CB Bowman LIVE! SPECIAL EDITION Guest Magician Ben Corey

Hello everybody, this is CB Bowman Live with a special edition today. So we're so lucky to have a magician on the show, and so his name is Ben Corey, and the reason why I'm bringing him today is because he is going to Have a performance at the conference for Association of Corporate Executive Coaches, which you see the date below and you see the, um, the website. So without further ado, you're getting a sneak view. And you know, I always love to give a secret, so I have to think of my secret for today. So stay tuned. In the meantime, I'm gonna ask Ben to introduce himself, and you're in for a fun ride today. Ben, tell us about yourself.

Well, my name is Ben Corey. I'm the Chief Ex— whoo, sorry, I don't know what happened there. I'm the Chief Experience Officer at Skyfire Entertainment, and I help take these little boxes that we're all in all over the place and create engagement, and excitement, uh, for virtual events and also entertain in person. Um, yeah, so with me and a whole cast of talent.

Thank you. So these days, what is a magician? What are you doing? You know, because we're so used to sitting in the audience and seeing the rabbit come out of the hat, or the new group, The Illusionists, where the car just disappears.

Really?

And I know it's about sleight of hand, but I must be watching the wrong hand because I can never figure it out.

Yep, my secret is I just don't use hands most of the time, CB. That's, um, yeah. So, um, we— there's that sort of vision that people have with their experience of magicians where they can picture, you know, for young kids, or in Vegas. But there's a secret: a whole bunch of us are entertaining for the entire world in between. And people like me, I'm doing virtual events multiple times a week, sometimes 3 or 4 times or 5 times in a week. And occasionally I'm on for like a global conference with thousands of people watching. And, uh, so we're doing shows inside these boxes And what happens is people have all the information-dense talk that happens through the screen. So if we bring something visual, it breaks that up. People can have fun. And we use our time during the performance, or I use my time and the entertainers on my team, to rebuild the engagement and the energy through the— did you see that over there, CB?

What?

Right here. Do you see it? No, hold on. Oh, it's for you. It's the Ace of Hearts.

Oh my gosh. Oh, I love it for you.

Yes, happy late Valentine's Day, CB.

I will tell my husband.

Yes, please don't die. Here we go. There's another one.

Oh my gosh, that is so Wait, how are you doing that? Oh my God. Okay, I need to understand how you're doing this.

It's magic.

Oh my gosh. So tell me, when did the idea of virtual magic come into play?

Well, it was a very interesting, um, moment. See, I was building an agency For my conference entertainers, it was going to be called Biz Variety. And then COVID hit, and I was sitting there and I was going, Biz Variety, Biz Variety, Stream Variety. And initially, like, I called the business that, and then it changed to Skyfire. And my show was set up right here in my rehearsal space for multiple conferences in one week, 2 conferences that I had in one week in March, and then I also had 4, uh, other stage events scheduled that week, and those canceled. But I'm sitting there and I'm looking across, and all of my cameras were set up for rehearsals. And at the time, I was using multiple cell phones, and this cell phone here has an 8K video camera, and they were all on tripods aiming at this spot. And so I was already set up when it began, when all of that began. And somebody called me a week later and said, hey, would you do a show for us? And I said, oh, um, did you notice the pandemic? And they were like, yeah, yeah, virtually. And I'm like, sure, uh, what do you mean? And they're like, on Zoom. And I'm like, Okay. And so I actually moved my desk and put a TV screen on my desk so that for that first audience, I had my cell phone camera in front and on the screen was the, um, audience right there. And I studied social psychology and the science of human interaction. It's one of the things I studied in school. And so I sat and looked at it as a communications challenge.

Yeah.

How do I go back and forth with an audience through the screen? And I sort of cut all the material, reshaped it, and then changed everything. I'll show you an example here. What color would you— what's that?

Don't tell anybody.

Oh, yes, keep it completely secret. What color would you call this right here?

