If you are looking to hire a magician for your wedding, this guide will help you.
The question of who or which magician you should hire for your wedding party or private event is a popular one. There’s a number of variables it’s important to consider, including where you’re based, the style of magic you’re looking for, your budget, and perhaps the theme of your wedding.
Included in this article are some thoughts, insights, and recommendations to help you choose the perfect magician for your wedding or party. This comes from Duncan, a professional magician himself. He’s been performing for over 15 years.
The first consideration when looking to hire a magician should be this:
First, you need to consider the type of magic you are looking to entertain your guests with. There are a number of different styles. The first is closeup or table magic. This could be perfect for performing whilst your guests are dining at perhaps the wedding breakfast gala or banquet dinner.
Or you could have strolling or mix and mingle magic over the drinks reception, cocktail party, or as in many weddings, the wedding reception. This is a good time to break the ice between guests and start the party with something fun, entertaining and interactive. This is a great way to bring groups together, whether it be at a networking event or wedding or party of people who don’t know one another.
Second option at a party or event that you could consider is a stage show. This could be a cabaret show, a parlor shows or something to keep everybody entertained all at once.
The best time to hire a magician for your party or wedding:
This is perfect if you are looking for a focal point during the day. Utter gala dinner, this could be a stage performance in front of everybody before or after dinner or as a wedding show to break up the speeches. If you’re looking to have everyone focused on one act that’s highly interactive and fun and have a collective sound of wows, oohs, and ahs throughout the room, then a stage show, cabaret show or parlor show is perhaps the correct option for you. It’s important to consider the not all closeup table or mix and mingle magicians perform a stage or after dinner show, so don’t assume that they do. The final option for a magician is a mentalist or mind reader.
Now, some closeup magicians perform both mentalism and closeup, and some are exclusive. This is an exciting alternative to those people who have perhaps seen traditional magic before. This is different to a tarot reader in that they don’t reveal anything strange or unusual about the individual, but is highly interactive and move things away from cards, coins, and other gimmicks.
The final option, and perhaps the more modern option is a digital or iPad magician. These are becoming increasingly popular as people begin to appreciate the contemporary nature of iPad or digital magic.
Watch Duncan's Close Up Magic As A Wedding or Party Magician
Some of the most respected names in magic for you to choose from:
For those audiences who have seen traditional magic before, this is a fun and exciting alternative, especially for contemporary audiences. This can involve pulling things, items, or objects out of an iPad or iPhone, and can even include customization options.
So, there are your 3 or 4 different options, closeup, table, mix or mix and mingle magic, a stage shows parlor or cabaret show mentalism, both closeup and stage performance and finally, digital magic as well. The next consideration when deciding who you should hire as a magician for your wedding is where they’re based. Here are some recommendations by region and locality. In no particular order, here are 5 of the highest rating wedding magicians in the UK.
Number one, Duncan William, a professional closeup magician with over 15 years’ experience. He’s one of the few full-time magicians and a recommended supplier for a number of prestigious venues around the UK. His magic involves digital magic, traditional closeup magic, mind reading, and can even perform an after-dinner show.
Nick Einhorn is a professional magician who performs forms at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and is a popular choice at weddings.
Dynamo, otherwise known as Steven Frayne, are highly acclaimed TV magician and occasionally performs at private events.
And finally, Paul Zenon is another popular magician in the UK who occasionally performs at weddings and has been on TV a number of times, including countdown.
If you are looking for magicians from the United States of America, you can consider David Blaine.
Duncan Creates Bespoke Magic For Events Too!
An Extended List Of Magicians
David Blaine is a popular closeup magician, and if the fee is correct, you can con secure his services for your event.
Daniel Leans performs Wedding Magic, combining comedy and illusions to leave your guests laughing.
Jon Finch is a magician held in high regard, an expert at mixing and mingling with your guests to break the ice.
Finally, David Minkin has been a professional for many years and has even created some of his own closeup magic that is used by other magicians around the world. If you’re considering magicians in Australia, and Simon Ryan is a popular choice performing both cards and coin magic.
Phoenix is also an Australia based magician delivering high impact performances at your wedding.
