When you book a magician for an office holiday party in Edmonton, choose strolling magic for drinks and dinner, a short show after dinner, or both. Booking a magician in Edmonton typically costs between C$468 and C$754 per hour before GST/HST; the median is C$624. Based on 19 quotes AGNT received from 6 local performers, March to October 2026.
What changes the price: how many hours you book; Saturdays and the holiday season; a bigger show or a second performer; travel outside Edmonton.
A magician gives staff and partners something to share besides work. Plan when the magic happens, how it fits around the speeches and how to keep it right for colleagues. Then send us your date, venue and guest count to compare options with prices from magicians, and we’ll check your date with the one you pick. Below, you’ll find what to tell the magician, what to ask the venue and what to get in writing.
Should you book strolling magic, a short show, or both?
Choose strolling magic if your guests will be mixing over drinks or sitting at tables for dinner. The magician moves from group to group, so people watch up close and keep talking in between. Nobody has to stop what they’re doing, and new colleagues get something to talk about with people they don’t know yet. The trade-off: there’s no single moment that brings the whole room together, and at a big party some guests may only catch a little of it.
Choose a short show after dinner if you’d like everyone watching at once, as the main moment of the evening. The whole room shares the same laughs, but a show needs a clear space, chairs turned the right way and a quiet room. Guests at the back have to be able to see.
Choose both if your party runs from drinks through dinner and you’d like a shared moment at the end. Strolling during drinks gets people mixing, and the show gives the evening a centre. It means more hours, which changes the price.
If you’re not sure, tell us how your evening runs in your request, and ask each magician which they’d suggest for your crowd and your room.
How does strolling magic work during drinks and dinner?
Close-up magic works for small groups, standing or seated. Ask whether the magician can move between groups during drinks, and between tables once people sit down. Tell them when the food is served, so they can leave a table alone while plates arrive.
Ask how they’ll make sure every table gets a visit, and how long they’d spend with each group, so the room’s covered before dinner ends.
If you’d like the magician to start with a particular group, such as a team that doesn’t usually mix with the others, say so. Tell them about any table to skip, for example where senior staff are hosting a guest, or where people would like to be left to talk.
What does a short show after dinner need?
If you’d like the whole room watching at once, ask about a short show after dinner. Tell the magician how the tables are set out, whether there’s a stage or a clear space at the front, and whether guests at the back can see. Ask what they need from the venue, such as a microphone, sound or lighting, and send them what the venue has.
Ask how long the show runs, and put it where most guests will still be in their seats, before anyone starts leaving. If there’s no stage, ask where the magician would like to stand, and check that the room’s lights let everyone see.
Ask the venue whether the bar and the kitchen can stay quiet during the show, and whether staff can hold off clearing tables until it’s over.
How does the magic fit around speeches and awards?
Give the magician the order of the evening: arrivals, dinner, and the start of speeches or awards. Ask them to stop while anyone’s speaking. If the show follows the awards, tell them who’ll introduce it.
Send the timeline a few days ahead, and pick one person to be the magician’s contact on the night. If dinner runs late or a speech runs long, that person tells the magician, and the plan shifts quietly.
If you’d like a short moment of magic to open the awards or to close the evening, put it in your request, so it’s agreed before the night. Ask how the magician handles a late start.
How do you keep the magic right for a work crowd?
A staff party mixes new hires, senior staff and some partners. Tell the magician it’s a work event, and ask how they keep the humour suitable for colleagues. Ask whether any trick uses guests’ phones, wallets or rings, and name any topics to avoid.
If your team covers a wide range of ages and backgrounds, say so. If children or families are coming, tell the magician, so the magic suits everyone in the room.
Some teams like a holiday touch, or a nod to the company, worked into a trick. If you’d like that, ask each magician whether they can do it and what they’d need from you. Keep it light, so it feels like part of the party, not a work presentation. Not everyone on a team celebrates the same holidays, so you may want less of a holiday theme than you think.
What about guests who’d rather watch?
Some people at a work party don’t want to be picked in front of their manager. Ask how the magician chooses volunteers, and how they let a guest stay seated without making a moment of it.
If senior staff are happy to take part, tell the magician who they are, and check with those leaders first. Nobody should be surprised in front of the whole office.
Tell the magician about any guest who’d prefer not to be touched or handed things, or who has trouble seeing or hearing, so the magic includes them without singling them out.
What if some of your team work remotely?
If part of your team can’t be at the party, ask whether the magician offers anything online, and how remote guests would take part. Tell them roughly how many people will watch on screens, and what you’ll use for the call.
