Comedy Magician and Corporate Entertainment in Auckland

Brendan Dooley, comedy magician, on stage in front of a corporate gala dinner audience

Comedy magician, mentalist and Event MC for conferences, awards nights, gala dinners and end of year functions

Entertainment for Auckland audiences who have seen it all!

They have done the ballroom, the buffet and the band. Brendan Dooley gives them the night they talk about for weeks: strangers laughing together by the first drink, a room that is buzzing right through to the last thank you, and every person walking out with an impossible story of their own. You get to enjoy your own event, and take the credit for it!

An Auckland-based comedy magician, mentalist and Event MC with 1,500+ performances in 15+ countries behind him, including headlining at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and on luxury cruise lines worldwide.

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What a night with Brendan looks like

Where the night gets built: cocktail magic and mindreading. Up close and personal while the drinks are flowing. Modern magic and insane mindreading happening inches away, in your guests’ own hands and right inside their heads! Small talk turns into a huddle of people who had never met, the volume in the room goes up, and Brendan picks up the names of the people he meets along the way, which pays off later in the night. Everyone has an impossible story of their own before they have even sat down.

The story they take home: the Signature Show. Now we bring together the ultimate joint experience! A fully interactive feature set blending modern magic, quick witted comedy, insane mindreading, cheeky pickpocketing and superhuman memory, with your people as the stars. It features material Brendan regularly performs headlining at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and on luxury cruise lines worldwide. Cheeky but clean, never at anyone’s expense, and shared by the whole room at the same moment.

Your main man on the ground: Event MC. Not just a Master of Ceremonies, your Master of Experiences! Whether it is a full conference programme or an awards night, Brendan studies your event and what it needs to achieve, then brings it to life. Energy up from the first welcome, crafted interactive moments woven right through so your people remember why they are there, key people introduced properly, and speakers and winners made to feel like rockstars. He gets to know your group, learns the names of the people he meets, and has backup plans from B to Z for whatever gets thrown up!

These are built to work together as one experience across the night. Each part sets up the next, so by the time Brendan walks on stage half the room already feels like they know him. Nothing is run against a clock, so it all gets shaped around your run sheet.

let’s make this yours!

Your event only has one shot

Brendan Dooley hosting a daytime conference as Event MC

Brendan can be your MC, your entertainment, or both. Here is how that plays out at the events Auckland runs most.

Awards nights and gala dinners

Only a handful of people go home with a trophy. Brendan makes sure everyone goes home having had a great night!

Brendan can run the night as your Event MC, be the entertainment, or do both. As MC he brings the whole evening to life: the energy is held from the first category to the last, key people are introduced properly, sponsors are looked after and every winner gets a moment that feels as big as it should. They walk off stage feeling like rockstars!

As the entertainment, it runs right through the night. Magic and mindreading among the tables while the drinks are flowing, crafted interactive moments from the stage, and the Signature Show bringing the whole room together in one shared experience. Book both and the hosting and the entertainment work as one, from someone who already knows the room.

Either way, the people who did not win still walk out buzzing, because the night was built for them too.

Smaller awards nights are a real sweet spot. With a shorter programme and under a hundred or so in the room, there is time to meet nearly everyone, and the entertainment turns a handful of awards into a full night.

Conferences, incentive trips and franchise events

Your people have given up days to be there. Brendan makes it worth every one! From a leadership offsite of 20 through to national conferences with hundreds of delegates, Brendan carries the whole programme as MC and keeps it alive: engaging the room from the first welcome, resetting it after every break, lifting the energy between speakers and helping the key messages land with impact.

He picks up names, details and moments as they happen and weaves them back through the event, so people feel seen, heard and connected. Then the conference dinner gets the full experience, and the strangers from registration become the loudest table in the room. That is the event people come back for, year after year!

Client functions and launches

Cocktail magic at a corporate client function

Your clients get invited to a lot of drinks, and most of them blur together. Not this one!

Brendan picks up the names of the people he meets from the first hello and keeps using them all night. In a room where most guests only know the person who invited them, being remembered is what makes someone feel like a VIP rather than a name badge.

Cocktail magic and mindreading then hands your team the easiest introduction going: “come and see this”. Guests who arrived knowing one person end up in a huddle with five, something impossible has just happened in their own hands, and your brand is attached to the best story they tell all week. Got a product or a message to land? Customised moments get built around it, so the room feels it rather than just hearing it.

