Category Archives: Magic

Let there be light!!

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Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are a major feature of most modern technology such as TVs, tablet computers, mobile phones and remote controls. Read this to find out why LEDs are so important to Red Masque’s party and event entertainers and even their existence…

It’s one of those little things we take for granted, the glowing LED light that shows us that something is ON. Be it red or green, it’s a light that says, “Notice Me”, and it’s probably the one thing you can see at a gig when all the lights go out on stage.

The Prize had been won by three Japanese scientists, who invented blue LEDs. Their work led to the development of today’s LEDs, as used extensively in screens for TVs, PCs, phones and tablets.

However, the acknowledged inventor of the red LED, was not recognized, and was allegedly miffed at being left out from the $1.1million prize.

It’s a sort of chicken and egg thing: without the red LED, there would be no blue LED, and without the blue, no LED screens. Just to confuse the issue further, the first LED was actually created by a Russian scientist who died in 1942.

The reason we sympathise with both sides of this argument is purely because LEDs play such a key role in our entertainment directory.

• Most of Red Masque directory musicians use a PA system, and try finding one of those without LEDs on it.

• All of our artists have mobile phones, so they can contact us and clients about bookings, wherever they are in the country. What lights the screens? LEDs.

• And, of course, you wouldn’t be able to see our website in all its glory on your mobile or tablet without LED technology either.

There is one set of performers, however, who literally wouldn’t exist without LEDS; our LED light show performers. By whirling and twirling LED sights, these talented artists create intricate patterns and optical illusions in light for both inside and outdoor venues, without the concerns over fire regulations and health and safety of their ‘real’ fire and glow counterparts.

Equally, any artists using a mobile device in their act, from iPad magicians, portrait artists and hired caricaturists to function bands offering iPod-based DJ services would quite literally be out of a job.

And DJ’s and rock band lighting would be heavier, more expensive and considerably less exciting, as LED lighting is lightweight, energy efficient, cool to the touch and can create a whole variety of colours without the need for coloured ‘gels’.

Make your guests smile…

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By combining the hottest corporate event trends for 2015 and some very special entertainment, you can create a corporate event entertainment that’s still talked about long after.

For all 2015 corporate events, décor will be key. Your venue needs to wow your guests from the moment they walk in, creating a special and uniquely defined space for your event. Two highly contrasting themes are high tech interactive and natural materials, enabling your company to show off its tech prowess, or boost its eco credentials.

If you choose a high tech theme, your entertainment must be 100% integrated to the whole tech ambience. Look for entertainers that offer a tech twist in their act, such as iPad illusionists, LED Light entertainers and street magicians that work with the latest phones and mobile gadgets.

Choose musicians that blend performances with tech, such as our interactive VJ’S, or a live DJ for hire. Get your guests interacting with each other playing giant games with your very own theme.
If you are thinking about a winter corporate event into a natural winter wonderland with ice sculptures and decorated living statues, walkabout characters, and seasonal winter menus. Welcome guests with the warming aromas of mulled wine, or entice people out into the crisp winter air with heated seating areas, piles of rugs and sweet chestnuts roasting on a real coal brazier.

You could extend the theme beyond décor and food into acoustic musical acts, for a more ‘natural’ sound. Entertain with a gospel singing Christmas songs, or a trendy a Capella groups, or guitar and sax soloists.

When you want your corporate party to finally hot up, keep the theme with classic tracks that really evoke the sights and sounds with top UK function and party bands who know their Farrell and their Ed Sheeran.

Take lighting to the next level and illuminate your event to create spectacle and visual interest. Any venue can be transformed with clever and creative use of lighting even on the more limited of budgets. Use lighting to throw unusual shadows, to colour tables rather than using flowers, and use wireless technology to alter lighting states to reflect the various stages of your event.

Your entertainment should be equally well lit! Look for party DJ’S with their own light shows, rock and pop function bands that provide their own lighting, and artists that use light in imaginative ways.
For larger events, book artists that have a strong visual impact enhanced by theatrical style lighting, such as dance troupes, ballet dancers or aerial artists.

Find ways to make your party entertainment a pleasure for everyone by choosing acts that blend superb musicianship with accessible humour, such as a comedy string quartet. Or present musical acts with an international flavour, such as 1920s swing band just make people smile!

