Having a great Magician at your social event is a decision you won’t regret, providing emotional reactions from everyone, creating powerful memories and helping build a fantastic atmosphere. As a professional magician over the last ten years I have learned through experience the best ways to use magic at your party in order to optimise the experience! Here are just a few of my thoughts.
- Create the right environment. Magic, when used properly has a remarkable impact on an events success, but magic requires the right environment and it’s important that it’s not competing with other factors such as overly loud music, food being served during the performance or other entertainment distracting audience members at the same time. When presented properly, magic should make audiences feel like they are part of something special, so creating an environment that supports this feeling is key. Make sure the music isn’t too loud, and that the waiters know not to serve food while the magician is performing.
- Don’t overuse magic. If you are having 200 guests at a drinks event and have a magician performing close up, it is perfectly ok to have them performing non-stop for 2 or 3 hours, as they will only be able to get around a certain amount of guests in that time. In fact if you want everyone to see close up magic at an event like this, then you would do well to book several magicians. However, if you are having an event for say 20 people, and you hire a magician for 2 hours – the performer will likely feel obligated to perform as much as possible to feel like they are doing a good job, and this isn’t always the right choice. Some good options for an event like this would be to either have a show for everyone that lasts about 45mins, or you could have the magician come out and perform 2 or 3 times over the 3 hours for 15-20mins each time. Magic is incredible, but is best when you leave people wanting more.
- Decide whether the magic is a surprise or not. Having the magic as a surprise is a perfectly good way to go. However, telling people beforehand that there will be some, can create fantastic anticipation and help to build the atmosphere long before the event has even begun!
- Listen to the Magicians advice on the night. Sometimes for whatever reason, what you had planned for the event just isn’t the best way to do things. Perhaps the guests are slightly too drunk or loud to be expected to watch a full show, so close up will work far better. Sometimes the venue is too dark in parts for walk-around so it can be better to give the magician their own area with a table and let people come to them. Whatever the situation, please remember that this is our job and we have years of experience of knowing what works best to make your event incredible.
- Book a magician which reflects the style of your event. Some performers are eccentric, some intelligent, some are people who shouldn’t be allowed to speak to the public. Look for somebody who you can imagine integrating well with your guests and who you feel they would be interested in and like. Mentalism works well at most events, but less so in a loud nightclub space.
- Decide how central you want the magic to be. For some events, having a magician is just an embellishment on an already glittering party. For others, the magician is the star of the entire party. If you know what it is you are looking for then we can work together to make the occasion everything you hoped for and more!
