Believe it or not, hiring a magician or a mentalist to entertain people at a corporate event is incredibly common.
In fact, some of the best mentalists and magicians in the world are ones that are rarely (if ever) seen on a public stage. They make their living by strictly being hired to do private events, company parties, conferences, fundraisers, and more. But a lot of people don’t realize that magic is not only a popular form of event entertainment but it’s also one of the best ways to make your next event the talk of the town. But why? Magic has been continually earning its place in the event industry due to its versatility, entertainment, engagement, and positive impact on guests. People often (incorrectly) think of magic as just somebody doing a few tricks. But magic is not just about identifying a card or pulling a rabbit out of a hat; it's about creating an engaging and unforgettable atmosphere that your guests will likely have never experienced before. Still don’t believe me? Well then, here are five reasons why a magic or mentalism show is the best entertainment for your corporate event, fundraiser, or gala.
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I’ve been a professional mentalist and magician for over a decade.
And with that experience, I have had the privilege to attend and perform at some really upscale and well-planned events: From black-tie galas to business conferences; chances are I’ve been on stage at whatever kind of event you can imagine. And over the years, I have learned that the one thing every successful, high-class event has in common with others is detailed planning and seamless execution. And whether it’s a small gathering or a huge gala, there are things you can do to really make your event shine. So, to help you out, I’m sharing the tips I’ve seen from people around the globe on how to plan an event that leaves a lasting impression! 1. Start With A Clear Vision Every successful event begins with a clear vision. You need to understand what you want to achieve through the event and the message you want to convey. Start planning early, so you can troubleshoot any technical limitations, budgetary constraints, and logistical challenges beforehand to avoid unnecessary surprises and create a plan that aligns with the goals and objectives you have in mind. It should also be mentioned the vision of your event should include other people. Whether that’s a planning committee, vendors, or others, those people are there to help. Keep clear communication and collaboration, too. That way, everyone is on the same page from beginning to end. As a mentalist and magician who’s performed at thousands of events, I know how stressful it can be.
Organizing an event can be daunting, especially if you aim for a memorable experience for your guests. Whether you're planning a company party, an award ceremony, or a product launch, you want your event to stand out and leave a lasting impression. But what if I told you that there’s a way you can guarantee your event will be one your guests will never forget? How? Simple. Hire a magician. Yes, I’m serious. And I’m going to share five reasons why a corporate magician can help you create an unforgettable event, no matter what you’re planning! If you are in the process of planning an event for your company, a fundraiser, or any other large-scale event, and you've found yourself here, it's a pretty good guess that you're considering hiring a corporate magician or mentalist to entertain your guests.
And, with that consideration comes one of the most common questions I get asked. How much does a magician or a mentalist cost? Now there's no doubt a high-quality mentalist or magician can elevate your event to a whole new level of excitement. But, no matter who you are or what you’re planning, budget is always a concern. And the fact of the matter is, the cost of hiring a magician or a mentalist for your event can vary depending on several key factors. So, I wanted to fill you in on five of those factors that can influence the price of hiring a high-quality corporate mentalist or magician, allowing you to budget accordingly and ensure a successful event! As a professional entertainer, I’ve worked more than my fair share of fundraising events; everything from small-town groups raising money for a local project, to huge galas for giant non-profits looking to boost their annual donations. And, with fundraising season coming up this fall in Alberta (and, really, western Canada), a lot of people will be planning these kinds of events for the first time.
