Close-up, guest to guest
Matteo moves through the room during drinks or dinner and performs for small groups at a time. No stage, no microphone, no soundcheck — the whole show happens at arm's length.
From $2,500
A corporate magician in Chicago earns his place in the gaps — arrivals, service intervals, the pause before the programme — not by asking for runtime. Matteo Cammisa performs at Chicago client evenings, awards dinners and company celebrations, from $2,500.
The Chicago corporate evening, honestly described
Chicago's corporate calendar is dense and pragmatic: client dinners in the Loop, awards evenings at hotels and clubs, team celebrations in West Loop private rooms, summer evenings on the river and the lakefront. The organiser's constraint is almost never budget — it is the programme, which is already full, and the room, which was not built for entertainment.
Close-up magic works inside both constraints. It occupies the arrival hour, when delegates stand in company-shaped clusters, and the service intervals at dinner, when nothing is scheduled and the energy quietly drains. It takes zero minutes from the running order and nothing from the venue.
The client evening deserves its own sentence, because it is the most common Chicago booking and the most delicate: everyone present knows they are being sold to. Something genuinely impossible resets that dynamic — it hands the account team a conversation that is not the account, and it does so without branding, volume or a single interrupted conversation.
For evenings that want one shared moment, a twenty-to-thirty-minute seated mentalism piece after dinner unifies the room — covered in depth on the corporate mentalist page.
What Chicago corporate books
Mentalism set piece
A seated, focused piece for the full room, built around thought, choice and influence rather than props. Runs 20 to 30 minutes and works as the pivot between dinner and the rest of the evening.
From $2,500
Stage show
A full theatrical set for a seated audience, with close-up work projected live to screen where the room is large enough to need it.
On request
Why it survives the planning process
It cannot delay anything: no stage build, no audio, no lighting cue, no rehearsal, no rider. In a hotel ballroom with a locked AV schedule or a private room with none at all, the booking behaves identically.
It can be added late — after the venue, after the menu, after the programme is locked — because it needs nothing from any of them.
It is discreet enough for client-facing rooms: nobody is embarrassed, nobody is made the joke, and the host stays the host.
Matteo Cammisa is a member of The Magic Circle in London, of FISM — the international federation of magic societies — and of the Society of American Magicians. Twenty years of performing, more than 500 events, over 30 countries.
Watch — Matteo Cammisa X Million — live at a private celebrity event
In the room
Frequently asked
What entertainment works for a corporate event in Chicago?
Entertainment that fits the gaps rather than demanding a slot. Chicago corporate programmes are pragmatic and already full, so the acts that survive planning are the ones needing no stage, no soundcheck and no runtime. Close-up magic through arrivals and service intervals is the reliable version; a seated mentalism piece after dinner adds one shared moment where the evening wants it.
Is this appropriate for a client-facing evening?
It is the most common Chicago booking for exactly that reason. The performance changes the dynamic in a room where everyone knows they are being sold to, and it is discreet: no branding to negotiate, no volume, no guest put in an uncomfortable position in front of people they do business with.
Can the performance reference the company or the occasion?
Within honest limits, yes — a product name, a milestone figure or an internal phrase can be built into a piece, and often is. What never works is turning the performance into a presentation: the moment it reads as a corporate message, the surprise stops being one.
How much does it cost to book Matteo Cammisa?
Bookings start from $2,500. The figure moves with the format, the length of the evening, the number of guests and where in the world the event is. Fees are quoted per event rather than per hour, because what you are booking is presence across a window of the evening, not a block of stage time. Tell Matteo the date, the city and roughly how many guests, and you will have a firm figure within 24 hours.
How far in advance should I book?
For a specific date in high season, three to six months is comfortable. Shorter notice is often possible and worth asking about: dates open up, and Matteo holds a small amount of the calendar for late corporate bookings. The honest answer is that the date either exists or it does not, and one message settles it.
Is Matteo available for events worldwide?
Yes — Matteo Cammisa performs worldwide, year-round, and has done so at more than 500 events across over 30 countries. Wherever the event is, send the date, the city and roughly how many guests, and you will have availability and a firm figure within 24 hours. Where travel applies, it is quoted separately and transparently.
Check your date
Send the date, the city and roughly how many guests. You will have availability and a firm figure within 24 hours.
Prefer to message directly? WhatsApp · management@matteocammisa.com
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