Now is the time to organise your Christmas event…

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It may only be Spring but it’s always best to plan your next Christmas event as early as you can to avoid disappointment. If you want to create your own winter experience, either for a party entertainment, corporate event or business attraction, here are a few hints from Red Masque directory to make your Christmas event wonderful!
If you want a show as part of your event, you’ll need an inside space or warm, dry and well-appointed marquee to hold it in. Acts that look great in marquees include:

• Circus acts, especially aerialists, or silk acrobats!
• Dance groups who can fill the performance area with music, movement and style!
• Experienced party bands for hire that can play in all those cheesy pop hits we love at Xmas!

Make your event great by having sheer variety of entertainment on offer. So, offer lots of different acts to see, rather than one big attraction and people will enjoy the event more.

• Walkabout acts really help build a holiday atmosphere – check out Christmas costumed characters, ice characters and stilt walkers.
• Generate a warm feeling with fire acts to light up the winter darkness
• Conjure up the magic of Christmas with street magicians performing close-up tricks and illusions

Food and Drink
• Hire a hog roast or BBQ for outside cooked goodies
• Offer traditional treats such as roasted chestnuts and mulled wine that fill the air with deliciously Christmas smells!
• Be cool with a Christmas cocktail bar, decorated with ice sculptures serving frosted cocktails or frozen daiquiris (and non-alcoholic drinks for the drivers)

Fun things to do:
Visitors love interactive experiences, (aka things to do). They don’t have to be very fancy, just lots of fun for any age.

• Turn traditional side stalls into Christmas fun, such as a snowball coconut shy.
• Book a winter or “Frozen” themed bouncy castle with integrated rain cover, so the weather doesn’t stop the fun
• Get your skates on and book an artificial ice rink – all the fun, none of the wet! Most ice rink suppliers offer a complete package with chalet, boot hire, and experienced staff trained in the required health and safety procedures.

And if that all sounds great fun but such a lot of work right now, hey, there’s always next year! At Red Masque, we’re already seeing lots of people now booking acts for Christmas 2016, so find your perfect acts now to make your own winter wonderland happen.

 

Entertaining the kids

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So, the kids have stopped playing with their Christmas presents ages ago and they’re board (as usual.) Would you like some ideas on how to entertain them? We’ve come up with some great places to take them and also some DIY at home entertainment for you to hire.

A day at the museum
London museums open their doors again this weekend, and at the Science Museum there’s a fab exhibition on the birth of the space age; great for any budding cosmonauts.

But if you don’t fancy going out albeit only in the garden, build yourself a bubble-powered rocket fuelled by indigestion tablets. We are sure you will be able to find a great children’s entertainer that you can hire from Red Masque. The right entertainer will keep them amused for hours.

A Prima ballerina 
Make a budding ballerina’s dream come true with a performance of The Nutcracker by the English National Ballet.
Our suggestion: You can book ballet dance shows, with a prima ballerina teaching your child and her friends a ballet class, hair and makeup techniques and even giving a private performance. Move over Angelina mouse!

Ski Sunday
If, for you, a skiing holiday is as much about the après-ski as the slopes and wet stuff; it’s probably just as well this week. The European ski resorts are suffering from a lack of the white stuff, and you might spend more time perfecting your kids entertaining skills rather than your downhill! So, save a chalet-load of cash and take the kids to an indoor snow centre like Snow-Dome in Tamworth – other domes are available!), where they can toboggan, snowboard and freestyle to their heart’s content.

Red Masque’s suggestion: Hold a ski party! For inside parties, hire an ice sculpture and watch on a big screen some snow-boarding.  For outside events, hire an ice rink and even a snow machine if budget will allow. And, of course, you’ll need suitable music – a Snow Patrol tribute band perhaps?

Fun at the circus
Circus acts are definitely cool this year, and there are some excellent circus shows on offer this year. As Easter is fastly approaching Circus tents will be popping up all over the country which will include trapeze artists, clowns, jugglers, aerialists and acrobats.

Red Masque’s suggestion: If you think circus is impressive from the cheap seats in a tent, it’s utterly astounding close up! Hire an aerialist from Red Masque and all you’ll need is a high enough ceiling for their kit – they’ll provide the rest! Elegant, exciting and enjoyable entertainment for parties, promotions and more. Or for more circus for your cash, you can add jugglers, stilt walkers and acrobatic artists from us too.

Hopefully we’ve given you a bit of inspiration and made you think that next time, instead of you going to the fun; the fun can come to you… Have a great weekend!

