Nigel Francis Magic |
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Domestic performances include wedding receptions and christenings, along with some hotel, restaurant and wine bar work.
Corporate performances include banquets, balls, product launches, charity fund raisers and trade shows.
Wedding Magic
A large proportion of my domestic work is done at wedding receptions.
There are several very good reasons why you should consider hiring a magician at such an event:
It is the perfect environment to experience close up magic.
No other form of entertainment creates such a direct level of interest as close-up magic. You can be absolutely sure this will be a major talking point amongst your guests both on the day and for months, sometimes even years afterwards. Not many people get the chance to see close up magic right in front of their eyes.
There are obviously two distinct groups of people at such events, the friends and family of the bride and the friends and family of the groom. This makes for a strategic way of getting them to socially interact with each other, which of course is the whole point of a wedding reception.
Quite often wedding reception venue staff will heard you and your guests out of the room you have hired immediately after the speeches and ask you to wait in the bar area whilst the room is reset for the evening do. This nearly always creates a flat spot, not unlike being thrown out of a pub at closing time. This time period can often be 2-3 hours and includes furniture rearrangement cleaning and to give the DJ or band time to set up. This results in your guests being dispersed in a large central bar area often frequented by other members of the general public not necessasarily associated with your event. Having a magician performing has the effect of keeping the group together and deters members of the general public, not associated with your group, from mingling with your guests.
There are two main performing timeframes for magicians at wedding receptions. Either "Meet and Greet" as guests arrive at the venue, followed by "Table Hopping" (as we call it) between courses during the wedding breakfast.
The other option is "Mix and Mingle" (as we call it) starting immediately after the speeches up until the time the DJ pumps up the volume.
Most magicians expect you to choose one timeframe or the other.(otherwise the magic tends to dominate the theme of the event) Some magicians charge extra for the photo session although in my experience this timeframe rarely takes more than 20 minutes in reality and is in my opinion not even worth consideration. If I am doing the "Meet and Greet" / "Table Hopping" option, I cover this brief timeframe anyway for no additional charge.
If you have the choice (based on your schedule) the "Mix and Mingle" option starting just after the speeches up until the DJ kicks off (a straight 3 hour block) is usually the better way to go for a wedding reception. In most cases this tends to be 4pm to 7pm give or take an hour.
Although certainly not impossible the "Table Hopping" part during the wedding breakfast is a lot more difficult. People who see me perform in this format at corporate events, assume this will work just as well during their wedding breakfast. This is not the case. Guests are only seated at a wedding reception for about two hours. Just over an hour for the meal and just under an hour for the speeches, (the latter period during which time I cannot perform at all). At corporate events guests remain seated at the table for most of the evening, long after the meal is done with. This gives me plenty of time to get around everyone without constant interruptions from waiting staff delivering food and drink. In other words performing during the wedding breakfast can often be a very rushed affair especially with all the constant interruptions. Also, only being able to perform between courses does not help. If wedding reception customers choose this option I suggest they have me spend propotionately more time doing the "Meet and Greet" part. Ideally 2 hours "Meet and Greet" followed by 1 hour "Table Hopping" assuming this fits in with the time schedule of course.
I usually perform for about 3 hours at a wedding reception, although I frequently get carried away and perform longer. This is based on the average number of guests(100-120) If the event is bigger, I perform longer for no additional charge. In rare circumstances where guest numbers are much smaller(50-60) I can quote for a 2 hour rate. Please note I do not quote for a photo session only rate. This time period barley constitutes a performing timeframe at all and is often quoted separately by some magicians just as an upsell.
Restaurant Magic
Another area of my work is concerned with performing Close up Magic in Hotels, Restaurants and Wine Bars.
Again this is an excellent environment in which to perform close up magic.
The Restaurant Magician is the perfect way for restaurants to impress guests. I am often booked for Birthday or Office parties. I am also regularly booked for both Lunches and Evening Meals on Public Holidays or annual celebrations such as Xmas Day, Xmas Eve, New Years Eve, Easter, Valentines Day, Mothers Day, and Fathers Day. I am also frquently booked for promotional events.
The Restaurant Magician can extend personal greetings on behalf of the Restaurant Management. Guests who experience entertainment at their table feel they are getting special attention and as a result feel that they are getting better value for money. This often turns one-off customers into regulars.
Parents frequently choose Restaurants that their children will feel comfortable in. What could be better than having a magician visit their table.
