What to look for when hiring a magician

If you’re organising an event and would like a magician as part of the entertainment, don’t just hire the first one you come across. To get the best suited magician for your event, there are a number of things you need to think about and questions you need to ask when you make your initial enquiry. Here are my top 5 tips on what to look for when hiring a magician:

1. Recommendations

The first thing you should do is ask around to see if anyone can recommend magicians they’ve seen at other events. Wedding magicians are extremely popular, but they will also work their magic at corporate events and birthday parties, and on stage as cabaret acts. So it could well be that someone you know has seen a great close-up magician they think will be ideal for your event.

2. Testimonials

Always look for testimonials. Professional magicians will always post glowing reports from happy clients – as well as the odd celebrity recommendation – on their website, and on social media. The more happy reviewers there are, the more confident you can be in their abilities!

3. Audience

When hiring a magician, you need to think about who they will be performing for. If your event is going to be attended only by adults only, you’ll need a magician with different skills than if there will be kids there too. Most magicians will be happy to adapt their performance to their audience, but there are some who only specialise in children’s parties and others who do tricks that are aimed at grown-ups. So before you even get in touch, check their website to make sure that what the magician does will be suitable for your audience.

4. Ask questions

Once you’ve completed your initial research and come up with a shortlist of the magicians you want to get in touch with, make sure you ask them lots of questions to get a better feel for whether or not they’d be right for you. After you’ve established their availability and prices, suggested questions are:

• How long have you been working as a professional magician?
• What kind of magic do you perform?
• Are your tricks suitable for everyone, or children or adults only?
• Can I see any videos of you in action?
• Are you insured?

The idea is not only to get an idea of their experience and skills but also to find out how they connect with people. The success of any entertainer lies in their personality and how they interact with their audience. If you’re happy with how you get on with them on the phone, it’s a good sign that they’ll also get on with everyone at your event.

5. Cost

Price will always be a factor when hiring a magician but, depending on the type of event you’re having and how long you require the magician for, you can expect to pay £300+ for a full-time professional magician with celebrity clientele and lots of great reviews. If you break that down, it’s probably the equivalent of £3 – £5 per person (depending on the number of guest attending) – the price of a large glass of wine at the bar!

Check out my videos to see what I can do and how your guests will react to my magic. Then contact me to find out more.