Questions to ask your hired entertainment…

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We know that many of you have never planned a party before. Perhaps you’re planning a wedding or your husband’s 40th Birthday Party. This list is a product of many years of providing private event entertainment (but this list is applicable to most forms of entertainment). These are the questions you should be asking your performers before you sign on the dotted line. 

1. Where (and for whom) do you do the majority of your shows?
What you are trying to find out is how experienced and equipped the performers are for working private events. Many bar performers represent themselves as event entertainers but may not have the experience working with venues and professional event planners, or they may lack the equipment or insurance that is necessary, especially for larger venues.

2. Can you show proof of insurance?
While I’m not convinced that this is always necessary for event entertainers, this speaks to the professionalism of the entertainer. If the entertainer does a lot of private events in nice hotels and country clubs, they will be more likely to carry liability insurance, as many of the higher-end venues require this. If you entertainer is not insured, then perhaps they are not working many of these venues, which could mean that they are not attracting the top end private event clients.

3. What is the cancellation policy?
Most entertainment acts will penalize you for cancelling a performance that has already been contracted. They look at dates on the calendar as inventory. If you reserve your date, they can’t sell it to anyone else. So if you cancel, they may not be able to rebook. It’s similar to how event venues or photographers view their calendars. If you think there may be a need to cancel or change your date, discuss this with the entertainment BEFORE signing a contract and see if there is any flexibility on their policy. I’ve written contracts for clients that allowed them to cancel up to 4 weeks after entering the contract to suit a particular situation. 

4. How much is the deposit and is it refundable?
This goes hand in hand with the previous question. Usually deposits are not refundable. This serves as incentive for a client not to cancel or reschedule. A common deposit structure is 50% upon signing and 50% upon arrival at the venue. 

5. Do you bring stage lighting?
A pretty standard thing for entertainers to supply, but some of the smaller groups won’t have this, and some of the higher-tier entertainers may expect that this would be supplied by an outside production company. You should ask. 

6. How long do you need to set up?
Make sure you coordinate this with your venue. If the venue is using your space for another client prior to your time slot, you want to ask the venue ‘what is the earliest time that the entertainment can load in’.  Then verify that this is sufficient with your entertainment.

7. Ask the venue if there is specific wording they require on the performer’s insurance certificate.
Some venues just want to know the entertainer is insured, but many require that they, the venue, (and sometimes the parent company) are listed on the entertainer’s insurance certificate as Additional Insured. 

8. Ask for space (and staging) requirements from your entertainers. This includes length, depth, height and placement. Verify with the venue that this can be accommodated. If it can’t, find out how flexible your entertainers are regarding these dimensions and placement. Many performers can do their show with no staging platform at all if necessary but they will all need a certain amount of space to set up. Know what this is.

Celebrity lookalikes

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Everyone wants their party to be memorable. One fun idea is to hire celebrity lookalikes to mingle with your guests. Nothing loosens up a stuffy corporate crowd quite like sharing cocktails with Gaga or Elvis.

A couple of months ago a friend of mine who happens to be a pianist was hired for a corporate party. What he didn’t know was that they had hired Michael Buble, Bette Midler and Elton John impersonators to work the party as well. Before he took the stage, he spoke with all three and asked if they would mind singing with him. He figured out what songs they could all do, and then they began their act. After the act the impersonators were mingling with the guests. The acts continued doing the show again and then 30 minutes later Elton took over the stage with a medley of his greatest hits,

I thought that the choices of Michael Buble and Elton John impersonators were particularly inspired because they are both over-the-top personalities and you can’t help but have a good time and smile in the face of such flamboyance. I think Lady Gaga, Tina Turner, Prince, Beyoncé and other larger-than-life entertainers would all be great choices too.

Of course there are brides have been hip to this for decades. Just think of the many marriages in Vegas that have been officiated by Elvis. But you don’t have to be in Vegas to get married by the likes of Cher or Sharon Osborne. Just look on our list of celebrity lookalikes and see who could be at your party!!

