Lyon · Villeurbanne · Eurexpo · the whole region
Hugo Marceau's home city. Close-up magic, a mentalism show and an AI keynote for corporate events, trade-show stands and private celebrations, performed in English and in French, with no travel in the proposal.
In one paragraph
Hugo Marceau is a French magician and mentalist based in Lyon, where he has worked since turning professional in 2010. The city is where most of his two hundred performances a year begin: company dinners on the Presqu'île, conventions at Gerland, stands at Eurexpo, birthdays in the houses of the Monts d'Or. Because he lives here, a Lyon event carries no travel, a late date is often possible, and the room can be visited before the evening. He performs as a corporate magician, as the creator of an AI magician act, and for private hosts, in English and in French. Fees on request.
The home advantage
Most of the performers an event agency can place in Lyon arrive by train on the afternoon of the event. Hugo arrives from across town. That sounds like a small thing until the venue moves the stage at four o'clock, the client adds a second room, or the keynote is brought forward by an hour. A magician who knows the hotels of the Presqu'île, the halls of Eurexpo and the private châteaux of the Beaujolais by name does not need the floor plan explained twice, and can come and see the room the week before.
The second difference is the audience. Lyon is the second business city in France, and international groups keep sites, research teams and regional offices in the region. Their evenings mix French staff with colleagues and clients from London, Frankfurt, Milan or further away. Mentalism was built for that room: a thought read across a dinner table needs no translation, and the moment a guest's unspoken word appears in a sealed envelope lands at every seat at once, whatever language the seat speaks.
The third is the calendar. Lyon hosts a trade-show season at Eurexpo, a December full of company dinners, and a June and September of conventions and seminars. Being local means those weeks can be stacked: a stand by day, a client dinner the same evening, a keynote the following morning, with one brief and one invoice for all of it.
Four evenings in Lyon, as they happened
Lyon Gerland · convention
A dealer group's convention with the whole network in one hall. A forty-five-minute stage format, written around the figures of the year and the people in the front rows, placed where the organisers needed the room awake: after the plenary and before the dinner. The format is described on the corporate event host page.
Château Vatel · December 2024
Close-up among the tables during the drinks and the first course, then the stage show after dinner, for a team that spends the rest of the year on video calls. The evening the corporate Christmas party page is built on.
Eurexpo · Global Industrie 2025
Trade-show magic at the edge of the stand, with the exhibitor's product inside the effect, so that visitors stopped, stayed for four minutes and were handed to the sales team by first name. Guhring France went on to leave a Google review. The same job was done for Renault Pro at the Salon de l'Auto, in the same halls. Both are on the trade show magician page.
Hôtel de Ville · New Year reception
Hugo performed close-up at the Mayor of Lyon's New Year reception, moving between groups of guests in the salons of the Hôtel de Ville. The kind of room where the magic has to stay quiet, precise and in the guests' own hands.
Other Lyon references, including private celebrations, are shared during the enquiry when the client allows it.
What you can book in Lyon
Strolling from group to group during the drinks or between courses, in English and French. One performer reaches around 250 guests at a standing reception and 120 at a seated dinner; for a larger gala Hugo brings fellow magicians so no table is missed. The iPad close-up version puts the client's logo or product on the screen.
Corporate event entertainmentThirty to forty-five minutes that bring the whole room to the same place: predictions sealed before the evening, thoughts read across the ballroom, a finale built around the people in the room. Placed before the speeches when attention is highest, or as the closing moment of a gala or a convention.
The mentalism showForty-five to sixty minutes for leadership days, conventions and client conferences, where a working artificial intelligence that Hugo built himself shares the stage with the mentalist and reads the room with him. Often booked for the day, with close-up at the dinner that follows.
The AI keynoteShort routines at the edge of the stand, with the product inside the effect, repeated through the day in English and French. Global Industrie, Sirha, Pollutec and the Salon de l'Auto are the weeks it is built for; the stand is a ten-minute drive from home, which matters when the hall opens at eight.
Trade show magicianAcross the city and the region
The hotels and private salons between Bellecour and the Terreaux, the restaurants along the Saône and the Rhône, the rooftops of the Part-Dieu business district. Company dinners, client evenings and awards nights, with close-up at the drinks and a stage moment before dessert.
The stadium and the halls of Gerland for conventions of several hundred, the Confluence for product launches and brand evenings, the auditoriums of the city for leadership days with the AI keynote in the programme.
The exhibition centre at Chassieu, a short drive from home, for the stand work described above. Exhibitors from abroad who need an English-speaking performer for three days on the stand book this weeks ahead, because the big shows fill the city's hotels as well as its halls.
Private châteaux and wine estates for seminars that end with a dinner, family houses in the Monts d'Or for birthdays and anniversaries, the Beaujolais and the Dombes for wedding receptions. Close-up in the garden during the drinks, mentalism in the dining room after.
Grenoble, Saint-Étienne, Annecy, Valence and the Alps are covered from Lyon with travel included in one figure. Geneva and Switzerland are under two hours by road.
Who books a mentalist in Lyon
Tailor-made for your Lyon event
Fees on request. Every engagement is tailored to the format, the audience and the venue.
Prefer to talk first? +33 6 88 61 29 00, WhatsApp welcome, English and French.
Before you enquire
Yes. Every format exists in English and in French, and a room that mixes both is handled without leaving anyone behind. International teams based in the Lyon region, exhibitors at Eurexpo and English-speaking private hosts are the audiences this page is written for.
No. Lyon is home, so an event anywhere in the metropolis, from the Presqu'île to Eurexpo, Villeurbanne or the Monts d'Or, carries no travel in the proposal. The wider region and Geneva, under two hours by road, are covered with travel included in a single figure.
Four to eight weeks allows a fully tailored act. December, the Eurexpo trade-show weeks and the June and September corporate seasons go first. Because no travel is involved, a late date in Lyon is more often possible than elsewhere: it is always worth asking.
Close-up magic suits the reception rooms of the Presqu'île hotels, the riverside restaurants and the private châteaux around the city; the mentalism show suits convention centres, auditoriums and gala ballrooms; the AI keynote suits conferences and leadership days. Trade-show magic is built for the stands at Eurexpo. All four are described on this page.
Yes. Birthdays with a zero in them, anniversaries, engagement and wedding dinners, at home or in a restaurant's private room. Close-up among the guests during the drinks, a short mentalism moment after dinner, and no equipment to install.
Send the date, the venue, the number of guests and the occasion through the form on this page, or call or WhatsApp +33 6 88 61 29 00. A reply comes within one business day, in English or French, followed by a tailored proposal. Fees on request.
Hugo Marceau, mentalist and AI magician · About Hugo Marceau · Corporate magician · Trade show magician · AI magician · Mentalism show · Corporate Christmas party · Magician in Switzerland · Hire an international mentalist · For event planners
