Every year it’s the same thing.
You book the venue, you figure out the food, you handle the decorations, and then someone asks the question nobody wants to answer — what are we actually doing for entertainment?
Most Memphis corporate holiday parties end up with a DJ, a photo booth, or nothing at all. And there’s nothing wrong with any of those things. But if you’ve been to enough company Christmas parties, you already know the problem. People show up, they eat, they make small talk with the same three coworkers they always talk to, and they leave. By Monday morning nobody’s talking about it.
That’s the one thing missing from most corporate holiday parties in Memphis. Not better food. Not a fancier venue. Something that actually gives people a shared experience worth talking about.
What Makes Corporate Holiday Entertainment Actually Work
Here’s what I’ve noticed after years of performing at corporate events across Memphis and the Mid-South. The planners who get the best results are the ones who ask the right questions before they book anything.
Not just “how much does it cost” but things like:
How many people are we expecting? Will they be seated or moving around? Is this a formal dinner or a casual cocktail party? Do we want something that gets everyone together at once, or something that works while people are mingling?
Those questions matter because the right entertainment depends entirely on how your event is actually structured. A stage show works beautifully for a seated dinner where you want one big shared moment everyone experiences together. A walkabout show works better for cocktail hours and mingling events where people are moving around and you want the entertainment to come to them.
Most people don’t think about that distinction until it’s too late. And most entertainers don’t ask.
Why Magic Works for Corporate Holiday Parties
Interactive magic does something that a DJ or a photo booth can’t do. It creates a shared experience that your team actually talks about afterward.
Think about it this way. When someone sees something happen right in front of them that they can’t explain. It’s something that happens in their hands, or involves their name, or uses an object they brought up themselves…they don’t forget it. They go back to the office on Monday and they tell somebody. And that somebody asks questions. And suddenly the company Christmas party is the thing everyone’s talking about instead of something people just showed up to because they felt like they had to.
That’s the difference between entertainment people sit through and entertainment that actually means something to the people in the room.
Stage Show vs. Walkabout — Which One Is Right for Your Memphis Holiday Party
This is the question I wish more planners asked before they booked anything.
A stage show is what most people picture when they think of a magician. Everyone sits down, the lights come up, and for 45 minutes to an hour the whole room shares the same experience together. It’s powerful. It’s memorable. And it works especially well for formal holiday dinners where you want a clear centerpiece moment for the evening.
A walkabout show is completely different. Instead of everyone coming to the entertainment, the entertainment comes to everyone. I move through the room, perform for small groups of three or four people at a time, and create personal moments that feel completely different from anything happening on a stage. It works perfectly for cocktail hours, receptions, and casual holiday parties where people are mingling and you want the energy to stay high throughout the whole event rather than just during one set moment.
Some events actually work best with both a walkabout set during cocktail hour followed by a stage show during or after dinner. That’s something worth talking through when you’re planning.
Booking Holiday Entertainment in Memphis — What to Know
If you’re planning a corporate holiday party in Memphis this year, the time to book entertainment is now. September and October are when most corporate planners lock in their vendors for November and December events. The good venues fill up fast, and so does the calendar for entertainers worth booking.
A few things worth having ready when you reach out to any entertainer:
Your event date and venue, your expected guest count, whether it’s a seated dinner or a cocktail-style event, and your budget range. The more details you bring to that first conversation, the easier it is to figure out whether it’s a good fit and what kind of show makes the most sense for your specific event.
Bring Something Different to Your Memphis Holiday Party This Year
If your company Christmas party looks exactly the same every year, this is the year to change that.
Bentley Burns is a Penn & Teller: Fool Us alum performing corporate magic shows across Memphis, Tennessee and the surrounding region. Whether you need a full stage show, a walkabout experience, or a combination of both, the goal is always the same — give your team something worth talking about long after the party ends.
Ready to talk about your Memphis holiday event? Contact Bentley here.
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