Category Archives: Party

Spring surprise

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With spring is well and truly upon us and with the circus being a visual performing art and tents popping up over this period Red Masque will be looking at the history of circus….

The Bailey & Cooper circus was well known across Australia and New Zealand, touring to various islands around Oceania between 1876 and 1878. James Anthony Bailey then teamed up with P.T. Barnum to bring ‘the Greatest Show on Earth’ to Europe. Barnum died before being able to see the European reaction to the huge tents so well-known in his homeland; although impressed, many were bewildered and the venture was met with only muted enthusiasm

Menagerie owners were the main people to react to ‘the Greatest Show on Earth’ most favourably, sensing an opportunity to enhance their fading businesses. With this ‘new’ idea of combining animals with circus acts, they enjoyed renewed success for a few more decades, with the equestrian circus falling by the wayside and the travelling circus reaching the peak of its popularity between the two World Wars, most notably in Germany. With the larger cities still housing permanent circuses – Paris still had four – circus manufacturers strived to create comfortable seating that could attract the city folk away from the furnishings and production values to which they had become so accustomed.

The biggest innovation in the 1900s occurred within Russia after Lenin nationalised the Russian circuses in 1919, leading to an exodus of the country by many western performers. With the Russian performers needing to be trained, the government established the Moscow circus school, which developed training methods that incorporated gymnastics. The result was a free-flowing, innovative performance that proved to be a hit with crowds abroad, where any Russian-based circus was known as the Moscow Circus (a generic name adopted by travelling Russian circuses to this day).

Resistance to the changes of the modern world led to a decline in the industry throughout the 1960s, but by the 1970s and 1980s, circuses such as Cirque du Soleil had restored the flamboyance and spectacle to proceedings, ushering in the idea of circuses as performance art to sit alongside the more traditional travelling circuses, which continue to endure great popularity across Europe. A surge in teaching has also led to a circus revival in recent years and it remains to be seen quite where this interest shall lead.

Why not hire your own circus and have your very own ‘front seats’ the possibilities are endless for example if you would like to learn a few ‘circus skills’ then let Red Masque introduce you to some fantastic acrobats, aerial performers, and circus artists that are advertised on our website.

What’s best for you?

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Events are an intriguing proposition. Depending on the stage at which you are at in life, certain acts may be perfectly suited to you. Others perhaps less so. You’re hardly likely to book a wine tasting for a child’s birthday party and the less said about the ‘Happy 75th’ bouncy castle booking the better. With that in mind, we thought it may be useful to run through a few ideas you may wish to have a look at depending on the life stage within which you currently reside.

Who can forget childhood? A time when you were completely carefree but were still liable to be dragged along to events at your parent’s insistence. Thankfully, many times there were acts at these events that were tailor made for you. Ah, life was hugely enjoyable when you were being entertained by such acts like a hired balloon modeller (“a dog please”) and a children’s entertainer that you happily got involved, all memories of missing your favourite cartoon on television completely forgotten.

The most important part of your wedding day is undoubtedly the exchanging of the vows, declaring a lifelong commitment to one another. Everything else is window dressing but hey, you want the finest window dressing there is. To that end, splashing out for the V&A was quite the declaration of your love. And nobody will forget the reception at the Waldorf in a hurry. And booking stilt walkers and aerialists was a great idea. With the photo booth images providing a fun way to scrapbook your event, everyone went home happy– Wait a second! Was that the Queen in attendance?

Of course, many of the acts depicted here can’t really be compartmentalised and we have lots of ideas that you can look through on our entertainment directory. So have fun, pick some entertainers that would be a real surprise and make your whole event a magical one…

Anniversary Party Planning Ideas

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The word anniversary, meaning returning with the year or the annually recurring date of a past event, derives from the Medieval Latin word anniversarius, where annus means year and versus, which is the past participle of vertere, means to turn.

In modern times an anniversary celebration is usually held as a day of remembrance to commemorate a special event, particularly one of historical, national or personal importance: a person’s death, the anniversary of the founding of Rome or more usually a wedding anniversary. 

With music being one of the most important aspects of any party you might think about a themed band or DJ to play music from the era of your wedding party. For example why not book a swing band or Jazz Band for your 50th or 60th wedding anniversary party or a Rock n Roll band for all you 1960’s or 70’s newlyweds.

Many of Red Masque tribute bands will perform in costume which can lead to even greater amusement if you make it compulsory that all your guests must dress up in gear that was trendy in the year you were married, especially if any of them still have original items of clothing from those days!

Maybe you were married abroad, be it Ireland, the Caribbean or Greece so why provide a band who will perform music traditional to that country;  which will get everyone jigging, or a top class steel band to re-invoke the sound of the sea and the swaying palms you enjoyed on your Caribbean wedding day.