Your very own Covent Garden

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There is something about Covent Garden in London that people love, we think it’s not just about the shops or the great restaurants but the ambiance of the street entertainers. If you have ever been to Covent Garden you will see there are always small crowds wrapped around a Mime artist and circus acts

Never mind going to Covent Garden, why not bring the circus to you and make your event entertainment the talk of the town. But don’t expect it to be all balloons and a silly costume because these days the circus has something special on offer… 
Young or old everybody loves a good circus show, you could hire the whole shebang, or If you needed individual circus acts then Clowns and Jugglers can be organised separately. Maybe your guests would like to learn the simple techniques of juggling and leave the more complicated techniques for watching only!! Todays circus performers can bring the best of the big top to you.

Acrobats are a great way to start off an event with fantastic displays perfect for any occasion. For bigger events you can hire more extreme show performances such as the high wire and aerial displays, but acrobats are just as talented on a small stage and a solo show by a professional performer can be an amazing treat for both the large and smaller crowds to enjoy. You could be launching a new product and want to promote it by organising an acrobatic group – it will definitely be a great talking point and your crowd will stop in their tracks to watch these amazing acrobats.

Find the best jugglers available for hire in the UK today. These performers can juggle just about anything from fire balls to furniture. Jugglers today really push the boundaries when it comes to what they can perform with. The days of the simple circus juggler who’s know for throwing coloured balls in the air are well and truly numbered.

Some people think of sword swallowing and knife throwing as a magic trick but there’re no illusions or magic involved with these acts. An act that is guaranteed to not only entertain but also shock and amaze your guests all at the same time. A great choice of entertainment for any party or event whatever the occasion.

Circus Entertainment

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Why not bring on the circus and make your event entertainment the talk of the town. But don’t expect it to be all balloons and a silly costume because these days the circus has something special on offer… 
Young or old everybody loves a good circus show, you could hire the whole shebang, or If you needed individual circus acts then Clowns and Jugglers can be organised separately. Maybe your guests would like to learn the simple techniques of juggling and leave the more complicated techniques for watching only!! Todays circus performers can bring the best of the big top to you.

Acrobats are a great way to start off an event with fantastic displays perfect for any occasion. For bigger events you can hire more extreme show performances such as the high wire and aerial displays, but acrobats are just as talented on a small stage and a solo show by a professional performer can be an amazing treat for both the large and smaller crowds to enjoy. You could be launching a new product and want to promote it by organising an acrobatic group – it will definitely be a great talking point and your crowd will stop in their tracks to watch these amazing acrobats.

Find the best jugglers available for hire in the UK today. These performers can juggle just about anything from fire balls to furniture. Jugglers today really push the boundaries when it comes to what they can perform with. The days of the simple circus juggler who’s know for throwing coloured balls in the air are well and truly numbered.

Some people think of sword swallowing and knife throwing as a magic trick but there’re no illusions or magic involved with these acts. An act that is guaranteed to not only entertain but also shock and amaze your guests all at the same time. A great choice of entertainment for any party or event whatever the occasion.

Dress up your event

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If you’re going to have a party make sure it’s a party to remember. Whether it’s a small intimate gathering or lavish and opulent event, setting the right scene for your event can make all the difference. From unique marquee overlays to funky bars and wedding venues, make sure your event looks the part with a stunning setting that will guarantee to leave a lasting impression on your guests.

If you want to create the best atmosphere at a special event then you need all the bits that go with it. Decorations will transform the dullest of rooms into something spectacular, or to create an out- of-this -world experience. Why not go all out and hire a bubble, smoke or snow machine. Whatever the season you can have snow in summer if you so wish? Continuous bubbles at children’s parties or smoke to create an eerie scene and help to really set the mood.

Hire Ice sculptures to make another impact on your guests. If you’re having a winter themed party then they are a great added extra. Have creative, innovative and dynamic works of art that can be designed specifically with your event in mind. Whether it be your company logo or something intricate and beautiful, they guaranteed to leave a lasting impression. Perfect for any event.

What does the future hold?

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Trying to work out the future is something that ‘gifted’ people have been doing for centuries, whether it’s reading somebody’s palm, Crystal ball reading, or reading cards.  Each have their own unique way of interpreting what the future may hold but nonetheless all very enchanting and mysterious.

You could be having a charity event where a hired Palm reader, Crystal ball reader or Tarot card reader could be used to raise lots of money with your paying guests. Or you could be having a fete where acts such as these would draw a crowd and keep the guests entertained.

You can be sure that all the acts you see advertised are professional in what they do and are the best of the best. Our Red Masque directory will give you a brief insight into each act and then it is up to you to decide which you would like. Once you have decided you are able to fill out an online form which will go straight to your act, they will be in contact to discuss dates and services.