Comedy Magician for Hire

Comedy
Magician

The comedy magician who's actually funny - and actually amazing.
200+ five-star reviews.

I'm a comedy magician, which means close-up magic that genuinely makes people laugh - not a stand-up act, not knock-knock jokes between card tricks. Real magic, real comedy, real reactions. Corporate dinners, after-dinner sets, weddings and parties right across the UK.

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Since 1998
Years Performing
#1
FreeIndex UK Magician
200+
Five-Star Reviews
£5m
Public Liability

Performed at events for   BBC  ·  Shell  ·  British Airways  ·  Halfords  ·  KPMG  ·  Audi  ·  John Lewis  ·  Cadbury  ·  Barratt Homes

Comedy magician for hire

Close-up magic that makes people laugh - not a comedian doing card tricks.

There's a difference between a magician who happens to be funny and a comedian who happens to do a few tricks. I'm the first one. The magic is genuinely baffling, the comedy is genuinely funny, and the two are woven together so tightly you can't tell where one stops and the other starts. Nobody gets dragged on stage. Nobody heckles. Everybody laughs.

Hey! I'm Close-Up Chris

I've been doing this since 1998, and comedy has always been the engine of it. The sleight of hand, mind reading and pickpocketing get the gasps - the comedy is what people actually quote in the car on the way home. No stage, no stooges, no cheese. Just close-up magic performed inches away, with a running gag your guests are still repeating at breakfast.

I perform right across the UK - from corporate dinners in London, to awards nights in Birmingham, to weddings in Manchester. Wherever the event is, the funny travels with me.

Comedy magician Close-Up Chris - close-up comedy magic for corporate events, weddings and parties

Genuinely funny. Genuinely baffling. Same magician.

28 years experience. 200+ five-star reviews. £5m public liability. Let's check your date.

Check my availability →
Comedy magician Close-Up Chris performing close-up magic for guests at an outdoor corporate event

See it in action

Don't take my word for it. Watch people react.

This is me at a corporate event, working outdoors - no stage, no smoke, no stooges. Just close-up magic performed inches from people's faces, and the reactions that follow. It's the best feel you'll get for the style without being there yourself.

Nothing here is set up or rehearsed with the crowd - it's a real group seeing it for the first time. That's the only kind of reaction worth showing you.

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Close-Up Chris Reviews

★★★★★
5.0 · 200+ verified reviews on Google & FreeIndex · FreeIndex #1 UK Magician
★★★★★

"Incredible entertainment - the creme-de-la-creme of magicians!"

Halfords, Corporate Event

★★★★★

"Clever? Yes! Funny? Very! Entertaining? Off the scale!"

Leah Gibson

★★★★★

"If you are looking for some wonderful indelible memories do not give it a second thought, book."

David Knight

★★★★★

"Funny, engaging and very memorable. Would highly recommend."

Evolve, Corporate Event

★★★★★

"I've never seen a magician with such a range of tricks that all hit as hard as Chris'."

Sam Clay, Comedy Night

Comedy magician performing close-up magic for guests
0
Years Performing
0
Five-Star Reviews
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Watches Stolen
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Jaws Dropped

Where it works best

Comedy Magician for Hire

Comedy magic earns its keep at corporate events. It thaws the awkward first hour of a drinks reception, gives strangers from different departments something to bond over, and turns the dead air between courses into the bit people actually remember.

At weddings it's the ultimate ice-breaker while you're off having photos taken. And at birthdays, anniversaries and private parties, it needs no stage and no sound system - just make people laugh, then make them wonder how the hell I did that.

A quick word on comedy magic

Anyone can do a trick. Getting a room to laugh while you fool them is the hard part.

Comedy magician getting a laugh from guests during close-up magic

Most people who call themselves a comedy magician are only ever one thing or the other - a card trick with a few groaner one-liners bolted on, or a comedian who learned three tricks and now works weddings. Real comedy magic is neither. It's when the laugh and the impossible thing land in the same beat.

That's harder than it looks. A trick and a joke both live or die on timing, and they're fighting over the same half-second. Getting a genuine laugh to break at the exact instant of the reveal - so people gasp and laugh at once - is the whole craft. It took me years, not weeks.

If it isn't funny three feet away, it isn't funny. At that range there's nowhere to hide the method - or a bad joke.

I didn't invent any of this - I stole it, politely, from people far better than me. Tommy Cooper, who made the trick going wrong funnier than it ever working. Paul Daniels, who never let you forget he was loving every second. And the Americans who quietly run close-up magic: Mac King, David Williamson - about as good as comedy magic gets three feet from your face - and Penn & Teller, who proved you can show people exactly how it's done and still take the roof off.

Small group of guests reacting to close-up comedy magic

So I'll never be the loudest act in the room, and I don't own a smoke machine. What I do is make a small group feel like they're in on something the rest of the room isn't - laughing, swearing they saw it clearly, dragging their mate over to watch it again. That's comedy magic done properly.

Booking couldn't be simpler

How to Book a Comedy Magician

1

Tell Me About Your Event

✓ Date, venue and guest numbers
✓ Reply within hours
✓ Full pricing PDF sent over

2

Choose Your Package

✓ Pick your perfect package
✓ Small deposit secures your date
✓ Booking confirmation emailed

3

You Take All the Credit

✓ Early arrival, set up and ready
✓ OMG moments start to finish
✓ Guests raving about you after

Got questions?

Comedy Magician FAQ

From the blog

Comedy Magician Blog

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Let's Give Your Guests Something to Talk About.

Genuinely funny, genuinely baffling comedy magic. 200+ five-star reviews, performing since 1998. Dates go fast - don't leave it too late.

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