Private Events & Upscale EntertainmentThe night they still talk about at the next one.
Ten people or two hundred, close enough to touch, nobody sitting in rows. Comedy and close-up magic that moves through your guests and leaves them talking to each other.
■ The host’s problem
You are the host and the entertainment.
A milestone birthday. An anniversary. A graduation. You invited forty people who half know each other, and until the food arrives, the whole room is running on your energy.
- The long dinner, and the lull between courses
- The two circles of friends who have never mixed
- The guest of honor, stuck greeting instead of enjoying
- You, watching the room instead of being in it
Hiring “a magician” feels like a risk, and I understand why.
You are picturing a costume and a card fan and your guests being polite about it. That act exists, and I am not it. What I do is closer to a good dinner guest who happens to be able to read minds.
■ The rooms this plays
Four versions of the same night.
The milestone
The big birthday
Ten guests or a hundred and fifty. The guest of honor gets a room full of people laughing together instead of a slideshow and a sheet cake.
The dinner party
Between courses
Close-up magic that comes to the table while the kitchen works. The lull between courses becomes the part they talk about.
The home
The living room show
No stage, no sound system, no setup your house has to survive. The show is built to play three feet from the sofa.
The holiday party
The one you host
The night your house is the venue and the pressure is yours. I hold the room together while you actually get to be in it.
■ Where this works
If people are gathering, it plays.
Every one of these is a room somebody hosts, and most families have several of them a year without ever counting them up.
■ Who you would be hiring
I’m Michael Misko.
Your guests will think I am one of them.
90% comedy. The other half is magic. Twenty-five years of watching rooms decide whether they are having a good time, and I can tell in the first five minutes which way it is going.
A hosted room is intimate. Your guests are not an audience, and they should never feel like one. I move through the evening the way a good guest does, and the magic happens close, in their hands, at their pace.
The work is clean. It plays for your grandmother, your teenager and your college roommate at the same table, and nobody has to brace.
The rooms
Living rooms, backyards, museum lobbies, country clubs, restaurants and chandeliered ballrooms. If people fit in it, the show plays in it.
On stage
Thirty-eight sold out performances at Liberty Magic, Pittsburgh. One of the highest grossing shows in their history.
■ In their words
You’re darn right they said it.
“You were the highlight of the evening!”
“Michael Misko is one of those rare talents who is as hilarious as he is talented.”
“A show of quick wit, intelligent trickery, seamlessly held together.”
■ And from the press
“His sharp, edgy humor is a kinder, gentler version of the legendary Don Rickles’ style.”
“His acerbic, biting, comical ad libs never quite cross the line to insulting.”
Lonnie the Theater Lady, ’Burgh Vivant
■ Before you ask
The questions I get every time.
Do you need a stage or a sound system?
No. The whole evening is self-contained and built to play a living room, a dining room or a museum lobby. Your house does not have to survive a production. If you have a speaker system I can plug into, great. If not, no worries at all.
Is it clean?
Yes. It plays for a room with your grandmother, your teenager and your college roommate in it. Nothing dirty. No religion. No politics. Ever.
How many guests does this work for?
A dinner party of twelve to a reception of a couple hundred. The format bends to the room; tell me about yours and I will tell you how I would play it.
There will be kids there. Is that okay?
Kids at the party are welcome and they love it. But the show is built for adults; I am not a children’s party act, and your evening will not feel like one.
Why is there no price on this page?
Because the number depends on the format, the size of the room and the date. Tell me about the evening and we will land on a number together.
■ The ask
Check my date.
Five questions. It comes straight to me and I answer my own email, usually the same day.