Christmas parties and end of year functions

Give your people a completely different experience and an epic way to finish the year! Team, clients, or both in the same room.

Forget another dinner where everyone sits with the same colleagues they sit next to all year. Brendan is in among them from the first drink, teams who have barely met are laughing at the same thing, and by the time the Signature Show brings everyone together the whole place is one room. Cheeky but clean, nobody gets embarrassed, everybody gets involved, and the energy gets handed straight over to the bar and the dance floor!

It is the one night of the year that exists purely to say thanks, so make it the one they are still talking about in January. November and December dates in Auckland go early, so get in touch sooner rather than later. There is more on Christmas party entertainment here.

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What clients say

“We are beyond happy with Brendan’s service at our end of year function. He was engaging, approachable, professional and left an imprint on all that attended. In all my years of organising end of year events and corporate functions I’ve never received this level of positive feedback. Our team were talking about Brendan’s magic for weeks. His show wasn’t only engaging, it felt personal. He remembered people’s names from earlier in the night when he mingled with the crowd, which made them feel special, and his banter through the show was on point. 100% book him and prepare to be WOWED!”

Kiwi Property

“Phenomenal. Without Brendan, these two back-to-back conferences and award nights would not have been the roaring successes that they were! His humour, organisational skills and insane magic kept the event flowing and the audience engaged. The event went from a little unsure to connected, enthused and absolutely together. One attendee even grabbed the mic for an impromptu thank you followed by a standing ovation! We’ve already locked him in for next year in Australia before the event had even ended. Don’t hesitate, just hire him!”

Mike Pero Group

“Brendan is world class, memorable and so connecting! From the communication in the lead up to the delivery, he was the ultimate professional. I hung up from my first phone call with him and thought, he gets it, this is our guy to lead our event on the night. He delivered and then so much more. I have never had such amazing feedback from an event and I have been in the events industry for 20+ years. Our board members commented how much he felt like he was part of our team!”

Rotorua Hospice

“Brendan’s performance at the Gala Award Dinner brought our guests together by creating a shared experience full of laughter, surprise and engagement. His captivating magic and witty humour broke the ice, allowing everyone to relax, connect and enjoy the evening more deeply. He was incredibly engaging, wonderful on stage, and connected brilliantly with all of our conference attendees. We feel so lucky to have had him with us and he will be back!”

Stonewood Homes

“Brendan was so easy to deal with and delivered on every level. Professional, fun and brought something really different to the night. His magic and energy stood out immediately, instantly engaging people. It just made the whole event feel more connected.”

Private VIP dinner

let’s have your group hyped like this!

Auckland venues and event types

Brendan has worked the big rooms: Cordis, QT, Hilton, SO/ Auckland, SkyCity and the SkyCity Theatre, the Aotea Centre, the Auckland Town Hall and the Due Drop Events Centre, just to name a few. At the other end of the scale are the intimate functions, private dining rooms and restaurants along the Viaduct, where it all happens at arm’s length. Whatever the room, the night is built around it rather than a set routine.

Brendan also travels for events right around the country, including Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. He is Auckland-based, and spends a good part of the year performing around New Zealand, in Australia and at sea.

Three to six months for most corporate events, and earlier for October through December. Annual conferences and awards nights are often locked in a year or more ahead. Last minute enquiries are always worth an ask, because diaries change.

Yes, and that is how most nights run. Cocktail magic, the Signature Show and Event MC are built to work together, and the room has already met him before he picks up the microphone, so it all lands as one experience. It also means one person for your team to deal with.

Anything from 20 people around a boardroom table to rooms of thousands. The format changes with the room, and that gets worked out on the planning call.

Yes. It is cheeky but clean, and built for mixed rooms where staff, clients, partners and the board are all at the same tables. Nothing relies on in-jokes, so new starters and guests from overseas are in on it from the first minute.

A headset microphone, sound the whole room can hear clearly, and a clear view of the front from every table. Lighting on the stage area lifts the energy more than most people expect, and bigger rooms benefit from screens. The rest gets sorted on the planning call.

Yes, Brendan holds public liability insurance.

Planning an event in Auckland?

Let’s start a conversation on how to make your Auckland event the best one yet! Brendan’s calendar fills anywhere from a couple of weeks to two years out, so get in touch.

click here to start a conversation!