Three ways I work a room down here
The convention floor
Atlantic City runs on conventions. The Convention Center alone holds 500,000 square feet across 45 meeting rooms, and a trade show floor is the hardest room in entertainment, because everyone in it is walking somewhere else. Close-up magic stops that. I work a booth or an aisle a few people at a time, hold them long enough for your team to start a real conversation, and hand them over. No stage, no sound, nothing for the venue to set up. Best for trade shows, exhibitor booths and expo floors.
The hospitality suite
Guests do not arrive at a casino event all at once. They come up in ones and twos from the floor, from dinner, from whatever they were doing an hour ago, and a stage act needs all of them seated at the same moment. Strolling magic and mind reading do not. I start when the first six people are in the room and I keep going while it fills, so by the time your last guest arrives the room is already loud. Best for hospitality suites, cocktail hours, client appreciation nights and casino buyouts.
The seated show
Thirty to fifty minutes for a room already facing the same direction. Ocean's Ovation Hall seats 4,400 and Borgata's event spaces run from ten people to three and a half thousand, so the honest answer is that the format has to match the room. I have comfortably worked audiences up to four hundred. Magic and mind reading both, built for adults, not a kids' show. I bring a microphone and speaker where the room needs it, I work to whatever slot you give me, and I finish when I said I would. Best for awards dinners, galas and after dinner entertainment.
See Mike in action
About
Booking in a city you do not know
Most people booking entertainment in Atlantic City are not from Atlantic City. You are bringing a conference to the Convention Center, a sales meeting to the Waterfront, or a client night to a casino hotel you picked off a floor plan, and you are hiring suppliers in a city you do not know. I work these rooms regularly. Borgata, Ocean Casino Resort, Harrah's and Club Wyndham Skyline Tower are all on my list.
AtlantiCare has booked me at Borgata several times for strolling magic and mind reading. Harrah's had me in for New Year's Eve. Insight Partners brought me to Ocean Casino Resort for their leadership retreat, a one hour show for two hundred people. The biggest reaction of the night came at the end, from a personalized piece of magic built around the company's own name. I can build the same kind of moment around your company or your message.
The risk in booking a corporate act is not that it will be bad. It is that it will be wrong. The band nobody listens to. The comedian who misjudges the room. The hypnotist who turns a VP into a chicken in front of the people who report to him. That risk gets worse when you are booking from four states away off a website.
I am about an hour from Atlantic City and I drive. No flight to miss, no connection to lose. I arrive forty five minutes early and I am set up before your first guest walks in, largely because there is nothing to set up. I bring everything and I need nothing from the venue beyond the room itself.
I spent more than twenty years inside corporate America, which matters more than it sounds. I read a run of show without needing it explained. I do not perform over the speeches. I know the schedule slipping is normal and not a crisis. Nothing in the act will embarrass your company, the material is clean and appropriate for a mixed audience, and nobody gets made into the punchline. Standard dress is a dark suit.
The paperwork is handled. Performer liability insurance, a certificate naming your venue on request, which the casinos will ask for, a real contract, and an invoice your accounting team will accept without a conversation.
Magic and mind reading both. Some rooms want one, some want the other, most want some of each, and I will tell you which I think yours is once I know the date, the venue and roughly how many guests.
Atlantic City and the shore are standard for me, along with Philadelphia, the rest of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, New York and Connecticut.
Proof
Real rooms, real reactions
"We brought Mike in as a nice complement to a cocktail reception, but instead, he became the main event. The whole room followed him around, chasing the next trick, because once people saw one they wanted more. Mike is genuinely talented, has great energy, and is a crowd-pleaser in a room that's not easy to win over; we'll definitely be bringing him back."
Christine R. Felice, SVP, Mitchell & Ness Commerce
"Mike is magic! We hired Mike for my 40th at a winery and all I can remember is random screams of amazement among the crowd. He is flawless in his execution and left us all in awe. My family and friends talked about his performance for weeks!"
Ankur Patel, 40th birthday celebration
"Michael was absolutely incredible! We had him at our end-of-summer carnival party, and he completely captivated the entire crowd. With a big party, it's not easy to hold everyone's attention, but he had people gathered around, laughing, amazed, and genuinely trying to figure out how he was doing what he was doing! Our guests were talking about him all night and even afterwards."
Kejal Bhatt, end of summer party
Below, photographs from real events, taken on the night, with real guests reacting in real time. Ballrooms, cocktail receptions, hotel function rooms and convention stages across the East Coast.
Volunteers from the room
Two guests who walked in as strangers, now standing next to me in front of a full house. Nobody is planted and nobody is the punchline.
A full room
Cocktail hour at a black tie gala, guests closing in on both sides. No stage and no microphone, just a room full of people who came over to see what everyone was looking at.
Black tie season
Arriving for an annual charity gala. One case, no setup, ready before the doors open.
Partial client list
Vanguard · Insight Partners · Alimera Sciences
New American Funding · Fox Chase Cancer Center
Mitchell & Ness · Marriott · Wyndham · AtlantiCare
Mohonk Mountain House · Borgata · Harrah's
Ocean Casino Resort · Live! Casino · SugarHouse Casino
Disney Cruise Line
Questions I get asked
How long do you perform?
Once I know a bit more about your event, I will come back with a recommendation on the length and the format that fits it best.
What do you need from the venue?
Strolling needs no stage, no sound and no setup. I simply start. For a seated show I need somewhere the whole room can see me, and a small riser helps past about 80 guests. I bring my own microphone and speaker if the venue has none.
Where do you travel?
Philadelphia and the surrounding region are standard: NJ, DE, MD, DC, NY and CT. Further afield is possible, just ask.
Is it right for a mixed audience?
Yes. Nothing in the show is off color, nothing embarrasses a volunteer, and nothing needs explaining to the client's boss afterwards.
Insurance and dress?
I carry performer liability insurance and can send your venue a certificate on request. Standard dress is a dark suit. Black tie or a costume brief is no problem if your evening calls for it.
Contact
Tell me about your event
Send the date, the venue and roughly how many guests. You'll hear back the same day with what I'd do and what it costs.