Corporate Event Entertainment in Las Vegas

Most corporate events in this city end up with the same two things: a DJ in the corner and a photo booth by the door. Neither is a bad choice. But a planner usually reaches for them because they are familiar, not because anyone asked what the room needed.

I have spent forty years entertaining at events, the last thirteen as house magician at Capo’s Speakeasy on West Sahara. I am obviously one of the options on this list, and I will say so when I get there. The rest of this guide is the advice I would give a planner even if they never call me.

Start with the job, not the act

Before you look at a single performer, answer one question: what is the entertainment supposed to do?

• Get people talking. A networking reception, a conference mixer, the first hour of almost any party. Here the entertainment is a catalyst. It should move around and then get out of the way.
• Give everyone one shared moment. An awards dinner, a client appreciation evening, a team dinner after a long week. Here the entertainment is the show, and everyone should be watching the same thing.
• Fill the background. Arrival, dinner service, the long middle of an evening. Here it should be pleasant and never compete with conversation.
• Keep people at your booth or your suite. Trade show floors and hospitality suites. Here it has a business purpose, and you should measure it against that.

Most of the disappointing corporate events I have seen picked a good act for the wrong job. A loud band at a networking reception. A stage show at a cocktail hour where nobody wanted to sit down.

Ideas for getting a room to mix

These work while people are standing, holding a drink, and still sticking to the colleagues they arrived with.

• Strolling close-up magic. The performer moves from group to group and performs in people’s hands. Needs no stage, no sound and no setup. This is what I do, so weigh my opinion accordingly, but it is the format I would pick for a mixer even if I were not the one doing it.
• Caricature or silhouette artists. Guests line up, chat in the line, and leave with something they actually keep. Needs a small table and decent light. The line is the point; it puts strangers next to each other.
• A hosted game. A trivia round or game-show format run by a good host, with mixed teams assigned at the door. It works best when the teams are deliberately built across departments.
• A craft cocktail or tasting station. A bartender who explains what they are making turns a drink line into a small audience. Check with your venue first; many hotel venues control their own bar service.

Ideas for one shared moment

These ask everyone to stop and watch. They need the right timing and a room that can see.

• A seated mentalism or magic set. Twenty to forty-five minutes, after the plates are cleared. Best for groups under about sixty, where everyone can see what happens. I wrote a separate guide on what a mentalist does and when to hire one.
• A comedian. Great when it lands, uncomfortable when the material is wrong for the room. Ask for clean material in writing, and ask whether they have worked corporate rooms with senior leadership in them.
• A featured musician or small ensemble. A singer or a trio doing a short, focused set can work well as a closing note to a dinner.
• A stage production. Dancers, illusions, acrobatics. Impressive, and priced like a production, with stage, lighting, sound and load-in to match. Worth it for a big general session; rarely worth it for a dinner of eighty.

Ideas for the background

• A jazz trio, string duo or solo guitarist. Acoustic music at a volume people can talk over is underrated. Ask the musician to keep it low during dinner and lift it afterward.
• A DJ, used properly. A good DJ reads the room and keeps the volume down until people want to dance. A bad one plays to an empty floor at full volume. If your crowd is not a dancing crowd, you may not need one at all.
• Table-to-table magic during dinner. A few minutes at each table between courses. It gives every table its own moment without stopping service.

Matching the idea to your event

For booths specifically, I wrote a longer guide on trade show magic in Las Vegas. For December, see holiday party entertainment.

How to build the evening

You do not need five acts. You usually need two, at the right times. A plan that works for most corporate evenings:

1. Arrival and first drinks: something that moves around and gets people talking.
2. Dinner: something in the background, or nothing at all. Let people eat and talk.
3. Speeches and awards: nothing competing with them. Nothing competes well with a microphone.
4. After the formal part: one shared moment, short, then let the evening go where it wants.

The common mistake is stacking. A band, a magician, a photo booth and a caricature artist all running at once in a ballroom means each one is fighting the others for attention. Two well-timed acts beat four overlapping ones.

Practical things planners forget

• Insurance certificates. Most Las Vegas hotels and resorts ask every vendor for a certificate of insurance. Ask each performer for theirs early and send it to your venue coordinator. I carry $100,000 in liability coverage and send the certificate on request.
• Power, space and sound. Bands, DJs and photo booths need power, floor space and sometimes a load-in time. Strolling acts need none of that. Check what each option needs before the venue diagram is final.
• Convention weeks and December. These are the busiest weeks of the year for entertainers in this city. Book 30 to 90 days ahead.
• Content. A corporate room includes new hires, senior leadership, sometimes clients and spouses. Ask every act how they keep it appropriate. My own material is clean by default and matched to the room.
• One contact on the night. Give every performer the same name and phone number to ask for.

What it costs

Prices vary widely by act, length, venue and date. I publish my own: corporate events in Las Vegas start at $1,500, and Los Angeles at $2,000 with travel included. Strip and luxury hotel locations are quoted a little higher. The full breakdown, including what moves the number, is on the Las Vegas magician price guide.

If you want me on the list

I do close-up magic, mentalism and comedy for corporate rooms of 20 to 500 across Las Vegas, Henderson, Summerlin and Los Angeles, strolling or as a seated set. No stage, no assistants, nothing for your AV team to set up. More on the corporate events page. Send your date, venue and guest count below, and I will tell you straight away whether I am free. A 10% deposit holds the date.