Performing Corporate Shows at Old Trafford, Manchester
There are certain periods in your career that quietly shape the performer you eventually become.
For me, one of those periods came through a series of corporate events held at Old Trafford in Manchester roughly a decade ago. The events were organised by a travel industry company called TIPTO, and over the course of around eighteen months I found myself regularly travelling around the UK performing at their “Super Shows” alongside comedian and compère Jed Stone.
Performing at the Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square, London
London always feels slightly different in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
The city becomes busier, brighter and somehow even more cinematic than usual. Office buildings begin glowing against the dark winter evenings, decorations appear across the streets and luxury hotels transform themselves into these warm islands of gold light amongst the cold London air outside.
In November 2023, I travelled down to London to perform at a corporate Risk Summit hosted by Marsh UK Construction Practice at the Four Seasons Hotel at Ten Trinity Square.
Entertaining Aboard the Thames at Night
There are certain London events that feel almost cinematic whilst you are inside them.
The reflections of city lights across the water.
The low hum of conversations drifting between guests.
Tower Bridge glowing in the distance while the skyline slowly moves around you.
Several years ago I was hired to provide close-up mentalism and psychological entertainment aboard a private Thames cruise for senior international guests attending a corporate event in London.
Performing Alongside a Mentor at Gleneagles
There are certain moments in your career that feel quietly significant whilst they are happening.
Not because thousands of people are watching.
Not because cameras are rolling.
Not because the event itself is necessarily the largest you’ve ever performed.
But because somewhere deep down you realise you’ve arrived at a moment you once only imagined from a distance.
Networking, Noise & Mind Reading at the OXO Tower
London networking events have a very particular kind of energy.
They begin politely enough. Small conversations over drinks. Name badges. Business cards. Groups standing slightly too formally around tables pretending not to scan the room for people they recognise.
Then slowly, over the course of the evening, the atmosphere changes.
People relax.
Conversations loosen.
Laughter becomes louder.
The room begins to breathe properly.
What BIBA Taught Me About Trade Show Entertainment
One of the biggest misconceptions about exhibition entertainment is that it exists purely to create noise.
Good trade show entertainment should do far more than simply attract a crowd.
It should create conversations.
Introduce opportunities.
Generate momentum.
And ultimately help companies connect with the right people.
That became particularly clear to me while working at the BIBA Conference and Exhibition in Manchester for Proximo Ltd.
The Night I Realised Mentalism Could Be More Than Entertainment
There are certain performances that stay with you long after the applause fades.
Not necessarily because they were the largest audiences or the highest fees, but because something shifted internally whilst you were there.
One such evening for me took place high above Canary Wharf during a corporate event for KPMG.
Even now, years later, I can still remember the feeling of standing inside that building looking out across London at night.
It genuinely felt like the city stretched on forever.
Performing at The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice Annual Ball
One of the strangest things about working as a performer is where enquiries sometimes arrive.
I still vividly remember receiving the booking request for The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice Annual Ball while sitting in a hotel restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.
Outside, the temperature was close to minus twenty degrees as I prepared material for a lecture at Penguin Magic in the United States. Meanwhile, several thousand miles away, an enquiry had landed in my inbox asking if I would fly to Scotland to perform at a major charity gala in Edinburgh.
What I Learned Running a Corporate Wellbeing Workshop
Most people associate my work with corporate events, conferences, trade shows and after-dinner performances.
So when First Response Finance approached me about delivering part of their internal wellbeing programme, it immediately caught my attention because it was something completely different.
Not just another performance.
A workshop.
And honestly, that excited me.
Performing at a Rooftop Corporate Event in Barcelona
One of the most surreal parts of working as a professional mentalist is occasionally finding yourself standing in places you never imagined work would take you.
For me, Barcelona was one of those moments.
Performing at Sheffield University’s Celebration of Enterprise Awards
There’s something very different about returning to your hometown to perform.
No matter how many events you work at around the UK, walking back into a city you feel deeply connected to always carries an extra sense of pride and pressure in equal measure.
The Prediction: When I Took on a Police-Secured Publicity Challenge
Long before viral marketing campaigns and social media stunts became commonplace, publicity relied on a far simpler idea:
Create something people genuinely wanted to talk about.
In 2011, I accepted one of the strangest challenges of my career when the Newark Advertiser and Nottinghamshire Police invited me to predict the exact outcome of a live rugby match under strict supervision.
At the time, it felt less like a performance and more like stepping into a psychological experiment.
Performing at the NEC Birmingham
There are certain moments in your career where you suddenly realise you’ve stepped into a completely different world.
For me, one of those moments happened the first time I performed at the NEC in Birmingham.
Up until that point, most of my work had revolved around weddings, private functions and corporate hospitality events. I was comfortable mingling with guests, creating moments of astonishment and naturally moving between groups during relaxed social environments.
Trade shows, however, turned out to be an entirely different beast.