Event: Oct 27 Club Performance –
Venue: – Lulu’s Lounge
Package: Close Up Magic & MC to introduce late night acts
Lulu’s Lounge hosted a special event for Halloween called the Carnival of the Absurd. I was hired to do roving magic and to introduce the burlesque acts. Below some snapshots from the event.
Event: Oct 18 Corporate event – IQVIA
Venue: Gardens by the Bay – Flower Field Hall
Package: Close Up Magic
Oct 18 I was performing at the IQVIA annual Dinner and Dance, themed ‘A Night in Wonderland’. All the guests were wearing a theme related costume. Since I perform mainly with playing cards I faced an ideal situation using guests dressed up as playing cards in my effect.
Entrance to the venue:
Last week I performed close up magic at 3 different events and each of them was set up differently.
The first engagement was a performance for Givenchy at Bar Rouge. It was basically a cocktail event leading up to the launch of a new product. The client asked me to involve some of their items into the performance. I created an effect using a make-up container inside which a freely selected card appeared. Typically for an event like this is that the magician works for small groups of people and the performance is usually about 5 minutes. The performance does not require any setup and it is ideal for events where the show is not a highlight but an addon to support the theme.
The second engagement was a performance at an award dinner at the Marriott Hotel. I was hired to perform in between the 4-course dinner. The difference to the cocktail event before is that one can cover more guests in the same period of time. At a banquet each table seats on average 10 people. In an hour, about 6-7 tables can be covered which means one performer can be used for 120-140 guests. The performer is also able to do a complete mini act of 8-10 minutes for each table, which give the guests a feeling of a personalized performance.
The last engagement was at a restaurant at Chijmes. The dinner was held in a private room at the restaurant. I was engaged to perform a formal 30-minute close-up after-dinner show for an audience of about 50 guests. Usually, the performance takes place after the main course or dessert. This type of show requires more planning but in my opinion, it is the most memorable option of all.
The question I am asked the most, apart from how did you do that, is how did you learn your craft and how do you improve your skill.
Like with any other business, there are conventions. There you can attend lectures held by famous or not so famous magicians, there are shows and usually exhibits that shows the latest and the greatest trick.
Personally, I don’t go very often because of the focus on tricks and sales. I believe improvement comes from doing as many performances as you can and analyzing what went well and sometimes what went wrong.
Every now and then there is a magic convention that goes off the beaten track. Earlier this year I signed up for a convention/lectures in Madrid Spain. What drew me to it was the fact that it was limited to 15 participants. It is called Campus Magico.
They had 6 teachers and the focus was on the way magic is approached in Spain. There were lectures about the history of Spanish Magic, lessons in active theatre and mime, storytelling and others. Each lecturer did a full day seminar with various exercises.
The location was about 30 km outside Madrid in a beautiful farmhouse. There was nothing around to distract your attention, so full focus on the lectures and exercises was guaranteed.
What I liked best is that I didn’t learn a single effect but improved on the ones I do already. Furthermore it was great to meet other performers from the UK, Germany, Spain, Canada and the US. I hope to be back next year
When it comes to event entertainment roving magic, also called strolling magic, close-up walk around or sometimes street magic seems to be a very popular option for cocktail events, private or corporate dinner parties.
Your guests will socialize better because magic is a great conversation starter. People that don’t know each other will talk about what they have just seen. It is also a good way to get different groups together.
Your guests are given the opportunity to socialize, not just to see a performance. Unlike a stand-up show or illusion show roving magic does not interrupt the flow of the event. It doesn’t require the attention of the entire audience but only of the group that is currently involved in the presentation.
The performance is personlized and your guests will have more fun getting their own show. Usually the magic happens in their hands.
There is no additional costs for a stage, lights and sound equipment. Roving magic can be done almost anywhere, under almost any conditions.
Finally it is possible to customize the effects to involve for example your company name and logo or message. For private events e.g. birthday parties or anniversaries a message can be included leaving the main person or couple with unique souvenir.
FAQ
How long is a performance? Typically 5-10 minutes per group
How many people can be you perform for? As a ballpark, at a cocktail event about 40-50 people can be covered in one hour. At a sit down dinner (tables of 1o) about 60-70 per hour
Can this also be used for a small group of 5-20 people? I would recommend to do a close-up show of about 25 minutes for the entire group.
Below are pictures taken at a recent performance. It was required to perform during the cocktail hour and later at the dinner in between courses.
Last week JTI engaged my service as trade show magician to attract conference attendees to their booth. Below the case study.
Client Name: Japan Tabacco International Group of Companies
Description: Manufacturer-independent provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for aircrafts, engines and components
Industry: Tobacco
Headquarter: Geneva Switzerland
Event: TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition and Conference
Audience: 2000 Conference Participants from
Challence: To create awareness of the Future of Brands Campaign. By stopping the attendees at the booth communicating the challenge and impact of extensive regulations on products.
The Objective: To invite as many attendees as possible to sign up for the news letter on brand ban information
Solution: To ensure a consistent flow of visitors at the booth n created a customized performance of about 10 min to attract and hold visitors at the booth until a representative was available to provide more detailed information. The presentation contained the main message and key points of the campaign and closed with a call to action (to leave the contact information and to pick up flyer with more details about the campaign).
Performance outline: Regulations make brands disappear by enforcing generic packaging of products e.g. cigarette packages in the UK. At the conference it was not possible to display tobacco brands so instead a dollar bill changed to a blank piece of paper. A selected card faded in stages to a blank card and 15 seconds of the memory of an attendee was erased. Illustrating the fact that if you can’t display the trade mark of a brand your customers will forget it.
Here some pics of the unique booth set up and my creepy partner.
To find out more about customized magic presentations click here.
Event: April 28, 29 Singapore Seven Rugby Tournament – HSBC Hospitality suite
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium – HSBC hexagon suite
Package: Roving Magic
Last weekend I was performing a roving magic Marathon at the Singapore 7 rugby tournament. 8 hours of magic in 2 days. It was a lot of fun and just when I thought I would not handle playing cards for the next couple of days, I received a message from a friend of mine that a famous close-up magician from the US was in Singapore and a session would take place at a hotel close to my apartment. Well my wife knows that I am obsessed. I spent another 3 hours at the session. I just love what I do.
Event: Mar 22 Partner and Sales Conference – Honeywell
Venue: Novotel, Danang, Vietnam
Package: Stage performance, 230 guests
Honeywell engaged my services for a sales and partner conference in Danang Vietnam to do an after dinner stage show. The audience comprised of Honeywell employees and partners from Asia Pacific and the United States. I flew in a day prior to the performance for a rehearsal and technical check. The show went really well thanks to the organizers from Masso Group.
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