Like a pink.

Pink, yes. Check it out. This is what happens, CB, if the magic is only Coming from one side of the screen, my side. So I'll show you first, and then we'll make sure the magic's coming from your screen right over there. Keep your eyes on the pink. Crumple it right here. I bet you've never seen a pink handkerchief bounce off a webcam that hard before.

Wait, you're also a comedian?

If my jokes work, I'm a comedian. If they don't, I'm a magician. That's how it works. Kind of takes the pressure off, doesn't it?

Yes, it does.

Yeah, I fucked my—

But I want to understand, how does a social scientist become a magician? Ah, was that magic?

Well, let me show you the next place where the social science takes it, okay? And, and actually, I was a magician first And I realized I was doing interaction with huge audiences and people on stage. And I was like, I— this is 21 years ago. I was like, I don't know how to get all these interactions right. Some months I was in 29 different locations for tens of thousands of people. I was like, how do I get every interaction right in all those situations? So I studied that to kind of master it. I'll show you if we just change the interaction a little. how powerful this is. Hold up your fingers like this for me, both hands, and in your craziest voice, just say, Shazam!

Shazam! Yes!

I want to bring you to every show. She's so cool. So that's part of our effects. We do that and it gets the audience's voice on, it gets their fingers going so their blood is moving, right? I'm giving you the behind the scenes. And then I want to blow this to you this time, so hold up your hands, CB, and Catch this right here. Now, when you said the magic words before, it started your magic on your screen. So you got to say Shazam on the count of three one more time. Keep your eyes on the pink. Ready? One, two, three.

Shazam!

Catch it, catch it.

Wait, you made me say that so I took my eyes off your hands.

You're definitely gonna have to watch this in the replay.

Yes, I am.

Yeah, the funny thing is you didn't have to take your eyes off my hand. Just catch in the air right there. It just flew through the screen. Yeah, you got it right there. Now hold your hand back a little bit. Now, as you throw it to me— wait, not yet— you'll aim directly at my hands. Do not aim any higher, just aim directly at my hands. The last person who aimed a little high blew that hair right off the— It's okay. It's funny now, I guess. All right, so keep your eyes on my hands and I'll keep them right here on the screen so you can watch the entire time. And on the count of 3, shazam! Throw it right to my hands. Ready? 1, 2, 3!

Oh, oh, no way!

Yes way!

Well, I'm gonna have to play this back because Hmm, I don't like it when you figure something out.

I just do that to make people's hair curl.

It's, you know, that's curling.

Yeah, so, um, in the virtual space, it began about solving this problem that everybody's— they're at work, they're all really well behaved, The meeting is boring, and they're just sitting there, and they're melting into the chair, and their child is pulling onto their arm, and they're like, stop it! I love my kid. I want to kill my kid right now, but I love my kid.

Stop talking.

Yes. And it's endless frustration. And how do we instead turn on the engagement through the screen? And that effect where I did that right there, then when a speaker goes on, all the rest of the people are used to talking back and forth. And we've broken the digital fourth wall with magic. And so it began by doing that. And it was initially just a TV sitting on top of my desk, and then I built an entire TV studio. I'm giving you the tour here. Ready? Check this out. What am I watching? You are on a 49-inch wide screen that is on a motorized Stand-up desk. So I push right here and the desk goes up and down right here.

Okay, I can see it.

And this is a controller, so when I bring people up, I can click one button, they'll just pop on the screen, different camera angles, mixer, and all of this stuff. And when I'm controlling a whole TV studio to operate the show, it happens right here. So I put this screen on the top of this desk and the screen is angled backwards So that as I'm looking directly in your eyes during the performance, the camera is looking directly in my eyes too. So the performance then began to be about watching everyone's facial expressions and taking the experience that way. So suddenly I was able to respond moment per moment to what was going on. And people began to feel like they were in the room. And so it takes a meeting that could be boring or anything like that, and suddenly there's Boom, engagement.

