Technology is no longer a separate part of our lives; it is our lives. Our phones are extensions of our brains, our watches monitor our heartbeats, and our social media profiles are curated versions of our identities. For a live performer, ignoring this reality is a mistake. The challenge, and the opportunity, is to integrate this modern, technological reality into the art form in a way that feels elegant, meaningful, and powerful, not clunky or gimmicky.

A modern Perceptionist must, in some ways, be a “cyber-illusionist,” using the technology of our time to create truly contemporary moments of wonder.

The Audience’s Tech as the Prop

The most powerful and personal way to integrate technology into a performance is to use the technology that the audience already has in their pockets and on their wrists. The special “magic app” on the performer’s phone is a tired cliché. The real magic happens when the impossible moment occurs on your phone.

Imagine an effect where a word you are merely thinking of appears as a notification on your own screen. Imagine a moment where a number you’ve freely chosen is revealed to be the exact number of unread emails in a stranger’s inbox across the room. When the impossibility bleeds into the audience’s own, personal technology, it breaks the frame of a “show.” It blurs the line between the performance and the audience’s real, digitally-integrated lives, creating a moment that is both deeply modern and personally resonant.

Technology That Is Invisible

The most effective use of technology in a performance is often completely invisible to the audience. Technology should not be the trick itself; it should be a secret tool that enables a cleaner, more direct, and more organic experience of impossibility.

I might use a tiny, unseen piece of technology to subtly receive a piece of information from an accomplice. This allows me to create an experience for the audience that feels completely “propless,” as if the miracle is happening with psychology alone. The technology is the secret method that allows the effect to feel pure and magical. This aligns perfectly with the “elegant, uncanny” style. The goal is always to hide the work and conceal the method, and invisible technology is the ultimate expression of this philosophy.

Thematic Resonance

Beyond its use as a prop or a secret tool, technology itself can be a powerful and relevant theme to explore in a performance. My “Insecurity” act, for example, is built entirely around the language and concepts of cybersecurity and data privacy. It uses our collective cultural anxieties and fascinations about technology as its dramatic core.

This allows the performance to feel timely and significant. It’s not about dusting off an old trick from a hundred-year-old book; it’s about creating a piece of art that speaks to the world we are living in today. It engages the audience on a topic they are already thinking about, and uses the art form to provide a new and interesting perspective.

The best magic has always used the technology of its time to create wonder. In the past, that meant clever optics and mechanics. Today, it just so happens that the most powerful technology lives in our pockets.

Internal Links: “Insecurity”: An Entertainment for the Cybersecurity Age, AI and Creativity: A Collaborative Future

External Link: An interesting article from WIRED on the use of technology in live theater