“Skal vi booke en tryllekunstner eller en komiker?” Det spørgsmål får jeg tit, når nogen sidder med en dato i kalenderen og skal finde underholdning til festen. Og det er et fornuftigt spørgsmål, for de to ting gør ikke det samme ved en aften. Jeg hedder Anders Andresen og er selv både tryllekunstner og komiker, så her er, hvad hver af dem giver et selskab, og hvorfor jeg endte med at lave begge dele.
What a magician does for the party
Magic creates wonder. Something very particular happens in a room when 40 people see the same thing and none of them can explain it. People look at each other, they laugh, and they start talking about it afterwards.
Den store fordel ved tryllekunst er, at den ikke stiller krav til gæsterne. Man skal ikke kunne danse, synge med eller kende de andre ved bordet. Man skal bare kunne blive overrasket, og det kan de fleste, uanset om de er 8 eller 80 år. Tryllekunst er også fleksibelt rent praktisk. Det kan foregå som et samlet show for hele selskabet, eller helt tæt på ved bordene, mens gæsterne ankommer eller venter på næste ret.
What a comedian does for the party
Comedy does something else. It delivers the big laughs and the shared breathing space where everyone in the room laughs at the same thing at the same time. At a corporate party it might be an affectionate remark about something everyone recognises from the working day, and suddenly the mood has loosened up.
Stand-up, on the other hand, makes greater demands on the setting. The guests need to be able to hear, it needs to be reasonably quiet, and they should ideally be seated or standing together. If people are scattered around the bar in the middle of a lively party, comedy has a harder time landing than a trick that can be done for five people at a time.
Why you do not have to choose
I started out as a magician and came to comedy later, because I got a Christmas party booking where I suddenly had to perform for a whole room instead of a small group. I have written about that story in my previous post.
I dag er trylleri og comedy vokset sammen til én ting for mig. Et show er sjældent kun trylleri eller kun comedy, det er en blanding, og blandingsforholdet bliver justeret efter, hvem der sidder i salen. Det er den vigtigste fordel ved at booke en, der kan begge dele: I låser ikke aftenens stemning fast på forhånd. Er selskabet mere afdæmpet end ventet, kan jeg lade trylleriet fylde mere. Er de klar fra første sekund, kan jeg skrue op for comedy.
Of course I think things through beforehand, but it is very much something I sense during the first few minutes of performing. If they are already laughing at the first thing I say, there is room for more talk and more jokes between the tricks. If they are more reserved and simply want to see something they cannot explain, I let the magic take up more space and keep the talk and the jokes shorter. It is that kind of adjustment along the way that decides whether a show really connects with the audience or simply gets delivered.
What suits your party?
Om trylleri, comedy eller en blanding passer bedst, afhænger mest af, hvad der ellers sker den aften.
At a wedding there are often speeches, songs and a programme that is already full. Here, close-up magic among the guests works well, because it can take place during the reception. Alternatively, a shorter 10 to 20 minute act in front of all the guests can fit nicely between courses without taking up a whole slot in the programme, and it reaches everyone from the bride’s grandmother to the youngest cousins.
At a corporate event there is usually room for a single act with the whole company together at once. There the comedy side is typically more prominent, because colleagues have shared references to laugh at.
At a private party, an anniversary or a milestone birthday party a mixture usually works best. A little close to the guests first, while they are arriving, and a full show later, once everyone has settled.
Shall we find the right mixture for your party?
The short version is that you do not have to choose between wonder and laughter. You just need to work out what suits your particular evening.
If you would like to see what that looks like in practice, have a look at the video page or read what previous clients have said on the reviews page. And if you have a date you still need entertainment for, then write to me here with the date, the venue and the number of guests, and we will work out what suits best.