So Ben, it's kind of like you reinvented your career, or you, um, what— I forget the word that we used to use in marketing, but you expanded your brand. And how did you learn all of this? I know it sounds stupid, but I know how difficult technology can be. Because I'm a closet techie person, and I'm starting to fall behind. And it's quite upsetting to me, because I can't track all the new apps that are out.

Oh, yeah.

How did you find out about what equipment you needed to build this studio?

That was an amazing journey. First of all, before I tell you about the studio, how did I keep my mind in that game? I mean, we were all kind of going nuts as we hadn't left the house for weeks at the beginning. And we're just—

Let me tell you a secret. Hey, audience, my secret. It's a secret. I am highly introverted. So I was quite comfortable staying in my office In my house and just dealing with me, my husband, my son, and my dog. I was very comfortable. That was enough of a challenge, right?

CB, you and I heard that we're going to ask you to stay home and keep yourself distanced socially for a long time. And we both thought, I've been preparing for this my entire life.

Yes. Yes, yes, okay. And you extroverts, you get a chance to experience my world, right?

Yes.

And you—

I'm also— yes, I'm also an introvert, uh, an outgoing one, but weeks on end was getting a little crazy. So I want to thank, uh, an executive coach who was helping me keep my mindset in order. And I created a bounce-back plan and a springboard plan and, you know, figured out each side of my life that I needed to keep moving forward. So that's a little secret on your end right there.

Needs to be part of ACEC. Because just in case anyone in the audience doesn't know, I'm a corporate executive coach, but I coach other coaches. How about that, right?

I dig it. I dig it. And, uh, so I began first thing in the morning, and I would take one little piece of the problem and dissect it until I figured it out. And my immediate idea was to sort of form mastermind groups to figure things out quickly. And so there were other entertainers, and suddenly I was in You know, one of my coaches, and who's a coach for entertainers, had a live streaming pro who came on and taught us 2 years before COVID and she came back on and taught us right after it hit also. And it took about 18 hours a day for about 6 weeks. There's a bunch of other equipment sitting around that absolutely does not work. Like, if I changed one knob, suddenly everything stopped. You know, it was that kind of thing. And, um, I wanted to be able to—

I love, I love the story how you used a coach to move forward, because we coaches, we love this. We love— we eat this up. You know, it's so nice to hear that what we work so hard in doing in coaching other people, and that you were brave enough, smart enough, and cared enough about yourself to say, hey, I'm going to get some help here. And yes, the fact that there's a coach in the entertainment space, I'm so jealous.

Yes, there is. And, and that's Barry, and he toured for decades performing for conferences. So I started working with him in 2009 to learn how to expand my conference entertainment business. And he was using all the tools we're using now.

Hey, let's— in 2009, what's his last name?

It's, uh, Barry Friedman from the Raspini Brothers. And he was running Showbiz Blueprint, which was to teach entertainers, uh, how to expand their conference businesses.

I love it. Is he still in business?

Yes. Yes.

Good.

And we still have a mastermind group. So I would start on Zoom in the morning with one entertainer, and I was lucky that everybody I was talking to was entertainers. And we would just try new things and make each other laugh all day. And, uh, gosh, the latest crazy thing that I'm developing right now to mess with people during our virtual shows is I'm making it so that the Zoom gallery all of a sudden spreads out And I pop up inside in the middle of the gallery and start performing like this. And then my video goes beep and I jump over to the side. That's, yeah, I'm totally tricking out Zoom right now. I can see your tech-loving side has just—

Can I be in that masterclass, please?

Yes. CB, I do wanna bring you everywhere. You can bring your husband too. I am sure he's cool.

Okay, he'll bring the wine. He's a wine expert.

Yes. And if you want specifics, I'm gonna— I'll bring you right up to the current moment. You ready?

Yes.