And, whether you’re in a bigger center like Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Saskatoon, or Regina, or a smaller community outside of the metropolitan city limits, the basics and the main goal are the same. Put on a stellar event to not only reach your fundraising goals, but also have a great time doing it! So, what do you need to do to make your fundraiser a huge success and bring in the big bucks? Well, I'm about to spill the beans on how to make more money at your next fundraising event! Ok, you’ve bit the bullet and decided to get a magician or a mentalist for your next shindig. Maybe it’s because you read my blog outlining all the reasons why magic and mentalism is the best kind of entertainment for your event. Maybe it’s because someone in your office really wants to see some magic. Or, most likely, you want entertainment for your event that’s unique; Something different from the standard corporate entertainment choices. Whatever the reason, you’ve settled on hiring a magician for your event. So, you open Google, type in “corporate event magician,” or “magicians near me,” or whatever else you’ve decided to search for…and BAM, there are literally HUNDREDS of options. So, how do you make sure you're hiring the right magician for the job? Well, here are the top five tips to know you’re getting a top-notch pro for your corporate event. It can seem like entertainment options for your event are endless. And there are lots of options out there: bands, DJ’s jugglers, comedians and more. And, while I acknowledge I may be a little biased, I can confidently say that when it comes to entertaining your guests at your next corporate event, gala, fundraiser, or whatever else you may be planning, there’s one option that blows the rest out of the water: A magician. Why? Well, I'm spilling the beans on four reasons why you should consider hiring a magician or mentalist for your next corporate shindig! There is one phrase I hear every year that makes me cringe. “We hired entertainment last year, and it was a total bust.” This is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Not only because someone didn’t get what they paid for, but now that one bad experience has probably turned them off from hiring someone to entertain their guests again. But, I completely understand the frustration. All that hard-earned cash basically gets thrown down the drain. Why risk the investment again? What if I told you that all you had to do was a few simple things and you could put on a night of entertainment that would not only knock your guest’s socks off but make you look like an absolute hero? All you need to follow some simple tips, and you’ll have an event you’ll never forget! Tip 1: Know What Works For Your AudienceUnless you are a seasoned professional, it's tough not to feel at least a little self-conscious on video. I mean, think about it…at the best of times, people have no idea how to act in front of a camera. But now, work, play, happy hours with friends, family get-togethers…they’re all taking place on video calls. Every day, we’re faced with cameras pointed at ceilings, fuzzy video, and endless streams of “can you hear me’s.” But fear not. Over the past year, I’ve become a Zoom Master, and I’m here to give you seven tips to put your best face forward and look like a video-call All-Star. One: Angles Are EverythingEverybody knows the horror of accidentally turning on your phone’s front-facing camera. You can’t help but recoil at the chin-folds, nostril hair, and droopy eyes staring back at you. Now, you know you don’t look like that; your camera caught you at a bad angle. And, when you’re on a webcam, the same rules apply.
All you need to do is elevate your camera. Placing your webcam at or near eye level puts your camera at the best possible angle for you to sit up straight, open your eyes, make you look more alert, and of course, not stare up your nose. You see this all the time in television talk shows; cameras are set at a flat or slightly downward angle to the person talking. Now, do you need a fancy tripod or an expensive laptop stand? Nope. For years, my “laptop stand” was a stack of university textbooks (which, ironically, is the most expensive “laptop stand” I’ve ever used). All it takes to put your camera at a more flattering angle is a difference of about six to eight inches, which, at least in my case, was about four textbooks. Why this is important: Whether you like it or not, appearances matter. Being able to present yourself professionally can be the key to having a successful meeting before any words are ever spoken. Talking to people is hard.
Whether it’s a breakout session with co-workers or networking with someone new, it can be tough to find common ground and make conversation. And that was before Zoom was ever a thing. Back in the Before-Zoom Era (or the BZE, as I’m sure future archaeologists will call it), you could quietly hide behind your drink, talk about the weather, rush off to the bathroom and hide, or anything else to avoid those awkward moments. On Zoom, it’s just you, your camera, and everyone else on the call. You’re looking at them, they’re looking at you, and there’s nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. Or it’s the umpteenth meeting this week, and you’ve run out of things to talk about with your co-workers days ago, and that Zoom Fatigue is really starting to set in. So, how do you break through and start those conversations? I’ve got seven ideas that will help break anyone out of their virtual shell! Recently, I had an unusual gig. Rather than my usual theatre show or after-dinner event entertainment, I was asked to perform my magic and mentalism schtick and MC an event hosted in a store, where all their suppliers came to showcase all of their hot new things for the year. I would do a bit of magic, introduce two or three presenters, do a little more magic, and lather, rinse, repeat until the end of the event. It's the kind of gig I do often enough to have it in my corporate magician skill set.
After the event was over, the client came up to me and told me how thrilled she was about the event. She was not only impressed by the magic that happened on stage for her guests, but was also very pleased about how the crowd was interested, engaged, stayed at the event much longer than expected, and (hopefully) became more informed customers that helped my client make a profit. It was a great event all around, and when it was all over, I was thanked abundantly for helping make their event a smashing success. And, while this particular gig is a bit different from the norm, the reaction of the client at the end of it was one that I’ve seen time and time again. And while they could have done what they did before with the same results as before, they decided to add an extra little spark and hire a professional. And what did that do for their event? It made it fun. Even though this is what I consider my downtime during the year, the truth is I’m just as busy as I usually am. The difference is instead of my time being spent on stage or on the road, it’s being spent in my office. My days are filled booking private events, preparing for my summer tour, researching and writing, and doing all the other administrative things that make my job as a mentalist, magician, and entertainer keep chugging along.