Think outside the box…

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So you’re planning an event and you want to go beyond the run-of-the-mill DJ or band and give your guests a unique experience that they will remember for a long time. Here are 7 ideas for the best party and event entertainment that are sure to be memorable:

1. Hire a caricature artist. These artists will paint portraits of your guests so that they have something to take home with them from your event. Great for small intimate events and they can fit into a networking event without distracting anyone.

2. Sushi rolling is something outside of most people’s comfort zone, which might be exactly what you’re after. Hire a sushi chef or two to instruct your guests on how to create the perfect Rainbow Roll.

3. Hire a professional “toastmaster”. This is someone who makes a career out of coming up with the perfect things to say to celebrate your guests and your event. A good toast master will do his research and find out things about honoured guests or your company and come up with a story (a long toast) that is uplifting, funny and entertaining. If he or she is really good they might be versed in the art of Champagne Sabrage, or slicing the cork off a Champagne bottle with a sabre

4. Have a go kart tournament complete with qualifying, elimination and championship races followed by an Awards Ceremony. .

5. Have a mixologist come in and teach your guests how to make the perfect cocktails, or help them come up with their own cocktails. Lychee-pepper martini anyone?

6. Create a master chef competition where there are teams, each with a professional chef leading them. All teams are given the same ingredients and must create a dish, or a meal. You can have a prominent local celebrity chef to judge for the best presentation and taste.

7. Japanese Tea Ceremony led by a Japanese tea master. These can include a history of the ceremony followed by sharing tea. Just the fact that everyone will be kneeling on the floor around a small table will break the ice, and people will naturally want to talk to each other as typical Western social conventions are set aside.

There are many ideas to choose from, if we have inspired you, why not look on our advertised artists to see who you will hire next?

International party ideas

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At Red Masque entertainment we are always on the lookout for interesting and unique party ideas for our blog. This week’s post is about using international themes for your event. Every culture has its traditional outfits and performers, and many of these performers are available for hire.  Here are some ideas:

1. Moroccan nights with belly dancers, snake charmers, hukas and waiters dressed in caftans. Drape the place in beautiful Moroccan fabrics; add candlelight and torches and you’ve got yourself something special.

2. Bollywood theme with traditional Indian Marquees (think an extravagantly decorated tent with lots of throw pillows and fabrics), beautiful Indian ladies in lovely silk saris, Henna artists and Yogis.

3. A sushi night with Japanese geishas dancing and playing traditional instruments such as the shamisen or shakuhachi, and singing. If you want a more hearty fare, hire Tepanyaki chefs to cook in front of your guests. What could be better than a fire-shooting volcano made of onions?!

4. Argentinian Tango night with costumed dancers/instructors, plain wooden tables with candles or lanterns, low lights, bottles of Malbac, tango posters or paintings on the wall. Remind the guests to dress in black and red.

5. A Queen’s Jubilee with royal footmen, cockney tourists, and a royal court. High tea anyone? If that’s too high-brow, just add a Beatles tribute band.

6. Brazilian Carnival with costumed stilt walkers, samba dancers, Brazilian bands, and vibrant carnival costumes and statues.

7. Chinese Circus with fire performers, Chinese circus acts, martial art dancers and extreme martial art performers. Throw in some body painters and origami and calligraphy artists just for fun.

We sure you have some of your own ideas, and at Red Masque Entertainment we are sure that you will be able to hire exactly what you had in mind.

Casino Night…

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One of the most popular events we’ve seen used for corporate team building “entertainment” is a Casino night. Each attendee is given a set number of chips and one raffle ticket at the beginning of the night and at the end of the night they can trade their winnings in for tickets towards a raffle. The more they win “gambling” the better the chances are of winning a prize in the raffle. If there are sponsors of the overall event, you can ask them for raffle donations. Otherwise, corporate branded items, M&S Vouchers/Amazon gift cards, etc. can be used. I’d suggest one raffle item for each 10-15 attendees. They don’t need to be high value, although it’s nice to have one “grand prize” type item. Keep in mind if people have flown in for the event, size matters.

As you watch you’ll see alliances being formed and a lot of teamwork and coaching as more experienced players assist other players and players strategize with each other to defeat players deemed to be winning too often.

