I am a magician and mentalist based in New York, and every December I turn company holiday parties into the one night people bring up again in June. Close-up magic, stage mentalism, and moments written for your room.
Why me
Most holiday parties are the same room, the same open bar, and the same small talk. I give people a shared story instead. Something that happened in front of them, that they still cannot explain on the way home.
I have designed illusions for Netflix, performed on Good Morning America, and worked rooms for finance, tech, fashion, and hospitality teams. For your party I plan the night with whoever is running it: run time, room shape, sound, and the one moment you want people repeating on Monday.
A note on timing: December dates in New York book out by early fall, and the prime Thursday and Friday nights go first. If you have a date, send it now and I will hold it while you sort the rest.
About 100 events a year
Parties from 20 to 850
Replies within 48 hours, usually 24
December is usually full by November
See it first
Most holiday entertainment gets booked off a showreel and a prayer. I'd rather you trust your own eyes. I perform every weekend at Moxy Chelsea, my show, An Evening of Impossible Things, and planners are welcome to come watch before committing to anything. Buy a ticket, bring whoever signs off on the budget, sit close enough to check my sleeves. If the room doesn't convince you, the invoice never has to exist.
Formats
Close-up magic performed at arm's length while people arrive and mingle. It breaks up the same three conversations everyone has every year and gets the room talking before dinner is even called. This is the format that turns a cocktail hour of coworkers checking their phones into a room full of people grabbing each other's sleeves. It works at 20 people and it works at 850.
A tight mentalism set built for the room you are actually in. Forty five minutes that hold the whole party, land the laughs, and finish on something nobody at the table can explain. Forty-five minutes, no volunteers humiliated, and a mentalism closer that gets uncomfortably specific about someone's year. Executives included.
I write custom pieces around the company, the team, or the year it just had. The number nobody outside the building knows, the inside joke, the name that has no business showing up where it does. The best custom moments turn your company's own year into the reveal. If your company had a year worth celebrating, I can build the magic around it.
Rooms I have played
Netflix illusion design · Good Morning America · a weekly one man show at Moxy Chelsea · galas, launches, and holiday parties for teams across the country.
What teams say
“I just wanted to send a thank you note to John for an incredible performance. His whole set was beyond entertaining and completely left every last one of us in awe. We had a blast and have some core memories made because of it.”
“Our team loved the event and John: professional, engaging, perfectly timed, and a super fun act.”
Pricing
Holiday pricing isn't a mystery, it's a calendar. Four things move the number: the date (December Saturdays go first and cost the most, the second week of December is the squeeze), the format (strolling, stage, or both), headcount, and custom design work, which needs lead time. Two honest ways to spend less: book a weeknight, or do what more companies are quietly doing every year, throw the party in January, when your team actually has time to enjoy it, venues cost less, and my calendar is wide open. Tell me the date and headcount and you'll have a straight answer within 48 hours, usually the same day.
Questions
Booking
Send over the date, the venue, and the headcount. I read every inquiry personally and usually reply within one business day.
Inquire nowUpdated September 2026