So I work— I have multiple coaches. One, on Friday, we were working on the fact that I forgot that I didn't have to work every minute and that it would be helpful if I took some time off. So that was Friday's conversation. Another business coach I work with Yesterday, we were talking about the niche markets where Skyfire can move into.

Yeah.

And we had a mastermind group around it. So initially, I had to figure out how do I describe the fact that I bring all these different corporate experiences to people's virtual events and get across what that is. Well, now with my other coach, we were working on how to niche it out and which zones we wanted to go into. You know, so coaching is keeping me moving forward. Yes. Yeah, yeah, crazy speed.

Part of your life. I love this story. Yeah, I'm gonna put you on a platform to talk about coaches.

I will. And this is another funny one. I'm now speaking at one conference for coaches, keynoting, doing some entertainment. On how to use the voice, because as a singer and a stage actor, I know how to talk for hours. And I got on with this coach one day, and she was helping me with one project, and I was helping her, and her voice was gone. And I helped her while she was helping on my project. And then she's like, I'm planning this conference, will you talk on voice? And sure enough, there it is. So there's—

oh my gosh, Barry, you didn't tell me you had all these facets. I'm gonna have to think about connecting with you a lot more.

We can do it. We can do it. There are some things I don't like, like, uh, COVID and handkerchiefs and things like that. But there are some things, CB, I do like. I love entertaining for events. I love speaking on many different topics that are in my skill set. And sometimes, CB, More than all the things I don't like, I love Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

Okay, now at that time I knew you were trying to take my mind off your hands, and I watched very closely, and I still don't know how you did that just now.

I could explain it just a little bit, um, by making it bigger. If I make it bigger, you'll see it better. I see the lights. Oh, I know it's bright. Hang on. I have to put a little darker window in front of part of the— there we go— part of the software we're using today. So if I take this Ferrero Rocher chocolate and I just wipe it, I can turn it into a bigger one. And when, you know, coaches, they help expand, right? I like expanding. So we'll expand.

Into—

yeah, you see, I get caught like this. Changed it to a gold coin.

That's a coin?

And we'll blow that one away.

What happened to the chocolate?

The chocolate, that's gone. And the coin, check out the coin. I'll just hang that up right over here. Ah, I'll bring it back. And this is a specially trained gold coin. It's been trained to walk right across the back of my hand.

No, wait, you must have multiple coins in your hand.

No, this one I can— okay, CB?

Yes?

You told a secret. Can I tell you a secret?

Yes.

Watch this one. Pull down, push up, pull down, push up, pull down, push up. Grab it around the bottom and bring it around the side. There you go. Anybody?

I can't, I can't do that.

Yes, so there is no explanation aside from it is walking down my hand, and I will put it right back there.

Okay, you— do I have a coin here? I don't have a coin to do that, but the next time you do that, I'm gonna have a coin in my hand because I want to try that. That's not fair.

Well, now you've seen sleight of hand. Would you like to experience sleight of mind?

Okay. Yes.

So we're connecting through the screen. Physically, you've used your hands, your Your body has moved, your voice is reaching my ears. Now I'm going to capture your thoughts directly through the screen.

You can't.

Well, if I can't, just repeat back these words of wisdom to me. These I try to remind myself anytime, very important coaching I give myself. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you. No skydiving. Yes. So, um, let's see here. I might just change the camera angle slightly. There we go. And now, all right, CB, have you ever seen an invisible deck of cards before?

Mm-mm.

Check it out. I keep one right here up my sleeve. Ah, and now I'm gonna throw it to you. Hold up your hands again. Get ready to catch. Catch it.

Yes.

And now, oh, you got it. Good. Go ahead and hold that up. Show everybody else who's watching. Show everybody else at home. Cool. You all see? Yeah, put it in your other hand. Show it around. There you go. Now, Excellent. Go ahead and shuffle up those cards for me. Oh, take off the box first. That's okay, I practice this stuff at home. You got it? Perfect. Now, uh, just pull one card out, any card you'd like. Not, not the ace. Put it back, put it back. Not the ace. Make it a number, it's more random.

