Check your date.
Send the date, the venue and roughly how many people you expect. Nothing has to be settled yet. You will hear back to set up a short call, and the quote comes after that, built for your event rather than picked off a package list.
It fits the event you already planned.
Most entertainment costs you something before it earns anything: a stage, a sound check, a slot in the run of show, and the risk that people drift off before it starts. Strolling magic asks for none of that. It is close-up work, also called walk-around or mingling magic, performed for small groups while the event is already happening. Eric moves through the space and stops where a group has run out of things to say, so the schedule you built stays exactly as you built it.
Where it does the most work.
Cocktail hours and receptions
The first thirty minutes, people stand with whoever they walked in with and check their phones between sentences. Eric breaks into that with a borrowed ring that ends up somewhere it cannot be, or a signed card that never left someone's hand. The group that watched it is still talking about it at dinner.
Networking events
Networking asks people to walk up to strangers and start talking, which most of them would rather not do. Eric gives them the opening: a small group, something impossible happening in the middle of it, and a reason to turn to whoever is standing next to them. The conversation that follows is not about magic.
Trade show booths
A booth only works if people stop walking. Eric stands at the edge of yours and turns a business card into something it should not be, and the next three people slow down to watch. Your team gets the conversation they flew out for.
It also suits events spread across several spaces, where a stage set only ever reaches the people standing in front of it.
How it runs on the day.
A typical booking runs 60 to 90 minutes, and can cover the length of the event depending on the guest count.
He gets there before your guests do, walks the floor, and checks in with whoever is running the night.
There is no introduction and no microphone. He looks like another guest until he stops at your group and starts talking to you.
The first group he goes to is the one standing near the door with nothing left to say to each other.
He stays with each group until it has properly landed rather than working to a clock. Long enough for someone to grab the arm of the person standing next to them.
Guests across the room hear it before they see it. Laughter from one corner, a gasp from another, a round of applause from a group that was quiet a few minutes ago. People start looking around to see what they are missing.
By the end Eric is not looking for groups any more. They are waving him over from across the floor.
Nobody on your side has to manage any of it. Eric reads where the room actually is and moves it toward where you need it to be, which is rarely the same place at the start of a cocktail hour.
What clients say about the mingling.
“Eric was a great addition. He was able to get the guests really excited, mingling together, and also in awe! We’re so grateful we had him at our event.”
“You mingle with the staff so seamlessly. Everyone loves interacting with you and being part of the magic!”
Questions people ask before hiring.
Most strolling bookings in New York City run $3,000 to $6,000, depending on the date, the guest count, the format and where the event is. Adding a stage show to the same event takes it to $6,000 to $12,000. For what moves the price, see what a corporate magician costs in NYC. Send through what you know and you will hear back to set up a short call, and the quote comes after that.
Eric is based in Brooklyn and works across all five boroughs and the surrounding area. He also travels for the right event, anywhere in the country or internationally.
Cocktail hours, drinks receptions, holiday parties, client appreciation evenings, conference welcome nights and trade show booths. It suits any part of an event where guests are standing, holding a drink and free to move, and it works particularly well across several rooms, where a stage set only ever reaches the people standing in front of it. Planning a holiday party? Here are some office holiday party ideas that work well alongside it.
One performer covers 50 to 300 guests comfortably. Past that the wait between groups gets long enough that people start noticing they were skipped, so a second performer keeps it moving.
None. No stage, no microphone, no lighting, no sound check. Eric needs nothing from the venue, which is why this fits inside a cocktail hour without costing you a minute of the run of show.
Yes. A product, a theme or a piece of company news can be built into the material, so the thing people repeat afterwards is the thing you wanted them repeating.
Strolling and close-up are the same thing: work done inches away for a few people at a time. A stage show is the opposite, one moment everybody gets at once. Strolling reaches the guests who would never sit down for a formal set, and plenty of events book both.
Usually 60 to 90 minutes, and it can run the length of the event depending on guest count. He stays with each group until it has landed rather than working to a clock.
Seen enough?
Tell me what you have so far. The date and the venue do not need to be settled yet.
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