In the unlikely event there is a problem in the kitchen resulting in delays of food deliveries to the table. The Magician can keep the customers suitably distracted whilst the problem is being solved thus reducing the chances of verbal complaints or customers creating a scene. The reason I was recently employed in 2009 by one of the contestants on the Virgin One TV Series "Restaurant in Our Living Room" was for this very reason.
This covers a multitude of events from Banquets, Balls, Charity Fund Raising Events, Product Launches and Trade shows.
For Banquets and Balls it is perceived by guests as a nice touch and shows them that the organiser has put a little extra thought into planning the event.
At Charity Fund Raisers Magicians can relax the guests and provide encouragment for them to donate generously.
Product Launches tend to be, in my experience, frequently held in car dealerships. It is a way of thanking customers for their continued support, and to show off the latest models of their new cars. In other words customer retention.
Trade Shows
This in fact has nothing whatever to do with the performing of magic as a means of entertainment. It is in fact just a means to an end. But what a great means it is.
Having an exhibition stand at a trade show is a very costly and risky business for companies. I see so many companies spend vast amounts of money on their pitch at such events, not to mention the actual stands themselves, which are often custom built. They then have to pay out numerous additional costs on such things as printed literature, staffing, food, accommodation and transport. Unfortunately having spent all this money (in advance) without any guarantee whatsoever of making a single business contact, they then, (usually as an afterthought), think that a bowl of sweets costing less than a fiver will be an effective "Hook" or “Traffic Stopper” as we magicians call it. I wonder how many business relationships have actually been forged on the strength of a boiled sweet.
The reality unfortunately is that delegates walk into a Trade Show/Exhibition knowing perfectly well they are going to be approached and pitched to by salespeople selling their products and services. You will see visitors rushing up and down the aisles with their eyes glued to the floor, trying desparately not to make eye contact with anyone. You can have the coolest most expensive looking stand at the entire show, but this is all in vein if you can't get the visitors to actually stop and converse with you. I have actually seen exhibitor staff with bowls of sweets held in out-stretched hands in total desparation, trying to get anyone at all to stop and talk to them, even when the event is at full capacity.
Unfortunately there are many people who just consider magic to be a childish form of entertainment, usually because they wrongly assume magicians and children’s entertainers are the same thing, or maybe, as is often the case, they have never seen a proper close-up magician perform before. They do not consider its potential value as a very effective business tool. It is however worth note that massive companies like Microsoft and Xerox consider a magician to be an integral part of their actual sales team, as do many other companies worldwide. They use the services of magicians at trade shows on a very regular basis, because they know it works.
The actual function of a Trade Show magician is:
To gather crowds.
To put the crowd at ease by relaxing them. (This very effectively “brings down the barriers” making them much more receptive to the sales team)
To break the ice with as many members of the crowd as possible.
To fish for information about these individuals by getting their names, identifying the companies they work for, their job title and what their reason is for attending the trade show. The responses to this strategic questions posed subtly during the performance are then carefully noted by the sales team, allowing them to cherry-pick potential future customers from the crowd. This saves them a lot of otherwise wasted time ensuring they speak to the right people from the outset.
In some cases we can actually introduce members of the crowd to specific members of the sales team. This very conveniently takes the responsibility of initial "ice-breaking" off the shoulders of the salesperson entirely, leaving them to do what they do best, (negotiate the sale of products and services and ultimately close the sale). This factor alone can make a significant difference to the success of an exhibition stand.
Trade Show Magicians frequently, build into their presentations the company’s slogan if they have one and any unique selling points relevant to the products and services of the companies they represent. This of course is usually delivered in a commical and entertaining way, which of course makes their visit to your stand very memorable indeed. A lot of trade is done with exhibitors days, weeks or even months after the show. So who do you think they are going to call?
Where there are never any guarantees given to an exhibitor, having invested all this money, certainly the most effective way of maximising your success at such an event is to have a magician perform on your stand. Not only does a magician grab instant attention but unlike other forms of "Traffic-Stopper" it sustains that attention for a considerable period of time. In fact it is so effective at drawing crowds, I am often asked by the venue’s security to stop performing, whilst the human traffic jam I have created, disperses.
Tel:08451082467 Mob: 07958 320338 Fax:N/A Email:nigel@nigelfrancismagic.com
Copyright © Nigel Francis Magic 2010
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