Finally, if you’re looking to find a magician for your wedding in Canada, you could consider Graham Reed, who like Duncan creates custom wedding performances and Chris Funk, also known as the wonderous, combining humor, music, and magic, and offers a family friendly show as well. So, you have the type of magician you have where they’re based.
The next consideration when choosing who to hire for your wedding should be where to find them. Hopefully the list mentioned above gives you a few ideas of who to choose, but you can also search online directories. GigSalad in America is popular, or you could choose some of the other popular online services such as pop top or bark, a word of warning with PopTop or Bark. These are online agents who take a commission and often it’s a race to the bottom, to the cheapest magician you can find. If you want a cheap magician with no regard for quality, then this is a good place.
Watch Duncan's Professional Stage Show Below Perfect For Weddings and Events
Use the many directories to help you decide which magician to choose for your wedding:
Finally, the Magic Circle offers a directory of magicians who have been inducted into this world-famous magic society. Again, another word of warning. This is something of a boy’s club and does not automatically guarantee any level of quality.
Sure, you may have to have passed an interview to get in, but ultimately it is a paying club and business where the entry requirements are low. Being a member of the magic society does not mean you have equality of a certain standing. Other places to find a magician will of course be a simple Google search. Here you can find reviews and testimonials through their Google business page, and equally, you can find them through social media as well.
Again, you can find social media magicians in their millions now, as magic is a high, is a popular art form, be careful not to be duped by the glossy show reels or magic performed online. Often, they’re performed with a static camera and cannot be duplicated in real life.
That said, it’s here that you can also ask others for recommendations as well, which leads to the final part, which is word of mouth.
Use the many directories to help you decide which magician to choose for your wedding:
Your other suppliers may know of good magicians. You could ask your wedding photographer, your bride Floris. You could even ask your bridesmaids or your best men to see if they have experienced magic at any other weddings they’ve attended. So hopefully by now you found a magician, but you’ve probably got a few magicians in mind.
Before securing their services, I believe there were 5 questions you want to ask a magician before paying a deposit. The first is checking their availability. Are they available on your wedding date? It’s worth inquiring ahead of time because some of the best magicians do get booked up parley. Secondly, quiz them on their experience. Can they point you in the direction of references, testimonials or reviews, and ask them, when is the best time for them to perform at your wedding?
They may have a better insight than you. Thirdly, customization. Can they tailor their magic to your wedding to fit with your theme, your audience, and the characters that may be attending? Are there particular people who don’t want to see magic and particular guests who you should spend more time performing to? Often for bookers, a consideration of price is important.
So, ask what their fees are and do they offer packages that perhaps involve or include hosting for the day? Are there additional costs such as travel, food, et cetera, et cetera. And finally, what are the contingency plans? What happens if they can’t perform?
And equally, so what happens if the wedding heaven forbid gets cancelled or rearranged?
The final decisions you should make include three elements. Consider the personality of the magician. A showreel where they don’t have any interaction with the audience could be a warning sign that they don’t have the correct social skills to interact with your guests.
In Conclusion
Magic isn’t just about performing some astonishing magic. It’s about entertaining the audience as well and giving them a good time. Secondly, what is their style? If they’ve got lots of tattoos, shaved head, lots of piercings and your audience don’t have this, this could be seen as both a positive and a negative. A positive in that they could stand out. A negative in the fact that it could jar with your audience.
What’s their style of dress as well?
Consider, does it fit with your style of your wedding? Finally, what is your budget? Consider what your budget is and shop around before committing. There’s an old phrase, which is, if you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur.
In other words, if you hire an amateur, you may very well get an amateur performance. They may not turn up and they may leave your audience with a sour taste in their mouth. So be conscious about who you choose and the fees that they charge.
Fees range between £300 and upwards of one and a half thousand pounds, and if you are from America, $500 to upwards of $2,000.
I hope this list of thoughts, suggestions, and ideas helps guide you as to who or which magician you should choose for your wedding. And if you’re interested in inquiring about Duncan’s fees, availability, style of magic, then do not hesitate to get in touch with Duncan using the button below.