Sometimes there may be a few people not want to participate for religious/cultural reasons, and you should always have alternates for them–usually a couple of games suitable for two such as checkers and Uno to start, but they are always joined by people who have lost all their chips fairly quickly and you can have Pictionary with white boards set up for team play.

If you’ve ever been to Las Vegas, you’ll know that Illusionists is a wildly popular form of entertainment that dovetails with the Casino party environment. This also works as an additional team building activity, as a good Illusionist show offers opportunities for group participation, and interaction both with the entertainers and among the participants.

Perfect ideas for your memorable party

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Everyone wants their event or party to be memorable, and using unique entertainment ideas is simply the best way for folks to remember your event. The more unique, the more lasting the impression. Here are 10 more cool and different ways to wow your guests:

One idea is music comedy performers, how about hiring two pianists which involve two crazy entertainers, each wielding a grand piano, top party hits from the past 40 years, jokes, toasts and audience interaction. Each piano player tries to outdo the other in this outrageous fiesta of music and comedy. This is especially good for corporate events where you want everyone to let their hair down and just have fun or with brides who want to steer clear of the typical bands or DJs and are want something more memorable. 

Hire a miniature impersonator. Political correctness aside, it’s pretty cute to see a 4 foot celebrity lookalike in full costume strutting around your event. It’s sure to make your guests smile. 

If you have a flair for the dramatic, hire a fire performer. This combines dance, drama and movement into a theatrical presentation that is hypnotic and memorable. Of course you better check with the fire marshal to see what is required in terms of safety! 

Another dramatic choice would be a circus-themed event, replete with acrobats and balancing performers, dancers in costume, and tight rope walkers. If you can’t have your party in an exotic locale, bring the exotic locale to your party! 

String quartets are always hit with their tight harmonies and old-time costumes. Some of these vocal groups will write a song for your group or company if you give them background beforehand. Imagine listening to these beautiful voices singing in glorious 4 part harmony. 

Why not think about having a Snow Party. There are companies that will come to your event and create real snow and ice. You could always have a White Christmas with Snowmen, sledding, snowball fights and ice skating. It’s not impossible. 

We’ve all seen Pig Racing. I admit, this is a bit out there, but who could resist these plump little porkers trotting down the track, each scrambling to get out in front for a nail biting race to the finish. Great fun for old and young, everybody can participate and cheer on their favourite to win.

Hog Roast! Ok, perhaps not the most inspired idea after a pig race, but who doesn’t like bacon and roast pork, especially if your pig lost the race. 

Moulin Rouge is always a fun theme to work with. Hire some Can-Can dancers, slap red-flocked velvet on the tables, and don a gorgeous Parisian turn-of-the-century costume. Hang a girl on a trapeze singing Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend and call it a day!

Famous classical music composers

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Find the best in Classical Music available for hire in the UK today. From solo performers to full orchestras, the performance of classical music repertoire demands a significant level of technical mastery on the part of the musician.

Classical music may not enjoy as much popularity as it used to in its golden age from 17th to the early 20th century. But it continues to impress and inspire, especially the works by the greatest composers of all times. Some of them may have lived hundreds of years ago but their masterpieces simply remain unsurpassed.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

German organist, composer, violist and violinist is widely regarded as one of the best classical composers of all times. Best known works by Bach include the Brandenburg Concertos, Air on the G String, Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Arioso, to mention only a few. 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Austrian composer impressed his contemporaries already as a child. At the age of 5, he mastered keyboard and violin, Some of most famous and most widely performed Mozart’s works include Requiem, Symphony No. 40, operas The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, Piano Sonata No 16 in C Major, Symphony No. 25, Piano Concerto No. 21 and Piano Sonata No. 11 (Mov. 3 – Turkish March).

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

German composer and pianist was the most outstanding figure in the transition between Classical and Romantic periods, some of his best works including the 9th symphony were created after he became almost completely deaf. Other notable works by Beethoven include Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata), 5th Symphony, 6th Symphony, Bagatelle No. 25 (Für Elise) and Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op.73.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

The celebrated Italian composer is best known for his operas that remain popular to this day. Verdi established himself as the dominant figure of the 19th century Italian classical music. Verdi’s most famous operas besides Nabucco include La traviata, Rigoletto, Aida, Don Carlos, Othello and Falstaff.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Most famous Russian classical music composer wrote in a variety of genres. He composed symphonies, operas, concertos, chamber music, sacred choral music, overtures, suites and ballets. Some of his best known works include his three ballets The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and the Sleeping Beauty, Marche Slave, First Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Overture 1812, Symphony No. 6, Fantasy Overture (Romeo and Juliet), Serenade for Strings and opera Eugene Onegin. 