7.

You got it? Now hold it up in front of you just like this. Focus your mind on your card. Send your thoughts directly to me. Hold up the card. Let me see a little higher. There you go. You're thinking, this is weird. I've seen that look from women before. It's true. You laughed pretty hard at that. You should have seen my sister-in-law laugh for four minutes straight. I said, all right, this every every joke needs a little bit of truth for it to work, CB. I got it. Now, just in case nobody else can read minds, hold up the card higher and call out the number and the suit.

No, I'm gonna tell— then you'll know what it is.

I, I just want to make sure you can't change your mind, CB.

Okay, it's a 3 of hearts.

Yes, the three of hearts. Okay, you did you see it though, right? Take the three of hearts, flip it over while it's invisible. Yes, slide it back in. Now, CB, is that a large box of cards or a small box? I can't tell ever.

Small.

Small. Ah, okay. Well, there's a small box sitting right there. If you could just throw it through the screen. Remember, you flip the three of hearts over. While it was invisible. Just throw it into that box right there. Just give it a little toss. Shazam!

Ah!

Now, as I flip through the cards, see if you can find your card. And you, you notice we had this connection straight through the screen, um, a mental connection, a physical connection. Do you see the 3 of hearts anywhere?

Mm-mm, it's probably that card you're hiding from me.

The one card you turned backwards while they were all invisible. The 3 of hearts.

How'd you do that?

It's magic!

Ben, I'm not going to say anything else because you might be able to read my mind.

Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I, I'm not telepathic. I'm telepathetic. That's totally safe.

How funny is that?

Thank you.

Oh my gosh. Okay.

See, I, I have a lot of experience at these things. I'm ready, CB. My lines are ready.

I, you know, good.

I've made my mistakes. Can I tell you, uh, the biggest mistake that I ever made that I'll never make again?

What?

If you're— if you are ever speaking or entertaining for a global conference, never pick a volunteer named Alexa.

Why? Oh, oh, I fell for that.

Thousands of people online around the world, and their devices are telling them the weather.

I'm surprised mine didn't go off.

Yes, I, I kind of lip it a little bit more closely now. You are witnessing the experienced virtual entertainer.

Oh my gosh, what a way to start the day with you. This has been so fantastic. So is there any size limit to your audience?

None. No size limit. And really, we are strategic partners. So we, we come in as— we look like entertainers, But what corporations and conferences are using us for is we'll work through their strategy, we'll figure out what their aim is and their intention, whether they want to reward customers who just bought and have a show for them, or launch a product in a stealth way without having any sales to it, all of those things, or if they just want to provide energy at exact locations, or make the virtual conference more exciting than even their last in-person. We figure out a strategy to make it so that it's constantly surprising and keeping it fun.

It could— I'm sorry to interrupt you, but this is so important because, you know, that, that, that notion of Zoom fatigue is real. And we've been talking now for, what, 45 minutes? And I feel like I just sat down.

That's it.

Incredible.

Absolutely incredible.

That's it. Whereas other conferences, 5 minutes in, I'm going, okay, I know I need to pay attention. Wake up, CB.

Yes, exactly. And we help sculpt that entire experience for the participants, but we also help sculpt that for the host. Let's say you're putting on an event. We have a team that can help run around and do all the behind-the-scenes stuff. To fill in the gaps so that you are able to shine and be right up front with your audience. So we, we have a whole process of strategic questions that we go through, and we deploy the entertainment to deliver that. Sometimes we're helping sponsors who want to reach an exact target audience, and we can get them in that room By providing a corporate show for them. And CB, I was going to sing Let It Go. Let it go, let it go. It seems you have frozen, CB. Ah, the timer is still going. CB has popped off the air. Well, Hello, my name is Ben Corey. I'll be your MC for the evening. I thank you all for attending and getting to know a little bit about what I do. You can find me at bencorey.com, and I've got a link so you can connect and have 10 minutes of entertainment for you and your team if you'd like to find out.

