Through arrivals and drinks
The most-booked shape. Matteo works the room across the first sixty to ninety minutes, while people are standing and the evening is deciding what it wants to be.
From $2,500
Corporate party entertainment has one job before it has any other: turn a room of colleagues standing in departmental clusters into a room that is mixing. Matteo Cammisa performs close-up magic through the arrival and drinks, which is the part of the evening most likely to decide how the rest of it goes. From $2,500.
What goes wrong at company parties
People arrive and stand with the people they already sit with. Finance is by the window, sales is at the bar, and the two groups will not speak for another ninety minutes unless something makes them. Most party budgets are spent on the second half of the evening — the band, the DJ, the late bar — and the first hour is left to fix itself. It rarely does.
Close-up magic is unusually good at this specific problem, for an unglamorous reason: it creates a small crowd. A group of six watching something becomes a group of nine, and three of those nine came from a different department. The mixing is a side effect of the performance, and it happens in the window where nothing else is scheduled.
It also gives people something to talk about that is not work. This sounds minor and is not — a company party where the conversation stays on projects and reporting lines is a company party that ends early.
The register is different from a conference or a gala, and the performance should be too. A company celebration wants warmth rather than formality: quicker, funnier, less reverent, more willing to let a group of colleagues take the mickey out of each other. Same craft, different evening.
How it is usually booked
Across the whole evening
Present for longer, performing in bursts — arrivals, the gap before food, the lull after it. The gaps are deliberate; the room never feels worked.
From $2,500
With a seated set piece
Close-up through drinks plus a twenty-minute mentalism piece for the full room, for celebrations that want one moment everybody shares.
From $2,500
Practical notes for whoever is organising it
Nothing needed from the venue. No stage, no sound, no lighting, no power, no changeover. If you are running the party alongside your actual job, this is the line item that will not call you.
It works in a difficult room. Company parties are often in a space that was not designed for one — a restaurant's private room, a rooftop, an office floor cleared for the night. Close-up does not care about sightlines because there are none.
It does not take over. A band commits the room to one thing for the evening; a performer moving through it leaves the party's own shape intact. Guests who want to talk keep talking.
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 are good entertainment ideas for a company party?
Split the question by when. The second half of the evening — music, dancing, a late bar — usually looks after itself. The first hour does not, and that is where entertainment earns its money: something that makes a room of colleagues mix before the food arrives. A performer moving through the arrivals crowd does that without committing the whole evening to one format.
How long should the entertainment last?
Sixty to ninety minutes through arrivals and drinks is the most common booking, and for most company parties it is enough. Longer bookings spread the same time across the evening in bursts rather than performing continuously — the gaps matter, because a room that is entertained without pause stops feeling like a party and starts feeling like a show.
Will it work if the party is in a restaurant or an office?
Yes, and often better than in a purpose-built venue. Close-up magic needs no stage, no sightlines and no sound, so an awkward L-shaped room or a cleared office floor presents no problem. Loud music is the only genuine constraint, and it is a reason to schedule the performance earlier in the evening rather than a reason not to book it.
Is this appropriate for a client-facing celebration?
Yes — it is one of the more common bookings, because it works for a mixed room. The register is adjusted: warmer and quicker for an internal celebration, more polished where clients are present. What stays constant is that nobody is embarrassed and nobody is made the joke, which matters more when the room contains people your company sells to.
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.
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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