I remember doing magic when I was young. We would visit family for Sunday dinners or a holiday and I always brought something along to perform. I did that a lot.
Eventually I started doing children’s parties and while that was enjoyable and there was a lot to learn, it really wasn’t where my heart was. I was always interested in doing close-up magic.
I was fascinated with sleight-of-hand and I knew my audience was going to be in the corporate world and events with adult audiences. So I started to think more about that.
What I kept bumping into was how to make the leap from doing children’s parties to the corporate market. But the question was bigger than “how do I do more corporate events?” The question was really “who do I need to be to get those gigs?”
That’s where I lived for a time and it was okay. But now I find the question has changed again.
Now it’s about BEING A MAGICIAN. “Who do I need to be so that an experience of wonder just seems to happen around me?”
And that’s much bigger than doing tricks.
Inevitably a guest will exclaim, “My kid would love this!”
When I ask how old their child is, the answer is usually six or seven.
Never mind that I’m appearing at a corporate event or social function in a sharp suit and engaging with challenging close-up magic or reading minds from the stage. It still happens.
Don’t mistake this for complaining. I’ve been passionate about magic since I was 10 years old and I’m grateful to have it as my profession for over 25 years.
I’m just wonder why.
My kids live in a world of wonder and joy. Everything they experience is magical. But eventually society will tell them it’s time to put childlike things away and grow up. Sadly, magic will be added to that box and buried in the backyard.
“So remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and hold on to that childlike sense of wonder about what makes the universe exist.”
We grown-ups need magic now more than ever. That’s why we go to the theater, visit the museum, read a novel, or listen to music. These things pull us out of our daily grind. That’s the power of magic; it puts us face-to-face with a mystery.
If only for a few moments and even if it’s a simple, well-executed card trick.
Hey there, corporate event planners! Let's talk about shaking things up at your next conference. Ever considered adding a touch of magic to the mix? Here's why bringing in a magician could be the game-changer you've been looking for.
Picture this: your attendees walk into the conference hall expecting the usual PowerPoint presentations and networking sessions. But wait, what's that? A magician weaving through the crowd, wowing everyone with mind-bending tricks and illusions. Talk about setting the stage for an unforgettable experience!
Think about it – magicians are masters at grabbing attention and keeping it. Their interactive performances inject energy into the room, making sure nobody's nodding off during those afternoon sessions.
And hey, it's not just about entertainment. The right magician can be an ambassador for your company message. They can seamlessly weave in key points or product launches into their act, ensuring your audience gets the memo without feeling like they're being lectured.
But here's the real trick: bringing people together. Sharing moments of wonder and laughter creates instant connections among attendees, making networking and team-building a breeze.
So, if you're ready to take your corporate conference from ordinary to extraordinary, consider adding a magician to the lineup. Trust me, your attendees will thank you for it!
OAKLAND, California - “Magic thrives in Oakland” (Piedmont Living Magazine) as Dennis Kyriakos currently offers the only close-up magic show in the Bay Area, and fans have lined up to experience his CONJURING WONDER – Magic: Up-Close and Personal every month at the Claremont Club & Spa in Berkeley.
For the past year, Kyriakos has been entertaining sold-out audiences at the Claremont with his high-caliber magic and mind reading. His one year anniversary show is scheduled for Thursday, May 25th at 7:00 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit conjuring.live.
“This is a one-of-a-kind experience in the Bay Area,” said the talented magician behind CONJURING WONDER. “There are only 30 seats available for this interactive close-up magic show so everyone has a front row seat. The magic happens in the hands, minds and hearts of the audience as they participate in the show.”
Join us May 25th to celebrate the one year anniversary and all guests (21 & over) receive a complimentary glass of champagne.
Kyriakos provides sophisticated entertainment at corporate meetings and conferences, incentive weekends, trade shows, hospitality suites and high-end private events across the country and around the world. For the past 25 years, he has been a featured performer and host of Monday Night Magic – New York City’s longest-running magic show – and Magical Nights at Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency – The Nightclub of New York.
Kyriakos has been a repeated guest lecturer at NYU's Psychology Department and at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California, talking about "Visual Perception in Magic" and "Lying and Deception." He has also been profiled on the popular website The Art of Manliness.
For more information about Kyriakos and to purchase tickets to CONJURING WONDER, visit conjuring.live. He can also be followed on Instagram at @conjuringwonder.
