Only The Foodie Magician Could Pull Off A Zoom Magic Show

by Stephanie Maida · May 14, 2020

    'Tis the age of the Zoom party, and while much has been written about ways to make virtual hangouts interesting, from party games to performers, I never would have predicted that parlor magic could make a comeback in quarantine. But leave it to Josh Beckerman, a.k.a. The Foodie Magician, to somehow astound a crowd, even when the guests are spread out across the country in their respective digital windows. 

    Last week, Pursuit, a New York based ad agency working in the luxury real estate market, hosted a Zoom night of "Magic and Philanthropy," complete with a cocktail half-hour of introductions and hellos, and even a photographer from BFA (good thing I remembered how to do a cat eye). 

    When I logged into the room, which had three pages worth of faces (including RHONY's Dorinda Medley), I admit I was a bit skeptical about how the magic portion could possibly play out. After all, I'd only ever seen Beckerman before at real-life events playing off the room, and I imagined some in-person slight of hand would be essential. But I barely finished half my glass of rosé before letting out an exclamation of disbelief. Between predicting a random guest's grandmother's name to successfully managing an "is this your card?" across an internet connection, Beckerman had the whole Zoom totally enraptured. 

    One of the more mind-blowing moments, which involves an attendee's five-dollar bill, can be witnessed in the video below. Pursuit will be donating $1 for every view the video gets to the Food Bank of New York City, up to $10,000, so watch and be amazed... and maybe book The Foodie Magician for your next Zoom bash...