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

Just like Mozart, Chopin was a very gifted child and established himself as one of the foremost Polish composers at a very young age. Some of his best known works include Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2, Funeral March (Prelude in C minor), Minute Waltz (Waltz in D-flat major), Revolutionary Etude (Op.10, No.12) and Fantasie-Impromptu (Op. Posth. 66). 

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Italian Baroque composer and violin virtuoso continues to be admired throughout the globe for his works, especially for his instrumental concertos for violin. His greatest masterpiece is a series of violin concertos called Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons). 

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

He is widely referred to as “the greatest Italian opera composer after Verdi” and “the last of Italy’s great opera composers”. His works – La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Il trittico and Turandot are indeed masterpieces and are among the most widely performed operas in the standard repertoire. The mentioned operas also contain a number of outstanding stand-alone arias including Mi chiamano Mimi, O soave fanciulla, Che gelida manina, E lucevan le stelle, Un bel di vedremo, O mio babbino caro and Nessun Dorma. 

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

German-born British composer is widely considered one of the greatest masters of the Baroque era and one of Britain’s foremost classical composers. His greatest works include the Messiah, Sarabande, Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks, to mention only a few. 

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Russian born French and then American composer, conductor and pianist is one of the most outstanding and influential 20th century composers. He was and still is admired worldwide for the novelty of his works which, however, also caused a great deal of controversy in his time. Stravinsky’s greatest works include The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring, A Soldier’s Tale, and The Song of the Nightingale, Mavra, Oedipus Rex, the Symphony in C and the Symphony in Three Movements

If you are having a very classy affair that demands the very best, or having a theatrical evening that needs a full orchestra to make your play even more dynamic then hiring our Classical music artists will be a very good decision on your part.

Fantasy photos and booths for Hire

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Capture the memories of your event in the latest and most entertaining fun and unique ways. From photo booths and themed photo shoots to green screen systems that give you the unique ability to customize images to suit your event. Perfect for any occasion and a truly long lasting way to make your event one to remember.

Pictures Are Power

So much more than a photo booth…

‘Pictures are Power’ is a photo booth with a difference – walls have been broken down to create the ideal event entertainment centre piece.

Fantasy photo booths have beautifully designed background graphics, high quality props and Hollywood-style instant beauty effects, using state-of-the-art equipment and studio quality lighting to give breath taking photographs.

On site social networking service allows your guests to upload and share their photographs seconds after they have been taken, generating excitement and conversation whilst your event is still underway and encouraging thousands of people to engage with your brand.

Fantasy photo booths are all the rage at the moment, all weddings, birthdays and Christmas parties seem to have them. They come complete with props and costumes and will be a talking point for years to come.

What hilarious captions will you be able to make up when your guests have had a few too many sherberts?

Great fun and very popular, you could be having a launch party, corporate event or private party, whichever you choose these booths will be well received.

Find the one you like and your booth operator will do the rest, just fill out a form and they will be in contact.

Stage Hypnotists

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Take a journey into the subcioncious mind… A stage hypnotist makes great entertainment for almost any event. Hypnotism and over recent years has made a huge come back in the world of entertainment and with a comedy hypnosis show you can be sure your event will be thought provoking, fun and mind-boggling.

Stage hypnotists sometimes argue that it is seeing people hypnotised on television or on stage that convinces people of its use and that it does indeed work. Sure enough, many people who come to see hypnotherapists, or indeed doctors and psychologists using hypnosis, have seen hypnotism on television and are intrigued. The flip side of this is that it takes quite a lot of time explaining hypnosis correctly, including allaying some of their fears, for example;

  • Hypnosis is not magic.
  • It does not involve people being made to do things against their will
  • It does involve a hypnotist acting as a guide to help clients empower themselves and make natural, healthy and often profound changes.