Many people choose to organise a 1st, 2nd or 3rd year wedding anniversary party featuring the same band they hired for their wedding day entertainment. Your guests will have loved them the first time around so it’s a pretty safe bet that the next performance will be just as great.

If you’re asking guests to wear fancy dress then your room should be decorated in a similar theme.

For a personal treat you should ask all your friends to bring photos, anecdotes and tall tales about your years as a married couple. You can later compile these into an album to look back on and savour for years to come.

Hire your very own ‘sell out performance’

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You know that sinking feeling when you just miss out on tickets to see your favourite musicians? It is a sad and sometimes frustrating moment – However Red Masque directory have a solution that could work out cheaper than using those extortionate touting websites.

How often have you eagerly anticipated seeing your favourite band or artist live onstage, only to discover that tour tickets sold out in nanoseconds on the one morning you had a meeting at the Slough office?

Or have you calculated that with the combined cost of decent tickets which don’t have a restricted view or are so far back you need binoculars, travel costs, parking, over-priced drinks, programmes and inevitable late night burger at 1am, you’ll be pushing £200 each?

Luckily, there is an answer – book a Tribute band instead. For the cost of you and five mates attending a major gig), you can hire a superb tribute band or act that play all your favourite tracks, not just the ones nobody wants to hear from their new album. And there are lots of tribute acts for hire to choose from too!

Robbie finished the UK leg of his tour in early July at the O2, so unless you can afford the cost of tickets PLUS air travel to Australia, you won’t be able to see him live this year! Instead, book a Robbie Williams tribute act for all those hits like ‘Angels” and “Rock DJ”. If you prefer his swing albums, why not book a Rat Pack tribute act, who perform all the great hits Robbie covers in his swing shows, such as “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head”, “Mr Bojangles” and “My Way

Want tickets? You Should Be So Lucky! Kicking off with shows in Liverpool, Kylie embarks on an arena tour of the UK in September, and already its standing room only or those pricey “packages” for almost every night. So, why not book a Kylie tribute instead and have a superb night with 100% pop diva fun for friends and family, without the travel and hassle

Recreate the magic that’ll never happen again with tribute bands for some of the world’s most famous artists and bands. Tribute bands play all the hits you love, have all the moves, the costumes, the style.  It’s a great way to enjoy the bands you loved as they were in the hey-day, and without the senior citizen bus passes. Tribute bands for hire are terrific as fundraising concerts and events, as well as party entertainment. See our Tribute Bands on the Red Masque directory and you won’t look back…

A thriller night…

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If you are planning an extravagant Halloween night this year make sure you hire some spooky acts from Red Masque directory. Halloween is a night when we celebrate all that’s ghoulish and ghastly about Britain. For a party with more pumpkins than most, here are our top devilishly spooky suggestions for your own awesome Halloween party event.

Set up a screen in your garage, shed, or front room, beg or borrow an LED projector, and decorate with suitably spooky fake spiders webs. Then, throw open the doors of your monstrous new movie house! Go traditional with hot popcorn, or enjoy a witch’s brew of cocktails created by cocktail waiters. Pop on a CD of classic horror themes, or hire a string quartet to play them for you! Then, sit back and relax and scream the night away with your favourite horror flicks, from “Psycho” to “Nightmare on Elm Street”. Or choose the comedy route with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, “An American Werewolf in London”, animation gems “The Corpse Bride” and “Frankenweenie”, the Bette Midler classic “Hocus Pocus” or cult “Carry on Screaming”!

Spare the neighbours the horror of trick or treating and invite the local kids to enjoy Halloween Serve steaming bowls of chilli con carne, add in tequila shots for the adults, and finish the whole effect with a party function band playing modern pop classics.

Banish the evil spirits that walk the earth on All Hallows Eve with your own fire celebration. Order in a hog roast, light the torches, and dot about those pumpkins you’ve been carving for weeks. Greet guests with walkabout artists or invite guests to create their own costumes from scratch. Provide a peppery feast with stuffed chilies, hot curries or spicy chicken wings, before everyone boogies on down to hell-raising music from a sizzling Rock band. Finish the evening to perfection with a hired fire performer lighting the sky with spark and flame.

Convene your own witches’ coven by getting the girls together for a costumed tour of your city’s most haunted pubs! (So, instead look for pubs or clubs offering something special in the way of live music.

It’s the dance video that spawned a revolution, and it’s never really been equalled. Until now; get a dance group to teach you and your guests the classic moves of the Thriller video, and hire in ghoulish costumes to dance in and the 1980s fashions were horrific enough!! Then, crank up the soundtrack, power up the iPad, and capture your finest Thriller moves for posterity. Or moonwalk the extra mile and hire a party function band to play the track live, followed by more demon tracks to keep those un-dead guests throwing their best moves on the dancefloor.

