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Another popular form of entertainment is magic. Dick Steiner
is a magician and mentalist who performs his tricks around
the USA. He shares his tips for his trade. "For a reception
it is hard to beat a strolling or walk-around magician for
great interactive entertainment. A good strolling magician
will be adept at mingling with the crowd and performing short
sets of close-up magic for small groups of people, usually
3 to 10 at a time, and moving on to another part of the room.
Strolling magicians will work out of their pockets with a
likely emphasis on cards and coins. Some magicians will concentrate
on impromptu props as well, such as spectators' rings, napkins,
rubber bands, or paper money."
"A strolling mentalist, like the strolling magician,
will entertain a few people at a time, but with mind-reading
effects involving lots of audience participation. Keep in
mind that to be enjoyed, the strolling performer will need
to be heard and seen. That means soft background music will
work in conjunction with strolling magicians and mentalists,
but loud music could restrict your performers' audience size
to only one or two people at a time. Lights can be low for
ambience but should not be so low that the performers' effects
cannot be seen clearly."
Is there an equation? How many strolling magicians and mentalists
are necessary for an event where people are mingling? Steiner
says, "a good rule of thumb, is one strolling magician
or mentalist per hour for every 200 guests, if no other activities
are competing for the attention of the guests."
See Tips to understand how
many performers you should hire.
See
Bob Higa Magic, this month's featured Artist.
 Mark
Sonder, CSEP is the Chief Entertainment Officer of Mark Sonder
Productions, the leading national entertainment agency providing
headline talent and production services for large venues,
corporations and associations. In addition, Sonder sits on
the faculty of The George Washington University MBA/MTA Degree
Program and Event Management Certificate program. Event Entertainment
and Production is the book published by John Wiley & Sons
authored by Sonder.
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