In its worst form, stage hypnosis has been accused of being manipulative and exploitative. Most professional stage hypnotists would counter this claim by demonstrating that subjects have volunteered to take part in the show and fully understand what to expect. This is seen by many as a grey area in that stage hypnotists often suggest indirectly that events are beyond the subject’s control. Far less debatable is the willingness a client shows when entering a session of hypnotherapy. 

The facts about hypnosis for entertainment

Film and TV depictions of hypnosis are often grossly inaccurate and can lead to some people developing a fear or distrust of hypnosis. People can be led to believe that the hypnotist can take control of the person being hypnotised, and even make them do something against their will. This is sometimes called the ‘Svengali effect’ (after the sinister character in the 1894 novel Trilby by George Du Maurier). While this may make for interesting storylines, the reality is quite the opposite. In hypnosis you are always in control and can choose to follow or ignore the suggestions of the hypnotherapist.

There is a very big difference between clinical hypnotherapy and stage hypnotism. Whilst the former is a therapeutic process for the benefit of the client, the latter is a performance, a show designed purely to entertain the audience. The people, who volunteer as subjects for stage hypnotism, are in effect self-selecting themselves, are happy to lose their inhibitions and be the centre of attention (extroverts), and are willing to go along with the show, whether or not they are actually in a state of hypnosis. It could be reasonably argued that the same results could be obtained under the influence of nothing more than a few glasses of alcoholic refreshment.

In the UK, the revival of stage hypnotism was accompanied by a heightened concern about the possible dangers of stage hypnosis, and the 1952 Hypnotism Act was brought in to protect the public from unscrupulous hypnotists.

In 1994 a panel of experts was set up by the Home Office to examine any evidence of possible harm to people taking part in public entertainments involving hypnotism, and to review the effectiveness of the law governing hypnotism for entertainment. Publication of the expert panel’s report was announced in parliament in 1995, which concluded that “there was no evidence of serious risk to participants in stage hypnosis, and that any risk which does exist is much less significant than that involved in many other activities.” 

Nowadays the hypnosis stage show remains popular as both public and corporate entertainment. There are courses available on hypnotic stage techniques for those who wish to learn stage hypnosis online or on a professionally taught course.

Bend me, shape me

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Find the best contortionists available for hire in the UK today. One of the most extreme circus disciplines, contortion pushes the the limits of the human form. With superhuman flexibility contortion artists will put on a amazing and memorable show and guarantee to astound your guests leaving them with an impression that will last a lifetime.

Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is an unusual form of physical display which involves the dramatic bending and flexing of the human body. Contortion is often part of acrobatics and circus acts.  In general, contortionists have unusual natural flexibility, which is then enhanced through gymnastic training.

Skills;
Most contortionists are categorized as either front benders or back benders, depending on the direction in which their spine is more flexible. Relatively few performers are equally adept at bending both frontwards and backwards.

Front bending skills such as folding forward at the waist with the legs straight, or placing one or both legs behind the neck or shoulders with the knees bent (called a human knot). They may also pass their body through a ring or barrel while in a forward fold.

Back bending skills such as touching one’s head to one’s feet, or all the way to the buttocks (called a head-seat), while standing, lying on the floor, or in a handstand. A Marinelli bend is a backbend while supported only by a grip at the top of a short post that is held in the mouth.
Splits and over splits (a split of more than 180 degrees) may be included in front bending or back bending acts. An over split may be performed while the feet are supported by two chairs or by two assistants. 

Enterology is the practice of squeezing one’s body into a small, knee-high box or other container which appears to be much too small for a person to fit in. 

Dislocations of the shoulders or hip joints are sometimes performed as a short novelty act by itself. One example is lifting the arm to the side until it passes behind the head and lies across the top of the shoulders.

In the past, contortionists were associated almost exclusively with circuses and fairs, but recently they have also found work performing in nightclubs, amusement parks, in magazine advertisements, at trade shows, on television variety shows, in music videos, and as warmup acts or in the background at music concerts. In addition, contortion photos and digital movie clips are traded by fans on the Internet, and several web sites provide original photos of contortion acts for a monthly fee, or sell videotapes of performances through the mail.