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!

Surprise artists at your event

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Hire singing waiters, policemen, firemen and a whole host of other comedy singing acts from Red Masque directory to make your event unforgettable. Discover what surprise entertainment we offer and how they’ll positively impact your event!

When you’re planning an event, you want to keep your guests entertained throughout, so the energy and enjoyment never dips. Giving them something new just when they are least expecting it is a great way to create a buzz, and to give guests something to talk about apart from the food or the football! And nothing fits the bill quite like a surprise act, be it singing waiters, firemen, or chefs.

The idea is really simple; your guests have no idea that the waiter who has been serving them, or the fireman who seems to be worried about the smoke alarms, are in fact highly talented singers, ready to grab a microphone and burst into song. As one waiter starts to sing, another suddenly joins in, and then a ‘guest’ can’t seem to resist joining in either. It’s particularly effective during a formal dinner.

It’s a great way of breaking up a meal and giving your guests something hugely entertaining when they are least expecting it!

Before the audience have had time to work out who might be part of the act, they are being royally entertained by superb singers performing anything from famous opera songs to the latest West End hits, often close up to their tables.

The voices, the energy, the performance, they are all something that you just can’t duplicate in any other way. The ‘singing waiters’ introduction is a light way to create a surprise and add a great deal of fun.

What the guests see, of course, is just the end product of a great deal of planning and preparation. Professional entertainment acts make sure that everyone behind the scenes is in the know and fully prepared, while the real guests haven’t a clue what’s going on! It’s also about preparing a scenario that is perfect for your event.

And it doesn’t just have to be waiters, guests or catering staff.

For example the client is asked to provide a photograph of one of the guests that one of the acts is going to pretend to “arrest” for non-payment of a parking ticket! Once the ‘policemen’ start singing, they perform an amazing act containing everything from opera to Rat Pack and Grease

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!

At your service

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An entertainment directory is known for offering unique services at wedding receptions, meetings, corporate events and other special gatherings. We at Red Masque usually have well groomed artists who may be musicians, comedians, and singers and so on. They can thrill your guests at any event. There’s a lot to gain from us. Here are some of the benefits:

Red Masque will help you filter available options. You can get several options when thinking of hiring bands, singers, musicians, comedians and other artists. You may be confused especially when you don’t know any of the artists in person. You can save yourself the trouble by ensuring that Red Masque only advertises the very best party and event entertainment for hire and whatever choice you make will always be the right one.

We understand exactly what you want. You are able to contact various artists of your choosing and meet if you so wish to choose suitable music or songs for your event.

You can save enough time and energy when you engage a good entertainment directory In most cases, we have taken care of the brain work you would have carried out, and have the best unique and highly acclaimed artists in the business.

With a reliable entertainment directory you can get suitable price for hiring a band. You can also get the right price for other artists you may want to hire.

To locate us, you have to come online; which is the first step. There are several agencies offering unique services on the internet, but you need to consider some factors when looking for the right agency. You have to compare several agencies before making your choice. You can ask the manager some questions. Or you can also arrange a private interview with each artist. This will help you make the right choice.

Capital events

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London is one of the world’s most multicultural cities offering a whole host of exciting attractions and activities that you won’t find anywhere else. Amongst the bustling streets is a treasure trove of unique venues perfect for hosting corporate events and private functions. You can look forward to venues with stunning Birdseye views across the city, boudoir-style cabaret clubs, a floating cinema and the UK’s only permanent ice bar and to name only a few…

So let’s talk about this fabulous venue in London Ice Bar. This is one of the most unique venues that London has to offer; just off Regent Street. As the name suggests this stunning venue is made completely out of ice – the walls, bar, tables and even the glasses – kept at -5 degrees all year round, this venue isn’t just a seasonal occurrence.

Ice bar will give your guests a wow factor experience that will be a talking point for months to come. Ideal for receptions, hen and stag parties and even team building exercises as staff brave the environment with an icy cocktail in hand! After the 40 minute session you can recline in warmer areas outside of Ice bar. They can dine on delicious dishes in the restaurant which has a capacity of up to 180 guests standing. Enjoy drinks and canapés in the smaller lounge with space for 45 guests or the ground floor cocktail bar for up to 70 guests.

Using the clearest ice, a team of skilled ice designers and sculptors create this stunning ice landscape, which is completely reinvented once a year. Sessions are booked in 40 minute timeslots due to the low temperature inside the venue and guests are given thermal gloves and capes to wear when experiencing this amazing environment!

No corporate event is complete without entertainment to impress and engage staff.  Red Masque entertainment directory has a number of walkabout acts that would fit perfectly with this cool venue. Our canapé girls will look right at home wrapped in elegant furs handing out mini oeuvres will add to the winter atmosphere and create a great talking point.