Ask how they’d keep the people on screen and the people in the room both involved, or whether they’d suggest a separate online session. Choose a separate session if most of your team is remote; keep it to the room if only a few people are.
What should you ask the venue?
Ask the venue when the magician can arrive, where they can leave their bags and coat, and the latest time the entertainment can run. Pass any rules on to the magician before the night.
If the party’s in your own office, check after-hours access, parking and whether there’s an elevator. Decide where a show would happen and who’ll move the desks and chairs. Check whether anyone else in the building will still be working that evening.
In winter, ask where the magician can park close to the door. If the venue has rules for outside vendors or asks for proof of insurance, check with the venue what it needs, and pass that on to the magician early.
Would a DJ or a band suit your party better?
Choose a magician if your party is mostly drinks, dinner and talk, and you’d like something that gets people mixing without a dance floor. Choose a DJ if you’d like dancing after dinner: see DJs for hire in Edmonton. Choose a band if you’d like live music through dinner: see bands for hire in Edmonton.
You can also book both: a magician during drinks and dinner, then a DJ once the speeches are done. It costs more, but each act has its own part of the evening.
What changes the price of a magician for an office party?
The range at the top of this guide is per hour, so the hours you book matter most. Count from when you’d like the magic to start to when it ends, and include dinner if you’d like strolling then.
A Saturday, or a date in the holiday season, can cost more. If your team is flexible, ask for prices on a weeknight too. A bigger show, or a second magician for a large room, adds to the price. A party outside Edmonton can add travel, so give the full address in your request.
We don’t hold a separate range for office parties: the range is for magician bookings in Edmonton. Your price depends on your date, your hours and the magician you pick, and you’ll see it with each option we send.
What should you get in writing?
Before you pay, make sure these are written down:
- the date, the start and end times, and when the magician arrives;
- strolling, a show or both, and when each one happens;
- what the magician needs from the venue, such as a microphone or a clear space;
- when the speeches and awards are, and that the magic stops for them;
- any topics to avoid, and how volunteers are picked;
- what happens if the party runs late, and how extra time is charged;
- what happens if you need to change the date or cancel.
If anything’s unclear, ask before you book, not on the night.
Questions to ask before you book
- Can you stroll during drinks and between tables at dinner?
- Do you have a short show that fits after dinner?
- Will you stop for speeches and awards?
- How do you keep the magic suitable for a work crowd?
- How do you pick volunteers, and what if someone says no?
- Does any of your magic use guests’ belongings?
- When will you arrive, and what do you need from the venue?
How booking works with AGNT
AGNT is a booking company. You send us your date, venue and guest count, and we send you options with prices from magicians in Edmonton. You pick one, we check your date with them, and it’s booked once you’ve paid. If your first pick isn’t available, we’ll tell you, suggest a similar magician, and check your date with them.
One of the Edmonton magicians you can book through AGNT is Mind2Mind. You can see more on magicians for hire in Edmonton.
Frequently asked questions
How far ahead should we book a magician for a work holiday party?
As soon as you have a date, a venue and a guest count. We don’t have reliable numbers on how far ahead people book for the holiday season. Your date’s checked with the magician you pick, so the sooner you choose, the sooner you know.
Should we book strolling magic or a stage show?
Strolling suits drinks and dinner, when people are mixing or seated at tables. A short show suits the time after dinner, when you’d like the whole room watching. If your evening has both, you can book both.
How long should the magician perform?
Count the part of the evening you’d like covered, such as drinks and dinner, and ask how long a show runs. Ask how arrival and setup are counted, and what happens if the party runs late.
Can the magic include our company or the holidays?
Ask each magician, and say what you’d like in your request. Keep it light, since not everyone on a team celebrates the same holidays.
Will the magic suit a mixed-age crowd or families?
Tell the magician who’s coming, including partners and children, and ask how they’ll keep the magic right for everyone. Name any topics to avoid.
What does the magician need from the venue?
Ask the magician, then check with the venue: a clear space for a show, a microphone or sound if needed, parking, and when they can get in.
Can staff who work remotely join in?
Ask whether the magician offers anything online, and how remote guests would take part. Say roughly how many will join on screen in your request.
How we put this together
We wrote this from the questions people ask when they book a magician for a work holiday party, and from 19 quotes AGNT received from local performers in Edmonton.
Your next step
Tell us your date, venue and guest count, and we’ll send you Edmonton magicians with prices, then check your date with the one you pick: book a magician in Edmonton
Featured photo by Trebyx Consultoria on Unsplash
