Corporate Event Entertainment: No More Forced Fun

There are few phrases in the English language more frightening than "Okay everyone, we're going to start with a fun little icebreaker." You can actually watch a room lose the will to live. Suddenly forty-seven adults who successfully manage departments, raise children, negotiate mortgages and occasionally operate heavy machinery have been asked to stand in a circle and tell everyone which kitchen appliance best represents their leadership style.

"I'm a Vitamix because I blend ideas."

Wonderful, Kevin.

Nobody needs another icebreaker. What people actually need is a reason to connect. That sounds similar, but it's completely different.

I've spent a lot of years performing at corporate events, conferences, holiday parties, dinners and receptions, and one thing has become very clear to me: you cannot force people to have fun. The harder you try, the more everyone becomes aware that they are currently participating in Organized Fun. And Organized Fun is a very particular kind of fun. It usually involves name tags.

Why Forced Participation Often Falls Flat

People arrive at corporate events carrying all kinds of invisible baggage. Some know everyone in the room. Some know nobody. One person has been there fifteen years, another started Tuesday. The CEO is talking to somebody from accounting, marketing has formed a protective circle near the bar, and one person is standing alone pretending to be extremely interested in the architectural properties of a breadstick.

And then we announce: "EVERYBODY GET INVOLVED!"

That can create more tension than it solves. The best event experiences give people permission to participate rather than demanding it. That's one of the reasons I love close-up magic at corporate events. I can walk into a small group, create something impossible, get them laughing and talking, and then move on. Nobody has to sing. Nobody has to do a trust fall. Nobody has to reveal something vulnerable about themselves while holding a beanbag. They simply get to experience something together, and that distinction matters.

Great Close-Up Magic Isn't Something You Do at People

You create it with them. Someone thinks of something. Someone makes a decision. Someone holds an object. Someone notices what everyone else missed. The people watching start talking to each other, then somebody from another group hears the reaction and comes over. A few minutes later, the room is behaving differently. That's what interests me.

The trick matters, obviously. I've dedicated a fairly unreasonable percentage of my life to making impossible things happen. But I'm equally interested in what happens immediately after the impossible thing.

People turn toward each other. "Did you see that?" "How did he know that?" "Were you in on it?" "No!" "You were absolutely in on it."

Astonishment is contagious, and unlike a forced team-building exercise, it moves organically through a room.

Astonishment Is Remarkably Democratic

One of the things I love most about magic is that hierarchy temporarily disappears. For a few minutes it doesn't particularly matter who the CEO is, who reports to whom, or whether someone has been at the company for twenty years or twenty minutes. Everybody is simply standing there trying to figure out how something impossible just happened.

I've seen senior executives turn into eight-year-olds. I've seen extremely serious people start laughing. I've watched strangers become temporary investigative teams. "Check his sleeves." Thank you, Denise. Nothing builds trust like immediately accusing the magician of crimes.

That shared experience gives people something to talk about that has nothing to do with work, and that can be enormously valuable.

So What Should Corporate Event Entertainment Actually Do?

When somebody calls me about a corporate event, I'm interested in more than "How many people?" "What time do I start?" "Where's the loading dock?" Those things matter (especially the loading dock), but the bigger question is: what will this do to the room?

Do you want people mixing? Do you want an elegant atmosphere? Do you need something that wakes everyone up after dinner? Are there clients you want looked after? Are there departments that rarely interact? Is this a celebration, a reward, or the first time the company has gathered in person all year?

Those questions change how I approach the event. Sometimes the right answer is close-up magic moving through cocktails. Sometimes it's a stage show after dinner. Sometimes it's both. The entertainment should fit the event, rather than the event bending itself around the entertainment. If you're planning cocktails specifically, why your cocktail hour might be the most important 60 minutes of your event goes deeper on exactly that.

The Best Interaction Doesn't Feel Mandatory

That's the real goal. People should want to lean in. They should want to watch. They should want to bring somebody else over and say "do that thing to Sarah," which is also how most minor workplace disputes begin.

The interaction grows because people are genuinely interested in what's happening. No one has to announce that this is the part where everybody bonds. They just do. That's the difference between participation and forced participation. One creates connection. The other creates a Slack channel called "Survivors of Thursday's Team Building."

So please, no more forced fun. Give people something worth gathering around. Create a moment they didn't expect, and let the room do the rest. Astonishment is contagious, and the best corporate events don't demand that people connect. They create the conditions where connection happens naturally.

If you're planning something for your team and want interactive corporate entertainment that does the connecting for you, get in touch and let's talk about your room.

About Bro Gilbert Bro Gilbert is a professional magician, mentalist and experience designer who has performed internationally, created magic behind the scenes for television, and entertained corporate and VIP audiences across North America, including at FIFA World Cup events in Vancouver. See more at brogilbert.com or reach out about your event.