How to hire a magician (and get the right act)

People type “hire a magician” into a search box the week of a wedding, a product launch, or a child’s party. They do not want a tutorial. They want an act who will arrive, work the room, and leave the guests talking. This page is that brief — written from the house that books the work, not from a marketplace that sells tiles.

If you are the host, use it to choose well. If you are the magician, use it to answer the questions you already get by email, and put a public listing on the Housecue board so the next searcher can find you without opening your private studio.

Close-up, parlor, or stage — pick the room first

Most disappointment with a magic show is a mismatch of format, not of talent. A close-up magician walks tables with cards and coins. A parlor act works a small platform for thirty to fifty people. A stage illusionist needs height, light, and a clear sightline. Ask what the room actually is before you ask who is famous.

• Drinks reception or dinner: close-up or strolling. No stage. High contact.
• Wedding breakfast or hotel salon: parlor. A table, a mic if the room is large.
• Theatre, gala, or after-dinner: stage. Confirm power, drape, and load-in.
• Children’s party: say the ages. A show for seven-year-olds is not a show for twelve.

Corporate work is usually strolling plus a short parlor set, or a keynote-length stage piece. Write the brief in one sentence: “Forty minutes of close-up during canapés, then a twenty-minute parlor after the speeches.” That sentence is how a professional magician quotes you.

What to ask before you book

You do not need a casting call. You need five facts, then a hold on the date.

1. Have they worked this format in this kind of room? Ask for a recent date, not a showreel from 2019.
2. What do they need from the venue — table, power, parking, a green room, silence during the set?
3. How long is the set, including reset? Applause is part of the minutes.
4. Who is the onsite contact, and when is load-in?
5. What is the fee, the deposit, and when is the balance due?

Then put it on paper. A verbal yes is not a booking. Use an entertainer contract with the date, the fee, and the cancellation window. The magician should send an invoice for the deposit the same day.

Where to find an act without leaking the night

Directories will show you ten faces and a star rating. That is useful for discovery. It is a poor place to park the host’s phone number and the fee. Magicians who work properly keep a private studio for clients and invoices, and an opt-in card when they want to be found.

Housecue classifieds are that card. Filter by country, craft, and travel. Write to the listing. The crate, the cue sheet, and the previous hosts stay in the magician’s login. You get a conversation. They get a lead that is not scraped.

Weddings, corporates, and children’s parties

A wedding magician is usually strolling during drinks, sometimes a short set after dinner. Tell them the speeches time. Do not put them on during the first dance.

A corporate event magician is often hired to make a room of strangers talk. Close-up does that. A stage piece does branding, if you brief the product honestly and give them a week, not a morning.

A children’s magician needs the age band in writing. “Family show” is not a brief. “Ages five to eight, forty minutes, garden, no fireworks” is a brief.

If you are the magician they found

Answer the five questions in one note. Hold the date. Send the agreement and the deposit invoice from the same desk. Housecue does that in the solo studio: show plan, booking, invoice, paper. The public listing is optional. The book is not.