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A conference magician and mentalist with three jobs in one programme: a keynote in which an artificial intelligence takes the stage, close-up that makes delegates talk to strangers at the networking reception, and a stage show for the gala dinner. One performer, one thread, in English and French.
The conference problem
A conference loses its audience three times a day. At the opening plenary, when delegates who flew in last night sit through the first set of slides. At the networking break, when four hundred people who do not know each other stand next to the people they came with. And at the dinner, when the room is tired, seated and facing away from the stage. Most conference entertainment addresses one of those moments. Hugo Marceau is booked for all three, because a mentalist is the one act that works in a plenary, in a foyer and at a round table.
One performer, one day
Morning · opening plenary
Forty-five to sixty minutes that wake the room up: ten minutes of mentalism, then a working artificial intelligence takes the stage, reads the audience and reasons out loud, then twenty minutes on what AI can and cannot do for your sector. The talk the delegates quote at lunch. Details on the AI keynote page.
Breaks · sponsor stands
During coffee breaks, an iPad magic act that stops delegates at a sponsor's stand and puts the sponsor's product inside the illusion. The one activation in the exhibition area that gathers a crowd without a prize draw. See the trade show magician format.
Evening · networking reception
Group to group with a deck of cards, a borrowed phone and a few thoughts read from strangers. Within ten minutes, the people who were standing with their own colleagues are standing with someone else's. No stage, no sound, no set-up; one magician for about 250 delegates, colleagues for larger receptions.
Night · gala dinner
Thirty to forty-five minutes after the main course and before the speeches, written for round tables: delegates come up from the floor, a prediction sealed at the opening plenary is opened on stage, a levitation if the ballroom allows it. The morning's AI can even be recalled for one last effect. See gala dinner entertainment.
Why one performer rather than three
Conference producers usually assemble a programme from separate suppliers: a speaker for the morning, an act for the reception, a band for the dinner. It works, and it costs three briefings, three riders and three risks. Booking the same mentalist for the plenary and the evening does something the three-supplier model cannot: the day acquires a thread. The prediction sealed on stage at nine in the morning is opened at the dinner. The delegate whose thought was read in the keynote is recognised at the reception. The AI that reasoned in the plenary returns for one effect at the end of the night. Delegates notice, and they talk about it on the way to the airport.
For the producer, it also means one briefing call, one rider, one invoice, and a performer who has stood in enough plenaries to know where the screens are, how long a slot really lasts when the previous speaker overruns, and what a room of tired delegates needs at four in the afternoon. The keynote content is written around the conference theme and the sector; the evening is written around the people in the room.
Sponsors are often the ones who make the call. A sponsor's stand with the iPad act during the breaks, a sponsored keynote slot, a sponsored dinner with the show: the brand is woven into the performance rather than printed on a banner, which is the kind of visibility sponsors renew.
Who books it
Where
Tailor-made for your programme
Fees on request. Every conference is tailored to the slots booked, the audience, the venue and the travel involved.
Prefer to talk first? +33 6 88 61 29 00, WhatsApp welcome, English and French.
Before you enquire
Three different jobs, depending on the slot. In the plenary, a 45 to 60 minute keynote in which a working artificial intelligence shares the stage with a mentalist. At the coffee breaks and the networking reception, strolling close-up that gets delegates talking to people they did not arrive with. At the gala dinner, a 30 to 45 minute mentalism show written for round tables. One performer can do all three across the day, or any one of them.
It is written for it. One or two briefing calls with the programme team, then the demonstrations and the strategic section are built around your sector, your theme and the questions your delegates are actually asking. The mentalist-plus-AI structure is the backbone; the content is yours.
English for an international programme, French when the room is French, or both in one session. A thought read on stage needs no translation, so a delegate who thinks in German or Mandarin follows the act as closely as the native speakers.
Yes, and it is a common way in. An iPad act at a sponsor's stand draws delegates during the breaks and puts the sponsor's product inside the illusion; a sponsored dinner gets the stage show. See the trade show magician page for the stand format.
For the keynote, the plenary's own sound system with a headset microphone, a screen or projector with HDMI and a stable internet connection. For strolling close-up, nothing. For the dinner show, a microphone and a few square metres. A one-page rider comes with the proposal.
Fees are quoted on request and depend on which slots are booked (keynote, networking, dinner or all three), the size of the audience, the venue and the travel. One all-inclusive figure, travel included, within one business day. Booking several slots on the same day is more economical than booking them separately.
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