Paris · La Défense · Versailles · Île-de-France
Close-up magic, a mentalism show and an AI keynote for the conventions, galas, launches and private dinners of Paris, performed in English and French by a mentalist who arrives before the doors open.
In one paragraph
Hugo Marceau is a French magician and mentalist, and the creator of an AI magician act in which a working artificial intelligence performs with him. He comes to Paris from Lyon, two hours by TGV, for the events the capital does better than anywhere else: international conventions, product launches, agency-run galas and private dinners where a good share of the guests do not speak French. Close-up at the reception, a mentalism show before the speeches, the AI keynote in a convention programme. Fees on request.
The Paris room
A corporate evening in Paris is rarely a French evening. The head office is in London or New York, the sales teams have flown in from Milan, Madrid and Dubai, the agency has filled the room with clients who read the menu in English. An act that lives on a punchline in one language leaves a third of the table politely waiting. Mentalism does not have that weakness. A thought is a thought in any language, and the moment a guest's unspoken word is read out loud across the room is understood by everyone at the same second.
The second thing Paris asks for is a sense of proportion. Guests here have seen a great deal: a palace ballroom, a showroom on the Right Bank, a private salon with eighteenth-century panelling do not need a performer who shouts. The work stays close to the guests, precise and quiet, with the big moment arriving when the room is ready for it and not before. The venue is the setting; the magic happens in people's hands.
The third is reliability. Paris event teams run to the minute and the agency's reputation is on the table. Hugo arrives ahead of doors, sends a one-page technical rider in advance, needs no set-up beyond a microphone for the stage formats, and carries everything he performs with in cabin luggage. The proposal is one figure, travel from Lyon included, and the figure on the invoice is the figure in the proposal.
Two Paris evenings, as they happened
Ouidoo · Pavillon des Princes, Paris
Close-up for the team first, group by group, so that everyone in the room had been the subject of something impossible before dinner. Then a mentalism finale for the whole room at once, the kind of moment colleagues still describe to each other weeks later. One performer, one evening, one memory the whole company owns.
Selux · Paris showroom
Close-up for the guests inside the showroom, with the product inside the effects rather than next to them: the lighting the company makes became the thing that changed, vanished and returned in the guests' own hands. The format was repeated showroom by showroom across the tour, each time for a new room of clients. The campaign is described on the experiential marketing page.
Client names are published only with consent. References from comparable Paris engagements are shared during the enquiry.
What you can book in Paris
Strolling from group to group during the cocktail hour or between courses, in English and French. One magician reaches around 250 guests at a standing reception and 120 at a seated dinner; for larger galas Hugo brings fellow performers so no table is missed. The iPad close-up version puts your logo or product on the screen as the final reveal, which is why launches and client evenings ask for it.
Corporate magicianThirty to forty-five minutes that bring the whole room to the same place: predictions sealed before the evening, thoughts read across the ballroom, a guest chosen by the room who becomes the centre of the finale. Placed before the speeches at a gala dinner, when attention is highest, or as the closing moment of an awards evening.
The mentalism showForty-five to sixty minutes for conventions and leadership meetings, where a working artificial intelligence shares the stage with the mentalist and performs on the audience rather than being described to it. Written for the rooms Paris fills every week: a plenary at a congress venue, a company auditorium at La Défense, a conference day that ends with close-up at the dinner.
The AI keynoteAcross the city
The gala dinners, client evenings and anniversaries that Paris holds in its grand hotels and the hired salons of the Right Bank. Close-up during the reception, the mentalism show between the main course and dessert. The formats were built for rooms where the décor already does half the work and the performer must not compete with it.
Fashion, beauty, automotive and technology houses presenting a product to clients, press or distributors. The iPad close-up carries the product on screen; the AI act gives a launch a talking point of its own. The Selux tour above began in exactly this kind of room.
Conventions, sales kick-offs and leadership meetings in the congress centres of the capital and the company auditoriums of the business district. The AI keynote in the programme, close-up at the networking reception, and often both on the same day for one travel.
Incentive dinners, family celebrations and weddings in the châteaux and estates within an hour of the city. The magic stays close to the table, discretion is part of the brief, and the logistics are no different from a Paris address.
Lille, Reims, Rouen and the rest of the north are reached from Paris the same way. If your venue is in Île-de-France, it is within reach.
Who books a mentalist in Paris
Companies that hire an international mentalist for a Paris date usually book him for the next one elsewhere: the same act travels to the French Riviera, to Switzerland and abroad on request.
Tailor-made for your Paris event
Fees on request. Every engagement is tailored to the format, 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
Yes. Every format is performed in English or French, and a room that mixes both is handled without losing anyone. Paris conventions and galas routinely seat guests from a dozen countries, and the act was built for that audience: a thought read on stage needs no translation.
Four to eight weeks allows a fully tailored act. The big trade show weeks, the June and September convention season and the December calendar fill first. A short-notice date is always worth asking about; the answer comes within one business day.
Close-up magic suits a reception in a palace hotel, a private salon or a showroom. The mentalism show suits a gala dinner or an awards evening, placed before the speeches or as the closing moment. The AI keynote suits a convention programme at a congress venue or a company auditorium. Many clients book two of the three on the same day.
Around 120 guests at a seated dinner and around 250 at a standing reception for close-up. For larger galas Hugo brings fellow performers so every table is reached. The mentalism show and the AI keynote cover the whole room at once, whatever its size.
From Lyon, two hours from Paris by TGV. He arrives ahead of doors, everything he needs fits in cabin luggage, and travel is included in the proposal. One figure covers the performance and the journey.
Send the date or period, the venue if known, the number of guests and the occasion through the form on this page, or call or WhatsApp directly. A short call follows within one business day, then a tailored proposal. Fees on request.
About Hugo Marceau · Corporate magician · AI magician · Mentalism show · iPad close-up · Gala dinner entertainment · Conference magician · Experiential marketing examples · French Riviera · Switzerland · Hire an international mentalist · For event planners