I'm not sure what happened just now. Um, StreamYard was purchased by another company and they seem to be having some troubles, and I don't know if, um, the screen was dropped. So let's pick it up where we were, which was talking about how you, you actually fill the room for conferences so that people are thoroughly involved in the conference, not only from your perspective, for— but also from other things. And I know that you showed me an amazing intro that you did so that people, when they walk into a Zoom conference, are energized before anybody says anything.

Yes, yes. And the way that plays in is, let's say you've got a speaker coming up and the audience has not been energized first, and maybe you're at a corporate event somewhere and the CEO is coming on and CEO comes on and the audience is politely clapping, politely cheering.

Yes.

That's one option. But if I get the audience fully going prior to the CEO or any speaker at a conference, they're suddenly alive, and the speaker feels the energy back through the screen and goes, oh yeah, they're with me! And then the speaker is alive, and suddenly speaker delivers a rock star performance. So our goal is to weave in ways to make sure that keeps going. And even if there's something to sell, I can use tiny little priming messages during my performances, like, um, let's see here.

You know, I never realized how complicated it is to do a good It is thoroughly.

Yeah.

I mean, to do it right.

It is. And as an entertainer, we can't really keep the flow of a show if we have the same problems that everybody's seen on Zoom before, right? Where it's, uh, hold on, let me unmute you. Unmute yourself. Unmute yourself. Like, imagine that every time we bring up a participant on stage, right? So I had to find a magician software designer to help me create so I can type in people's names that I see on the Zoom before I go in. I can type their names into a control that I have here, and I push their name and boom, they pop up on the screen unmuted in one shot. So there's none of that friction. Yes, it's right here. Here, look, I'm going to show you down here. I'll bring the 2 together. Ah, you're getting the secret look. Okay, see, these are 8 names on the right. Uh, there's Spencer, Amy, Sue, Paul, and those buttons right there will bring those people up. And then there's a little star on the bottom for me right there, and then the bottom right is for the host. And, uh, so we had to work out all of that friction that was in the system To make it really worthy of having entertainment, you know.

Is that a costly thing for novice like me to get?

It's not even available yet. Yes, it is being developed by a magician for magicians, and we're the test group, and he may make it available for everyone once we've all tested it out.

I went in on that mastermind. I want in.

Yes. The crazy thing you wouldn't imagine is if you get into a room of conference entertainers, these are some brilliant, creative people. And in order for someone to succeed in conference entertainment, they also have to work their butts off. That's a hard place to get started. And then to be able to learn the message and customize around a program. is a whole nother set of skill. So whenever you're surrounded by that kind of creativity, sparks fly in ways you wouldn't imagine. And it's, uh— Wow.

Well, Ben, first, I don't even know where to begin to thank you for spending some time with me today and my audience, because you've wowed us, you've informed us, you've made us smile. And what a way to take out Friday, right?

Yes.

On the show every Friday afternoon.

And, and you've been so wonderful on here. I could hang out with you all the time, CB. I haven't even lost my cool at all. I've been mellow, relaxed, and comfortable, and I've enjoyed every second. You are an absolutely wonderful host.

Oh, I can't— you know, everyone in the audience, you don't want to miss Ben at our conference. I am so looking forward to this. I can, I can create a conference just around you, Ben.

I like that idea. My ego likes the idea too. This is why I need a coach, not a therapist.

You got it. Hey, uh, Ben, thank you so much. Um, stay on for a moment while we say goodbye to the audience. And this has been— you know how I love the expression, let's rock it? Well, has this been a ride and a rocket ride at the same time. And so my words for today for you is go with magic in your life. This is CB Bowman Live, and I'll be back on Tuesday for Challenges of the C-Suite. Bye everybody, I love you all. Thank you for tuning in.