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CONJURING WONDER celebrates National Magic Week with a special performance on October 26th
OAKLAND, California — San Francisco Magician Dennis Kyriakos currently offers the only close-up magic show in the Bay Area. Fans are lining up to experience CONJURING WONDER – Magic: Up-Close & Personal each month at the Claremont Club & Spa in Berkeley.
Since May, Kyriakos has been entertaining sold-out audiences at the Claremont with his high-caliber magic and mind reading show. His next performance is scheduled for Wednesday, October 26th at 7:00 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit conjuring.live or watch the highlight video:
“To celebrate Halloween, our October 26th performance will feature an act rarely seen by modern audiences,” Kyriakos explained.
“More importantly October 25 - 31 is National Magic Week, which celebrates the charitable contributions made by the Society of American Magicians throughout the years. In that spirit, all proceeds of this month’s performance will go to the Jazy and Angel Scholarship Fund.”
Jazy and Angel Sotelo Garcia, two Berkeley HS students and brothers were shot and killed at a house party in Oakland on October 1st.
Asked why he decided to donate ticket sales, Kyriakos said, “I’d like those affected by this tragedy and our community to know that even though there may be darkness in the world, you will also find joy and wonder and light in equal measure.”
For the past 25 years, Kyriakos has provided entertainment at corporate meetings, incentive weekends, trade shows, fundraising gala, and high-end private events across the country and around the world.
He has been a featured performer and host of Monday Night Magic – New York City’s longest-running magic show – and Magical Nights at Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency – The Nightclub of New York. He has been a repeated guest lecturer at NYU's Psychology Department and at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California, talking about "Visual Perception in Magic" and "Lying and Deception." He has also been featured on the popular website The Art of Manliness.
Kyriakos is available for interviews and demonstrations for reporters at television stations, radio, and newspapers.
For more information, visit conjuringwonder.com. He can also be followed on Instagram and Twitter at @conjuringwonder.
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Tickets for this SPECIAL EDITION of CONJURING WONDER are on sale now!
Oakland, CA - Dennis Kyriakos sells out the premiere performance of CONJURING WONDER at The Claremont Club & Spa, in Berkeley, CA.
Imagine making your way through the stunning lobby of the Claremont Club & Spa and unwinding with a glass of wine while mingling with other guests.
Take your seat around the table as a dapper gentleman is introduced and the mysteries unfold.
Suddenly, objects vanish and reappear before your eyes. Uncanny coincidences unfold. Secret thoughts are revealed.
You are left charmed, bewildered, and amazed.
CONJURING WONDER will be presented monthly at The Claremont Club & Spa. Stay informed when future tickets go on sale here.
Yes, we still continue to face challenges but I firmly believe that it’s important to occasionally look at where you’ve come from and acknowledge your success — and failure. Do this often enough and with the right spirit and a clear path emerges in the direction you’re heading.
Despite the uncertainty of 2021, I was fortunate to present Virtual Deceptions at 44 online events and make appearances at 20 in-person corporate, private, and fundraising events this past year.
Here’s a taste of some of the most memorable moments…
The Return of In-Person Events
My first in-person event happened in May 2021. A team-building dinner for my new friends at Saltmine.
The event took place at Taplin Cellars, one of the oldest family-owned vineyard in Napa and Sylvia Taplin is the consummate host. The entire experience felt like being home.
The entertainment portion of the evening was a surprise for the team, so the folks at Taplin put me up in their cottage which doubled as a greenroom. After a fantastic meal prepared by The French Laundry, I was introduced and performed al fresco overlooking the vineyard.
What a joy to be back!
The Cottage at Taplin Cellars
The Cottage at Taplin Cellars
Greenroom
Dinner by The French Laundry
Sylvia Taplin thanking our chef for the evening and introducing the performance
Trade Shows
We saw the trade show industry open up this year with shows — large and small — across the country. One of the last events I did before locking down was the RSA Conference in February 2020 and we had no idea when the industry would be back.
Nice to see trade shows coming back and organizers adjusting the circumstance.
Stopping traffic for W Brothers at the Institute of Real Estate Conference Orange County Chapter Conference and Trade Show
Presenting for Bitdefender at Connect IT 2021 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas
Presenting for Bitdefender at Connect IT 2021 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas
In-Person Conferences
This year brought the opportunity to help a new client entertain conference attendees in Las Vegas and New Orleans.
Each reception included about 50 - 60 VIP conference attendees from across the country. And I designed a couple of customize presentations to get the client’s message across.
