interviewing her guests on the tougher subjects of representation, sexism, and cultural appropriation and the importance of talking to people with opposing views and holding them to account.  Virtual Conventions Both Jonah and Kayla are producing virtual conventions and they get into the behind the scenes of what goes into planning, booking, and hosting these live and virtual weekend events and why Jonah and Kayla both believe they’re not going to be going away anytime soon. Representation Matters The magic community still has a lot of challenges ahead to face including better representation and giving platforms to diverse guests and tackling the uncomfortable reality that cultural appropriation is woven into many classical magic acts that may not be appropriate to replicate today in front of a modern audience. Having these discussions and challenging these assumptions help the magic community grow, lead to better shows and develop better acts that are more inclusive and representative of the people sitting in your audience. And Jonah and Kayla are quick to point out that this doesn’t just affect the older generation of magic performers, that younger performers also have their own challenges to address that may not be as easy to spot as an overtly racist act.  Plugs Be sure to check out Kayla Drescher on the Shezam podcast at shezampod.com And for more information about the Online Wonder Gala check out shezampod.com/owg You can also check out UnConventional.fun to find out more about the next three UnConventional.fun events and there’s still time to sign up for the UnConventional.pass by visiting unconventional.fun