This is also the time of year where I get a good chunk of my fall and winter bookings, and good number of them are for fundraising events: fundraisers for charities, fundraisers for animal shelters, fundraisers for non-profit organizations, fundraisers for local community groups...the list is endless. And a lot of the time, the people putting on these events are old pros. They’ve got years of experience putting together these events, and have everything planned out to the last detail, things booked months in advance, and the whole process is one big self-working machine. But every once in a while, I find myself working with a first-timer. It’s either their first time putting on an event, or their first time doing an event on this scale, or even their first time setting foot in a gala or fundraiser, let alone planning one. And not to say that they can’t do it; a lot of the time these first-timers do an amazing job. But sometimes, planning these events can leave you pulling out your hair in frustration. And whether you’re a first-timer or an old pro, there’s a few things that can help make putting on these events not only a little less stressful but make it the talk of the town. So, I've put together a step-by-step guide on how to put on a night that will make you look like a fundraising pro. If you’ve been watching the blog (or my Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter) lately, you probably noticed that I had a nice little chat with DJ Stacey from PopJukeBox. During the show, we talked about what I do, and how I got to where I am, and some of the stories continued after the microphones were shut off (or, before they were even turned on, really). Eventually, she asked about my shows. And while I do a decent number of public shows and events through the year all across the globe, I also do a collection of private events.
Over a given year, I split my time between doing public theatre shows, and private events like Christmas parties, fundraisers, galas, weddings, and the like. And when I mentioned weddings, Stacey reacted with a “huh...you know, I never thought of a magician for a wedding before.” But it does happen. It’s not common in North America, but in the UK, it’s actually quite common...in fact, there’s a whole industry built around it. But truthfully, I’ve had this conversation more than a few times...although not just about weddings. For a lot of people, the thought of hiring a magician for their event never even crosses their mind. And a good number of my first-time clients are these people. Now, I don’t mean that this is their first time hiring me before...I mean, I’m the first magician/mentalist/something-other-than-a-guy-with-an-iPod-and-a-speaker they’ve ever brought into their event to provide some entertainment ever. And it always goes the same way: I show up, amaze the pants off the guests, and later, when I speak to the organizer about the event, they say something like, “WOW, that was amazing. Thank you so much! Everyone loved it...we’re still talking about it! I’m so glad I decided to do something different for our event this year and bring you in.” The fact is, for many reasons, adding entertainment like a magician or mentalist to your event can be a HUGE boost to whatever you’re planning. And a lot of my first-time clients never anticipated the added bonuses of professional entertainment at their event. For example: 1. It Makes Your Event Go From Boring To Exciting Instantly We all dread that demon of event organizing...that the party winds up being a drag. We’ve all been there. We attend (or worse, planned) a party where people show up, make unbearable small-talk, silently eat a meal, endure whatever short program is planned, and head for the door as soon as they can. The night is over by 9 PM at the latest, and a month later everyone who attended forgot it happened. This situation makes a complete one-eighty with one small addition: adding a mentalist, magician, or entertainer to the mix. Before the show even starts, there’s a buzz in the room. “Did you hear that they hired entertainment this year? They got a Mind-Reader.” “What? Really?” Instant intrigue. What will it be like? Will they be part of it? Now they want to stay and see what happens. Then, the MC of the evening announces the entertainer, and by the end of the show, your guests are laughing, cheering, and gasping. They witness something they’ve never experienced before. For the rest of the night (and the next day, and the next year...but more on that later), conversations are popping up all the time about what happened. Why? Well, it’s because... Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year. It’s Booking Season. You know, the season where I sit down, answer emails, make phone calls, and schedule meetings to book shows for the following year. Now these shows can range from thirty people in a basement, to five hundred people in a conference center or theatre. But a least a few times a year, I come across someone planning an event that has a boatload of other questions that usually pertain to the rest of the event. Sometimes, it’s about catering. Or, it’s about audio and lighting. Other times, it’s about how to make whatever the event is special or unique in some way. And, being an expert event-goer, I’ve been to my fair share of events from every edge of the spectrum. And this year, I’ve had a few back-to-back requests about how to really add some pizazz to upcoming events that clients are hosting. So, to help all the would-be planners out there, I’ve decided to put together a little list on how to add some simple things to make your event pop. |
Jeff Newman:
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