Close-up magic for your drinks reception, wedding breakfast and evening entertainment. The UK's #1 ranked wedding magician. Fees from £850.
Check my availability →Hey! I'm Close-Up Chris
Hiring a wedding magician isn't just about filling a gap in the day — it's about making sure your guests never forget it. Using close-up sleight of hand, comedy and a little secret sauce, I'm here to turn the quiet moments into the ones everyone still talks about at Christmas. Magic so cosmopolitan you could sip it from a Martini glass.
With 28 years of experience and 965 weddings performed, I'm the UK's most booked wedding magician — from intimate village venues to luxury country estates. Featured in trusted wedding directories including Bridebook, Hitched and Confetti. Ready to make it happen?
Make my wedding unforgettable →
Nine reasons couples choose me as their wedding magician — and why you should too!
I'll kill that awkward silence within seconds of meeting your guests — no script, just real laughs.
OMGs, WTFs and jaw drops — the kind of moments your guests will still be talking about at Christmas.
Genuine reactions make the best wedding photos. I create the moments — your wedding photographer captures them.
Watches, wallets, phones — lifted without anyone noticing. All returned, all in good humour.
Independently ranked #1 UK magician on FreeIndex. Out of 299 magicians — rated by real clients, not self-declared.
Drinks reception, evening entertainment or both. I fit around your day, not the other way round.
28 years performing professionally. £5m public liability. You can relax — this is truly what I do for a living.
Magic so cosmopolitan you could sip it from a Martini glass. Your guests will still be talking about it at Christmas.
A private performance just for the two of you. Because it's your day — you deserve a moment that's yours alone.
Don't just take my word for it
216 five-star reviews on FreeIndex. Ranked #1 UK magician. But nothing says it better than a couple who were actually there on the day.
Ready for OMG moments at the wedding of the year?
Check my availability →Most Saturday dates book 6–12 months in advance.
See it for yourself
Whether it's the drinks reception or the evening entertainment, I'll be mingling through your guests with sleight of hand, comedy and a little secret sauce — creating the kind of OMG moments that have absolutely nothing to do with the canapés.
Check my availability →
I haven't laughed like that in a long time.
Stacey & Tom, Birmingham
Most Saturday dates book 6–12 months in advance.
Here's what hiring a wedding magician actually fixes.
Weddings are brilliant — but let's be honest, they can drag. And if you're looking for an alternative wedding entertainment idea that actually gets people talking, you're in the right place. Guests who don't know each other, awkward silences between courses, the bit after the wedding breakfast where nobody knows what to do. Sound familiar?
Hiring a wedding magician fixes all of that. As your wedding reception magician, I perform close-up magic, mind reading and pickpocketing throughout your day — during the drinks reception, wedding breakfast and evening reception — turning those slow moments into the ones everyone talks about.
Brides and grooms who can actually relax and enjoy their day, knowing their guests are being looked after. And a wedding that gets talked about for years.
Three golden moments where close-up magic works its magic.
The drinks reception is the perfect time to hire a wedding magician. While you're busy with photos, I mingle through your guests — breaking the ice, sparking conversations and getting the laughs going.
Table magic during the wedding breakfast turns those inevitable lulls between courses into moments your guests will still be talking about a year later. I perform table by table, so every single guest gets a personal, unforgettable experience.
Looking for evening reception entertainment that actually gets people off their seats? I create a natural bridge between the meal and the dancing — keeping energy high and giving guests something to talk about all night.
This is what close-up magic actually looks like
No camera tricks, no editing, no distance. This is close-up magic performed right in front of your guests — using a borrowed ring from someone in the room. The reaction says everything.
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Don't just take my word for it. Here's what thousands of couples discovered — after the day was done.
of brides wished they had thought more about their entertainment
would have made entertainment their highest priority just one week later
said they would have spent more on their entertainment
Weddings are generally long days and face the danger of falling flat. That's where I come in. Wedding magicians are like those popular kids in school — everyone wants them at their party.
*Source: Hitched
I'll make sure nobody ever forgets it.
The UK's #1 ranked wedding magician. 965 weddings performed.
Check my availability →Most Saturday dates book 6–12 months in advance.
Included in The Cosmopolitan & The Showman
Watches, wallets and phones — lifted without anyone noticing. All returned, all in good humour. It's one of those moments where your guests simply cannot believe what just happened — and neither can the person whose watch has just vanished from their wrist.
Check my availability →Three options. One guarantee — your guests will never forget it. Whether you need a wedding reception magician for the drinks hour or full-day entertainment, there's a package for you. Wedding magician prices from £850.
One session — drinks reception, cocktail hour or evening.
One session. Maximum impact. Fully loaded.
Two sessions. The complete wedding magician experience.
Not sure which package suits your day? Get in touch and I'll help you find the perfect fit.
Wedding magician reactions — every gasp, every jaw drop, every moment your guests completely lose it — captured on camera as it happens.
After the wedding you receive a professionally edited short video of your guests' best reactions — a wedding memory that goes beyond the photo album. Most couples say it's the thing they rewatch most.
