Comes to the table, not the stage
At a seated dinner the stage competes with conversation and almost always loses. Close-up magic and caricaturists work because they reach the guest without asking them to move.
Company Dinners
Company dinners
At a seated dinner, the entertainment has to come to the table
We run entertainment for company dinners while respecting the seated format: close-up magic table by table, caricaturists, live cocktails, undercover actor-waiters and a short closing act before coffee.
A company dinner has one clear limitation worth accepting before booking anything: people are seated and they are not going to get up. Anything requiring a trip to another area, a games bar, a casino zone, sits empty until service ends. So at dinners we almost always work with formats that come to the table or that can be watched from it without moving.
The format that works best by a distance is close-up magic. A magician moving between courses achieves something no stage show manages at a dinner: complete attention for five minutes from a group of eight, followed by conversation about what they have just seen. A caricaturist serves a similar purpose, with the advantage that the guest takes the drawing home.
The other usable moment is the arrival. The twenty minutes of drinks beforehand, usually wasted with guests standing around on their phones, comfortably support a live cocktail bar, a mirror man greeting arrivals or living tables serving canapes. It is where the difference between a considered dinner and an ordinary one shows most, because it sets the tone before anyone sits down.
And for the end, a short close. Eight or ten minutes of something strong just before coffee, an aerial number, a fire show or a brief musical act, finishes the dinner on a high and eases the move to the bar. Running longer tends to backfire: people have already been seated for three hours and start checking the time.
- 5 minper table with close-up magic
- 20 minof drinks properly used
- 24 hquote turnaround
- 100%in-house staff
Uses the arrival drinks
The twenty minutes before sitting down are the most wasted gap of any dinner. A cocktail bar or a welcome with presence changes the tone of the whole evening.
Closes high and short
An eight or ten minute number before coffee leaves a better memory than half an hour of programme. And it helps people move to the bar rather than go home.
How we set it up
Tell us the format
Number of tables, guests per table, service duration and whether there are arrival drinks or speeches.
We map the timings
What happens during drinks, what between courses and what before coffee, fitted around the restaurant's service.
We coordinate with the maitre d'
We speak directly with the floor manager so entertainment never clashes with service.
We deliver the dinner
Our team works throughout the evening and withdraws without interrupting the move to the bar.
Formats and ideas that work
- Close-up magician working the tables between starter and main
- Caricaturist drawing guests during dinner
- Live cocktail bar during the welcome drinks
- Undercover actor-waiters who break character halfway through
- Mirror man or living red carpet greeting guests at the door
- Short aerial number as a close before coffee
- Photo booth set up beside the bar for after dinner
- Living tables serving canapes during the reception
Why a dinner needs less than it seems
The temptation at a company dinner is to book too much: a show, a photo booth, a games bar and live music. In practice there is no time. Between drinks, three courses, speeches and coffee there are perhaps forty usable minutes of entertainment, and splitting them across four proposals means none of them lands.
Our recommendation is almost always the same: one strong piece that works the tables, something to occupy the arrival, and a short close. That completes the dinner, concentrates the budget on what is actually seen, and avoids ending up with equipment built that nobody uses.
Frequently asked questions
How many tables does a close-up magician cover?
Ten to fifteen tables in an hour and a half, allowing five minutes per table plus movement. For larger dinners we propose two magicians working in parallel from opposite ends of the room.
Does it interfere with restaurant service?
Not if it is coordinated beforehand. We speak to the maitre d' to learn the timing of each course and work the gaps. It is a five-minute conversation that prevents the classic problem of the magician arriving exactly as the main course does.
Do actor-waiters work with every audience?
They work very well with teams who know each other and less well at formal dinners or with external clients. We assess it with you beforehand: it is a high-impact format that needs matching to the group's tone.
Can you perform in a small restaurant?
Yes. Close-up magic, caricaturists and cocktails need no stage or extra space. Only aerial numbers and fire shows require height or safety distance, and we rule them out if the venue cannot take them.
How long is the service?
Two to three hours typically, covering drinks, dinner and the close. It is fitted to the restaurant's real schedule, which is what actually determines how long the evening lasts.