Birthday Party Entertainment

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. I do a lot of magic show/balloon animal performances. My show is forty-five minutes long: thirty minutes of magic and fifteen minutes of balloon animals. I also do a lot of costume character routines: a thirty minute routine including a candy-filled piñata. I also provide a great deal on a combo routine of both the magic show (with balloon animals) & a costume character (with piñata). The combo show is a great value and provides an hour and 15 minutes of entertainment and a savings of $35. I also do strolling magic and balloon animals for parties or even cocktail hour during a wedding; if the traditional is something you don’t need but you want something to entertain not only kids but adults as well. I also love performing at festivals and events for townships, amusement parks, company picnics, etc. I can do strolling magic and balloons for up to three hours as a pirate, wizard, or even in a tuxedo.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. II would ask a few questions first. One question being: “How long have you been a magician?” My answer to that question is that I have done magic for about thirty years, and I have spent about twenty years doing balloon animals. I only send myself out to performances, whether it’s doing magic shows, balloon animals, or costume characters. I have been doing costume characters for about twenty years. Also, all of my costumes are professionally-made costumes of your kids’ favorite cartoon characters, or easily recognizable characters such as the Easter Bunny and Santa.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. Well, my best inside tip for a person who might book a costume character for a party or event is: You should ask if the costume is a mascot-type costume; meaning, is it an actual character jumpsuit and a head piece (mascot-type), or just a person in clothing resembling what the character wears with no head piece (non-mascot). We only have the mascot-type characters here at Rent–A–Magician. We also give the customer the choice of a magician wearing a pirate outfit, a wizard robe, or a tuxedo with top hat. At Rent–A–Magician we believe in giving people choices so that we can best meet their needs and match possible themes for parties and events.

Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?

A. I would ask a few questions first. One question being: “How long have you been a magician?” My answer to that question is that I have done magic for about thirty years, and I have spent about twenty years doing balloon animals. I only send myself out to performances, whether it’s doing magic shows, balloon animals, or costume characters. I have been doing costume characters for about twenty years. Also, all of my costumes are professionally-made costumes of your kids’ favorite cartoon characters, or easily recognizable characters such as the Easter Bunny and Santa.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. First, a customer should be sure about the time and date for their party before they call an entertainer. They should also keep the following in mind: The time frame for a performer to arrive should probably be half an hour to an hour after the party has started if all of the guests are local. If the guests are coming from further away, then the customer might want to book a performer for an hour or an hour and a half after the party begins. Secondly, you should consider the age of all of the people/kids at the party. For example, if the birthday child is over six years old, he may not be excited about a costume character and may prefer a magic show & balloon animals instead. But, if the rest of the children invited to the party are, say, three years old, they may enjoy a costume character. My magic show is all-age friendly, and generally we get as many adults watching the performance as kids.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Most magicians will either perform “birthday party magic” or they do “slight-of-hand magic”. Slight-of-hand magic consists of tricks done with playing cards, coins, and small objects with no special “gimmicks” to make the trick work. This type of magic relies on hand ability to pull off the effect. With birthday party magic, most of the time the props used in the trick are “gimmicked”. I stand out from other magicians because I perform both types of magic. I am not only a magician who loves slight-of-hand, but also adores birthday party magic. I perform at many children’s birthday parties and on stage at township events and so forth where “gimmicked magic” works really well. But, if you are having a smaller adult party or, say, a cocktail hour during a party or even a wedding, slight-of-hand magic works really well and can be done with small objects which can be carried in my pockets with ease and performed directly at the guests’ tables.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. I believe in being a life-long student in my field of magic and balloon animals. A magician friend called Irv Furman (who used to own a magic shop in Philadelphia called Hocas Pocas) once told me “His library is a magician’s strongest tool.” I took that idea and ran … and ran … and ran some more … with it. My library now has over fifty books on magic and balloon animals and about sixty videos and DVDs. This does not include my magic magazines and lecture notes. I am always trying to learn new forms of old tricks and learn new tricks as they come along. It’s funny because even at private house parties you meet people who have seen you perform somewhere else, and I never want to bore them with the same tricks twice. As for balloon art, well, that is always changing and people keep coming up with new ideas to test my skill as a balloon