Check my availability →"A flawless 10/10."
Liam Mac
"Captivated and in hysterics."
Ruth Kelly
"A real talking point for weeks."
Helen Orton
"Worth every penny."
David Knight
"Had our guests amazed all night."
Will Darley
Everything couples ask before booking. Answered properly.
Picture your Aunt Mabel losing the plot as her borrowed ring vanishes from her finger, only to reappear inside a sealed envelope. Or your best man's face when the card he just signed turns up in the most impossible place imaginable. That's the kind of magic I do — close-up sleight of hand, mind reading and pickpocketing, performed right in front of your guests with nothing but my hands and a healthy dose of mischief. I'm not a stage illusionist or a wedding illusionist with a big box of tricks — no doves, no disappearing cabinets, no sequinned assistants. Just genuinely jaw-dropping moments that happen inches from people's faces. Every trick is tailored to the group — whether that's making the newlyweds the stars of the show or giving the father-in-law something he'll dine out on for years.
Three golden windows — and they each do a different job. The drinks reception is perfect while you're off getting photographed. I mingle through your guests, break the ice between people who've never met, and get the energy up before anyone's had a chance to stand around looking awkward. The wedding breakfast is brilliant between courses — I go table by table so every single guest gets a personal, up-close experience rather than watching from a distance. And the evening reception is where I bridge the gap between the meal and the dancing, keeping the energy from dropping at exactly the moment it wants to.
I've written a full guide on when is the best time to have a wedding magician if you want the full breakdown.
The obvious one is entertainment — but that undersells it. A close-up magician does something no other wedding entertainment does: it works in small, intimate groups, it moves around the room, it's completely interactive, and it creates genuine reactions that your photographer will capture without being asked. Those candid jaw-drop shots are some of the best photos that come out of any wedding. Beyond the photos, a wedding magician is the single most effective icebreaker you can hire. Strangers who've never met become a group within minutes. Awkward silences disappear. The atmosphere builds from the moment I arrive — and that energy carries through the rest of the day.
A professional magician who knows what they're doing will typically start from around £500 for a private event. For a wedding — where the day is longer, the stakes are higher and the performance needs to work across very different groups of people — you should expect to pay more. My wedding packages start from £850.
What you're paying for isn't card tricks. It's 28 years of knowing exactly how to read a room, how to bring strangers together, how to make the bride and groom feel like the most important people there — and how to do all of it without ever making it feel like a performance. That's the difference experience makes.
I've put together a full guide to how much a wedding magician costs if you want the detailed breakdown before getting in touch.
If you've got a date and you want me there, the best time to book was yesterday. The second best time is right now. Most Saturday dates go 6 to 12 months in advance — sometimes longer for peak summer weekends. I'm not saying that to create urgency for the sake of it. I'm saying it because I genuinely can't help you if your date's already gone. Check availability early, even if you're not 100% ready to commit — at least you'll know where you stand.
Three steps, no faff:
1. Get in touch — drop me a message to check your date. I'll come back to you quickly, usually the same day.
2. Pick your package — once we've confirmed I'm free, we'll talk through which package works best for your day.
3. Secure your date — a 50% deposit locks in your booking. The balance is due two months before the wedding, so you're not thinking about it on the day.
Ah, awards. If I had a pound for every "award-winning magician" I've seen, I'd be richer than a leprechaun at the end of a double rainbow. The magic world hands them out like confetti — Best Card Trick of the Month, Most Doves Released Indoors, Longest Levitation in Driving Rain. I am, proudly, the world's best award-losing magician. Not a single trophy to my name. What I do have is 216 five-star reviews, 965 weddings performed and the #1 ranking on FreeIndex out of 299 magicians — given by real couples, not a panel of judges in a back room. I'll take that every time.
Watch their videos first — not a showreel, actual footage of real performances with real people. Any magician worth hiring will have plenty of it. Then check their reviews on independent platforms like FreeIndex rather than testimonials they've curated themselves. Finally, make sure they've actually performed at weddings specifically — corporate events and private parties require a very different skill set. A wedding magician needs to know how to read a room of people who don't know each other, work around a schedule that always runs late and make the bride and groom feel like the most important people there. That's a specific craft. Make sure whoever you book has done it hundreds of times, not dozens.
I've written a full guide if you want the complete breakdown before getting in touch.
If you're looking for a wedding magician near me in the Midlands, I'm based in Staffordshire and cover Birmingham, Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Lichfield and surrounding areas — but I regularly travel to Manchester, London, Leeds and beyond for weddings across the UK. If you've found a stunning venue anywhere in the country, get in touch and I'll let you know if I can make it work. Travel costs are included within a reasonable radius and quoted transparently beyond that — no surprises on the invoice. You can also find me on Google Maps.
Most Saturday dates book 6–12 months in advance.
The UK's #1 ranked wedding magician. 965 weddings performed. Fees from £850.
Check my availability →Most Saturday dates book 6–12 months in advance.
Not at all. If you hire a quality, experienced mag


