Magical Wedding Entertainment 14592 views

Forget your preconceptions, says magician Bernie – magic could well turn out to be the perfect entertainment for your wedding.

As anyone who’s ever been to a wedding knows, even the best-planned events can have their downsides – the awkward small-talk between guests who don’t know each other; the time standing around waiting while the official photos are taken; the kids getting increasingly restless and agitated during the speeches. You might not have thought about it before, but a skilled magician can act as a hugely enjoyable antidote to all these situations. Whether it’s strolling around acting as an ice-breaker between guests, or wowing everybody with David Blaine-style sleight-of-hand between meal courses, this is one form of entertainment that’ll stick in everyone’s minds. “Music at a wedding is nice, but it often tends to blend into the background,” says experienced magician Bernie. “Magic is something that people can get actively involved in, which is why it’s so memorable.”

Don’t expect hankies being pulled out of bags while cheesy music plays in the background – these days, the most popular form of magic is the close-up kind, which uses everyday objects such as cards, coins or people’s own possessions. There’s still room for large-scale fun, of course, and a versatile magician will know how to provide it in spades. “At one recent wedding, I had the guests sat down by the lake trying to circle their feet around clockwise while attempting to ‘write’ the number six in the air with their hands,” says Bernie. “By the end, everyone was falling about laughing!”

An added bonus of hiring the right magician is the possibility of keeping younger guests entertained. “During the speeches, when the children sometimes become restless and distracted, I can take them off to a separate room for a specialised magic show of their own,” says Bernie. “I weave my tricks in with a colourful storyline, sometimes adding in a bit of balloon modelling too.”

If you’re considering hiring a magician for your big day, think carefully before making your choice. Firstly, ask if he or she is a member of the Magic Circle. This is similar to a trade union, and can only be joined once a magician has successfully demonstrated their skills to existing members. But, while this is a useful way to filter out second-rate magicians, it isn’t enough to rely on alone. As Bernie warns, “There are plenty of people in the Magic Circle who do magic but aren’t actually very entertaining.” For a wedding or other big event, it’s important to choose someone who enjoys performing, and who is good with people. As ever, a word-of-mouth recommendation is the best way to ensure you make the right choice. Whatever happens, you should have a chat with the person in question to make sure you like them, and also ask them whether they are insured. It’s also a good sign if they are a member of the entertainers’ union Equity.

Of course, it’s important to establish exactly what you want the magician to do on the day. You might want to ask him or her if they are a specialist in close-up magic, whether they are happy performing on stage as well as strolling around, and whether they have skills in providing specialist children’s entertainment. If your wedding is particularly large, you might even need to call in two or more magicians. You might also have a special request to make. “At a wedding last Sunday, the bride wanted me to come up with a trick especially for the bridegroom,” says Bernie. “Whatever else he had been expecting on his wedding day, I’m pretty sure he was surprised when I performed an advanced finger-guillotine trick on him!” If you want to give the chop to snooze-worthy wedding entertainment, perhaps you too should look into bringing a touch of magic to your big day...

Bernie is a close-up magician and stage performer. To find out more about him, click here.