A formal close-up show is what happens when an intimate group of guests sits down at a table and a 2022 IBM Close-Up Champion takes over the room. It is the format for smaller, more personal events where the audience wants a structured show, performed inches from their hands, without the scale of a stage performance.
What a close-up show actually is
The close-up show is a prepared, structured set list performed for a seated audience around a table. It is closer in shape to a theatrical show than a strolling cocktail-hour set, but the audience is small and the magic is happening at conversation distance. It is heavy on sleight-of-hand close-up magic, with Michael showcasing expert card control, impossible coincidences, transpositions, and some personalized effects just for your group.
The pace is conversational and the tone is sarcastic in the fun way. People at the table are not just watching the show; they are part of it. They participate. By the end of the set, the line between audience and performer has mostly dissolved.
The events where the close-up show fits
The close-up show is built for smaller, more personal gatherings where everyone in the room can see the magic happen at the table just a few feet away. It works at:
- Private dinner parties in homes, restaurants, and private dining rooms
- Milestone birthday parties and anniversary celebrations
- Bachelor and bachelorette parties
- Small team events and leadership meetings at the office or a restaurant
- VIP donor events and pre-event receptions at nonprofits and arts organizations
- Private wedding-party gatherings, often paired with cocktail-hour mingling magic at the wedding itself
Group size: how small is small
Michael recommends the formal close-up show for groups up to roughly 20 to 25 guests. Below that, the format works beautifully. Above that, the show stops feeling intimate, and the case for either mingling magic or a stage show usually becomes the better answer. Given the intimate nature of this performance style, smaller groups are generally recommended.
How long the show runs
The standard formal close-up show runs about 60 minutes, with an optional bonus segment of around 30 minutes that often includes teaching tricks or extra material. Combined, most close-up bookings fall in the 60 to 90 minute range. The length flexes around the event. For a comparison against the other formats, see mingling magic or stage magic.
Customizing the close-up show
Michael can provide varying degrees of customization with the close-up show. He often includes things like a specific deck of cards meaningful to the host, wedding-themed tricks for weddings or bachelor(ette) parties, callouts to the guest of honor, favorite-drink productions, requested tricks, souvenirs, and a personalized section where Michael teaches the guests a few tricks of their own.
Michael's material is clean by design. The humor is light-hearted, self-aware, and tongue-in-cheek, which makes the close-up show easy to book for corporate gatherings, family-friendly events, and any group where the host wants the entertainment to land without anyone worrying about a call from HR.
What Michael needs at the venue
The close-up show is one of the lightest-footprint formats. A table with seating around it and a distraction-free performing space are the only real requirements. There is no need for a sound system, no stage, no projector. Private dining rooms at restaurants, living rooms, suites, and small event spaces all work. Michael will go over everything on the call, and after booking, he provides a rider that confirms the specifics.
Why book Michael for a close-up show in North Carolina
Michael offers an experience that you cannot get anywhere else.
Michael is a multi-award-winning entertainer, and in 2025 he represented the United States at the FISM World Championship of Magic in Turin, Italy, and won the title of Most Original Act. FISM is often called "the Olympics of Magic," and the Most Original Act category honors creativity at the highest level the art form recognizes. It is a credential most magicians never come close to.
He is also an International Brotherhood of Magicians Close-Up Champion (with the People's Choice award the same year), a Brad Jacobs People's Choice recipient, and he has been awarded a "Masters of Magic" degree from the prestigious invite-only 4F Convention.
Michael's work has also been featured on The CW's Masters of Illusion nationally and on Charlotte Today (WCNC) locally. He is a member of the cast of The Magician's Table (the London-originated magic-theater show, now touring nationwide). And he has over 300 five-star Google reviews from corporate planners, event coordinators, wedding couples, and private hosts across North Carolina and beyond singing his praises.
If you want your guests to have the time of their lives, you cannot go wrong with Michael Bloemeke's Award-Winning Magic.
Other ways Michael can perform at your event
If the seated-show format is not quite the right shape for your event, Michael also offers mingling magic (strolling close-up for cocktail hours and receptions) and a stage show (theatrical magic and mentalism for larger audiences). Many events combine formats: a cocktail-hour mingling set leading into a private close-up performance for the host's inner circle is a common shape for milestone celebrations.
To check availability and talk through what would fit your event in Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, or anywhere in North Carolina, the contact form below is the fastest path. Michael answers personally and usually within the same day.