VIP Conference Reception at 1923 Prohibition Bar in Las Vegas
VIP Conference Reception at The Chicory in New Orleans
Speaking of Magic
As I mentioned at the top of this blog post, it’s important to look back and acknowledge success and failure. One of the things that kept me sane these past two years was finding a way to take the challenge we’re facing and do something positive with it.
“Every obstacle in life presents us with an opportunity to turn inward and invoke our own submerged inner resources. The trials we endure can and should introduce us to our strengths.”
Making Zoom Magic
The more Zoom meetings I had with clients the more I realized I had something to offer.
MAKING ZOOM MAGIC is a peek-behind-the-curtain to share the process of pivoting from performing at in-person events to crafting a highly-interactive and successful virtual magic performance for corporate events. I presented the talk to a handful of groups — virtually, of course! — and walked attendees through the nuts and bolts to making their next Zoom meetings amazing.
If you’d like to discuss bringing MAKING ZOOM MAGIC or another customize presentation to your group please drop me a note here.
The Speaker Spring Board Podcast
Alfred Poor invited me to be part of The Speaker Springboard Podcast. We talked about the business of doing magic, and what managers and leaders can learn from it.
Yeah, we jammed a lot into 10-minutes but Alfred it really good at what he does and apparently I have a lot to say on the subject.
And that’s no lie.
Virtual Conferences and Meetings
As challenging as it has been, there have also been some exciting opportunities to emcee and entertain at sales and kick-off meetings and opening receptions at virtual conferences for clients like Guidewire, SingleStore, Clarizen, DocuSign, SNUG World, Side reUnite, the Society for Technical Communication, and more!
The Battery
Thrilled to be back at my residency at The Battery this year. It was great to see the membership and staff again!
I’ve been the Resident Magician at The Battery since 2015, entertaining casually in The Musto Bar.
In November, I presented Psychic Illusions for approximately 80 club members. The performance ran 90 minutes in length and featured an act rarely seen today. What a treat to be back at the club!
The Oracle Act
The Parlor at The Battery
Thank you
We made it! We’re one year wiser, one year stronger.
Thank you for your loyalty and support.
May you find much WONDER & JOY in 2022. I’ll see you there!
Dennis
This has been tucked away in my notes since September 2018. Dusted it off, made some edits and is now posted here for our edification.
To set the scene, I was performing at my residency last night for about eight people. We were gathered on couches and ottomans around a low, glass table. Throughout the evening, guests drift in and out of the performances, but this one lasted about 30 minutes.
Close-up magic is quite intimate and casual and, if done “right,” the audience and performer really get to know each other.
This particular audience was a gathering of eight friends. I was sitting on the couch next to Mario, who was from El Salvador, and his wife who was from Germany. They lived in Hanover but visit San Francisco every 4 year to see family.
“The Magician is an initiate of secret and hidden knowledge of all kinds.
And this is the important point. All knowledge that takes special training to acquire is the province of the Magician energy.”
As often happens after a performance in this particular venue, guests will often ask questions:
“How did you get into magic?”
“Do you have a teacher?”
“Did you go to school for it?”
One woman commented that “you must have been born with it?”
Mario said he could never do anything like what he experienced.
When I asked what he did for a living he replied that he was a chef but “it's nothing like what you do.”
"Yes, it is, Mario. It's exactly like what I do."
I met Emily Balcetis many years ago at the Tribeca Ball, in New York City. She was a guest of the organizer and I performed bit close up magic for her and we got to talking.
One thing led to another — as things often do — and she invited me to visit her class and talk about Visual Perception in Magic with her students at NYU’s Psychology Department. We did this a handful of times over the course of a few years and it was a great learning experience for me.
Here she is speaking at TED:
Anyway, Penguin Random House is publishing Emily’s book and I’m thrilled to have a couple of pages all to myself!
Thanks, Emily! It’s an honor.
And congratulations on your success!
You ever find yourself somewhere and need to pinch yourself to see if you’re awake?
That’s how I felt all weekend while I was performing at Outside Lands, one of the biggest music festivals in the country, that happened August 9th - 11th at Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco.
I had the opportunity to work with three of my favorite magicians in the world; Jade, Jon Armstrong, and Karl Hein.
Cocktail Magic is an area within Outside Lands that features six local watering holes, each presenting artisan cocktails. We spent the weekend entertaining with close-up magic as festival attendees enjoyed their libations.
And throughout the weekend, we each performed sets on stage for gathering attendees.
Oh, and of course we got to enjoy concerts by Paul Simon, Childish Gambino, blink-182, The Lumineers, Kasy Musgraves, Lil Wayne, and many more.
It was awesome!