Introduction to the Top 3 Performance Styles of A Magician
The top three types of performance styles a magician can perform are explained here and can help potential clients choose the correct option for their event.
When booking or hiring a professional magician people think of all magicians as the same. However much like a builder, or any other skilled profession, they all have their specialties. A magician is no different. There are three different styles of magic a performer can do. Inside of that there are subsections as well. But for this particular article, let’s focus on the three.
Close-up magic is the first and, of course, the most popular performance style for a magician. A professional close-up magician does just that: perform close up. For many people, the question is, what is close-up magic? Well, close-up magic can often be called table magic, intimate magic, walk around magic, mix and mingle magic up close magic. Whatever you decide to call it, magic of the close-up variety is something that is performed in front of people’s very eyes. It’s often performed in small groups and is perfect for drinks receptions, the wedding photoperiod, or events where people are standing around having drinks, nipples, and waiting for a much more critical part of the evening or daytime to take place.
Number 1. Close Up Magic Broken Down
Close-up magic often involves small objects, like playing cards and coins, and can even include mind reading. In fact, close-up magic covers a number of different styles inside of that. Of course, there’s close-up magic. As I mentioned, there’s mind reading, which involves perhaps somebody unlocking your mobile phone and telling them your star sign or bank pin. There’s digital magic. Digital magicians have been around for the last five or ten years. And this involves using iPads and iPhones to create magic, combining technology with cards and coins. There are other styles of closer magic, as well.
There’ll be comedy magicians, or there’ll be pickpockets, or there’ll be close-up balloon artists. These all fall under the umbrella of close-up magic. And he’s perfect if you want a professional entertainer to break the ice between guests.
When you have a drinks reception, you’re often bringing people together, perhaps from different parts of the company. In the company, they may or may not know one another or only have worked with each other over Zoom teams or on the phone. This is a great way to break the ice between different organization sectors and make them feel welcome.
Equally so as for a wedding. Close-up magic is perfect for the drinks reception once the wedding photos are taken. This allows your bride and groom to go off and have their photos taken in the knowledge that someone is looking after their guests. But equally so, close-up magic can also extend into table magic. Table magic is a performance in front of small groups of people sitting down between courses during the meal. This is not a preferred option for many magicians because you have to interrupt people while they are dining is certainly an option. Table magic can also be performed at the riser tables at a drinks reception as well.
Close up magic is also popular at festivals and events and adds an extra element of fun and interactivity with a performer or walk-around magician strolling between guests and bringing some excitement to their faces. Close-up magic can also be performed to teach people. Duncan is often hired to teach close-up magic, but schools, scouts, or three AES or rotary clubs.
Close-up magic is great for improving your dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and focus, and it can even help with ADHD and attention deficit conditions.
Here are a few examples of Close up Magicians
Some of the famous close-up magicians you may be familiar with include Dynamo. And David Blaine. David Blaine popularized close-up magic in his 1999 street magic special. Street magic would call for hiding and focus on the reactions of the spectators. With his close-up magic, we defined the world of magic and moved away from the classic stage magic of poor Daniels, David Nixon, Tommy Wonder, and Tommy Cooper of recent years.
Since the mid-2000s, close-up magic has become increasingly popular and is perfect at weddings, private parties, celebrations, and events. The reason close-up magic is so good is because it brings groups together and breaks the ice. It’s also universally enjoyable for all ages, and a professional close-up magician can tailor their magic for the audience he is performing.
Not only that, but close-up magic is perfect for giving everybody a private experience. A stage magician may not be able to create the same impact.
Watch Duncan's Close Up Magic Showreel Below:
Number 2. Stage Magic Broken Down
The second performance styler of magic is cabaret magic. Cabaret magic is a performance style of magic, which sits between close up magic and stage magic. This is often performed in a small, intimate theater.
Often, people sat around a large close-up table, maybe 15 to 20 people. Cabaret magic may involve larger items such as silks, bottles, cards, coins, and other elements like that. Cabaret magic is a crossover between close-up magic and stage magic, and it is perfect if you have a small group of people who don’t want a full stage show with lights, stage, microphone, etc. but it’s perfect if you want a larger scale event, you can have people chosen and come up and perform behind the table or sit at the table and watch sleight of hand with cards and coins.
Cabaret is generally a performance style, which is only suitable if everybody’s seated and watching as opposed to eating their food and drinking if they’re all sat around. Watching the performer, this is perfect. Cabaret style doesn’t work so well at weddings because you have a larger audience. Nor does it work so well. The cabaret style is far better when you have only two or three people, with small numbers 20 to 30.
Often, it would help if you made consideration and provision for where the cabaret magician can put his table or the stand from which he will perform. Cabaret style is often performed with nobody behind. Because, of course, magic, as many people think, is all about illusion. And you can see sleight of hand; you’re standing behind somebody in a cabaret style.
So, if you’re looking to book a magician to perform cabaret-style magic, it is important to consider where they can perform if your venue has the space for them, if your house has the space for them, and if you have seats for your guests to sit and watch.
Watch Duncan Performing His Cabaret Magic Below:
Number 3. Stage Magic Broken Down
This leads us to the third style of magic, stage magic. Stage magic is perhaps the least popular but an equally prevalent form of magic.
Only so many magicians perform stage shows in the UK or internationally. There are different styles of stage shows. You can have a digital stage show, a stage show with pyrotechnics, a mind-reading stage show, a magic stage show, and a manipulation stage show. Often, you can find stage magic and sit cities such as Las Vegas, where people such as Puff the Magic Dragon, Shin Lim, and Colin Cloud perform. David Copperfield performs, and David Blaine has a show.
Stage magic is often performed in front of much larger audiences.
So, stage magic is the way to go if you’re having an awards event, a celebration, and occasionally at a wedding. Duncan has a professionally produced 40-minute stage show. This show has been tailored, customized, tweaked, and refined over 15 years of performing.
It performs a two-hour stage show and has been done in theaters around the world. He took the stage show and tailored the highlights. His 40-minute stage show is perfect for awards, ceremonies, events, and gala dinners. This sits ideally between giving prizes and other parts of the evening. Stage show, much like other stage shows, is highly interactive. They involve the audience. They involve comedy, humor, magic, and mind-reading and are perfect for all ages. When hiring a stage magician, it’s essential to question the content.
And is it relevant or indeed suitable for the audience? Is the audience looking for something humorous, highly visual, interactive, and family-friendly? With music or without music.
These are all considerations, and every stage magician is different. As an intelligent stage magician with over 15 years’ experience, banking can customize some of his routines for your audience, combining sleight of hand and mind reading to involve the whole audience or just certain audience members. Unlike a hypnotist, the magic Duncan performs is not silly or embarrassing. He makes everybody feel fantastic. Who comes up on stage talking of hypnotism? Of course, you also get hypnotists who perform on stage. For some, they liken them to magicians.
And yes, there is some crossover, but they are an entertainment area of themselves. Duncan doesn’t include hypnotism in his shows but does include suggestions for psychology, influence persuasion, magic, psychology, and fun to leave your audience spellbound and laughing in amazement. So, there you have a presentation of the three different types of magic. You have stage magic, cabaret magic, and close-up magic.
Don’t include each of his performance styles for you, your event, and your audience, ensuring that your needs are met and that your audience will be left feeling fantastic and new, being congratulated for hiring the perfect entertainment for your event.
If you’re looking to hire Duncan to bring some magic to your party event award ceremony or long service awards, then please do not hesitate to get in touch to hire Duncan as either a close-up magician, cabaret magician, or stage magician. You can find his details on the contact form at the top of the page. Give him a call or check his availability using the button below.
