Standing party — arrivals and drinks
The most-booked December shape. Matteo works the room through the first sixty to ninety minutes, while colleagues are standing and the evening is still deciding what it wants to be.
From $2,500
Corporate Christmas party entertainment carries a weight the rest of the calendar doesn't: it is the one evening the whole company judges. Matteo Cammisa performs close-up magic and mentalism through holiday parties, year-end dinners and client celebrations — elegant, adult, and built for a room of colleagues. From $2,500; December dates are the first in the year to go.
Why the Christmas party is the hardest booking of the year
The Christmas party is the only company event with an audience of everyone — the summer offsite gets the volunteers, the December party gets the whole firm, partners included. It is also the evening most likely to be compared to last year's. Whoever is organising it is not really booking entertainment; they are buying insurance against a room that never warms up.
The failure mode is always the same and always early: people arrive, take a drink, and stand with their own team. The budget is usually pointed at the late evening — the band, the DJ, the bar — while the first ninety minutes, where the party actually decides what it will be, are left unprogrammed. Close-up magic occupies exactly that window. A group of six watching something impossible becomes a group of ten, and three of them came from a different floor.
For a seated year-end dinner the mechanics shift but the logic holds: Matteo works table to table between courses, so every table gets its own moment rather than watching one from a distance, and a short mentalism piece before the speeches gives the room one shared story to carry into January.
The register matters more in December than in any other month. A holiday party wants warmth without silliness — this is still the company, and the partners are still in the room. Matteo's material is adult and elegant: nobody is embarrassed, nobody becomes the joke, and the guest of honour always comes out of the moment looking good.
How December evenings are usually booked
Year-end dinner — table to table
For seated evenings: performance between courses, timed to the service, with every table getting its own few minutes at arm's length.
From $2,500
With a mentalism set piece
Close-up through drinks plus a twenty-minute interactive mentalism moment for the full room — for parties and galas that want one shared highlight before the speeches or the band.
From $2,500
Notes for whoever is organising the party
Nothing needed from the venue. No stage, no sound, no lighting, no changeover — a restaurant's private room, a cleared office floor or a hotel ballroom all work the same. In December, when venues are stretched, this is the line item that will not call you.
It complements the rest of the evening instead of competing with it. A band commits the room to one thing; a performer moving through the party leaves its shape intact and hands the room to the DJ warmer than he found it.
Client-facing December events are a speciality rather than an exception: the register shifts more polished when the room contains people your company sells to, and mentalism in particular reads as intelligent hospitality rather than party entertainment.
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.
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Frequently asked
What are good entertainment ideas for a corporate Christmas party?
Programme the first hour, not the last. The late evening — music, dancing, the bar — takes care of itself; the arrival window is where a holiday party is won or lost, because that is when colleagues either mix or settle into their own teams. A performer working the room through drinks solves it without committing the night to one format, and it needs nothing from the venue in a month when venues have nothing spare to give.
How far in advance should we book for a December date?
Earlier than for any other month. December Fridays and the two weeks before Christmas are the first dates in the calendar to go — companies that book in September and October choose their evening; companies that book in late November choose from what is left. If your date is already fixed, one message settles whether it is available.
Does it work for a standing party and a seated dinner?
Both, with different mechanics. At a standing party Matteo works the arrivals crowd group by group, which is what makes departments mix. At a seated year-end dinner he performs table to table between courses and can close with a short mentalism piece for the whole room. Many December bookings combine the two across one evening.
Will it work for a large company party — several hundred people?
Yes — scale is what the roaming format is built for. Several hundred guests cannot watch one act, but in groups of six to ten a remarkable share of the company experiences the performance personally over a ninety-minute window. For very large parties the evening is planned in circuits, and a mentalism set piece can address the entire room at once.
Do we need a stage or any technical setup at the office or restaurant?
No. Close-up magic needs no stage, no sound and no lighting, so a cleared office floor or a restaurant's private room presents no problem at all. If the evening includes the mentalism set piece for the full room, a single microphone is the only request.
How does it fit alongside a DJ or a band?
As the complement, not the competition. The performance takes the early evening — arrivals, drinks, dinner — and hands the room over warm exactly when the music starts. Loud music is the one genuine constraint on close-up work, which is a scheduling note rather than a reason to choose between them.
Can the performance work for an international team?
Yes — Matteo performs in English and Italian (and Hungarian), and close-up magic itself needs almost no language: the impossible happens in the guest's own hands. For multinational companies with mixed-language rooms this is one of the format's quietest advantages.
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