So now you have found the perfect entertainment for your party, but you are reluctant to send a deposit check to someone you found on a google search without knowing if they are for real. How do know if they are worthy of your trust?

The very first metric is the quality of their website and video. Is it professional or are there misspellings and grammar mistakes? If they can’t take the time to use spellcheck for their promotional website copy, you should question how the rest of your dealings will be.

The next consideration is the initial communication. Are they demonstrating a clear understanding of the details of your job, or are they just copy-pasting text into an email without any attention to the specifics of your particular event? If an entertainer can’t take the time to read and address your very specific requirements, this is a clue that communication will be an issue. If they spend more time and effort in trying to get your deposit than they do in trying to understand your needs and how you want them to fit into the vision of your event, then beware.

Ask for references and then follow up with a phone call and not just an email. When you speak with the references ask very specific questions not only about the quality of their performance but also about the booking process and the communication. If these are corporate references, try and reach the person through a number on the corporate website rather than the number the entertainer provides you. This extra step may ensure that they are not simply sending you to a sympathetic friend or relative. Ask if there were any problems or things that they didn’t like. Ask for details of their performance. If they are legit, they will have very specific memories of the performance. Read between the lines. If they are luke warm about the experience, maybe they are just too nice to say negative things. If they are gushing with excitement and sound like a promo piece for the entertainer, then maybe that is exactly what they are. Speak to more than one reference if possible. One of the best references you can have is a professional event planner. Chances are these people will give you an honest opinion not just of the show, but of the professionalism of the entertainer.

Connect with them personally on a social networking site like Facebook or even better, Linked In. This provides a level of accountability as you may have access to their connection list. If they are legitimate, this shouldn’t bother them. Read through their posts and get a feel for the person you are dealing with. Again, as with calling references, does their profile ring true, or is it something that looks contrived?

Google both the name of the business, as well as the name of the person you are dealing with. See what comes up. You may find online reviews, or personal history that will help you make your decision. Reviews that are posted directly on the entertainer’s website may not be reliable, so dig deeper.

Make sure you have a physical address for them. If they are asking you to mail a check to a PO Box, you may wish to dig deeper about where they are actually located. Google the address to make sure it makes sense. The more information you get about the actual person or business you are dealing with, the better equipped you will be to make a decision about hiring them.

Are they willing to send a contract with specifics of your event? Most entertainers will provide this. Some don’t think it necessary. If you’re hiring a clown to come in for 15 minutes for a child’s birthday party and you’re paying $75, it may not be important. But if you are paying $12,000 for a 14 piece orchestra for your wedding reception, you want to be offered a contract.

Are they priced fairly? If you are hiring a DJ for your wedding and you get 4 prices of $1500-$2000 and 1 price of $300,  you might want to ask yourself how the low priced DJ can afford to even do business. Maybe he’s just starting out and can’t get jobs any other way. And maybe you are willing to take a risk on him to save yourself money. But just understand that you don’t get anything for nothing.

Ultimately it comes down to a gut feeling. Does all the information ring true? Is the communication good? Are you willing to enter into a legal contract with the person on the other end of the email? If so, our next blog post will be about the nuts and bolts of entertainment contracts.

So you’ve found the perfect entertainer and have agreed on a price. The next thing is the contract, and with that, the payment of your deposit. There are as many different contracts as there are artists. Most artists (or agents) have worked out a standard contract that they edit with the specific details of each job.  At minimum a contract will cover the basics of your job including the name of the artist, the name of the client, the date, time, location and length of the performance. It will include payment arrangements such as how and when the deposit is paid and how and when the balance is paid. It should include specific requirements of the performance. For instance, maybe are hiring a magician and you want him to do that fire breathing trick you saw on his promo video. You should make sure that this is delineated in the performance details of the contract. Personally I feel that the most useful aspect of the contract are these specifics.

When I write a contract for my Dueling Piano show I generally start by looking at the email thread where the client and I have hashed out their expectations. So if they want Frank Sinatra music for the cocktail hour, and then an agreed upon playlist for an ipod during dinner followed by an interactive show with 2 pianos and drums for the last 2 hours, I will write all of this out in the contract. Maybe they are having a wedding ceremony prior to the reception in the same room and need me to be finished my setup before their guests arrive. That gets written in. Then anytime I have a question about the job requirements, I simply refer back to the contract.

Another thing I like to put in my contracts are “day  of” contacts for the client, the entertainer and the venue. If there are any insurance requirements, this too goes into the contract. I also like to delineate the number and length of breaks I plan on taking. Sometimes if I think the client may wish to extend our performance (maybe the party is still going strong at 11pm) I will write in this option along with the cost per half-hour.

A wise performer or agent will also include a clause which limits their liability for not showing up to the amount of deposit monies already paid. This means you probably won’t win a lawsuit for emotional damage because Bozo the Clown got in an accident on the way to your child’s birthday party in NYC, but you’re entitled to get your deposit back.

One final thought: If you are the one writing the contract and you’re not a lawyer, it’s best if it’s written in plain language. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the use of legalese looks and sounds more professional. If you have chosen your entertainment wisely, you should never have to use the contract in a court of law. The contract will simply serve as a reference for both the client (you) and the entertainer (me) of everything that has been discussed and agreed upon.

While we’re on the subject of legalities, I’m not a lawyer, I’m a dueling piano player. You should not consider any of the ideas in this blog post as legal advice. Happy contract writing!

I’m always on the lookout for interesting and unique party ideas for this blog. This week’s post is about using international themes for your event. Every culture has it’s traditional outfits and performers, and many of these performers are available for hire. Here’s some ideas:

1. Moroccan nights with belly dancers, snake charmers, hukas and waiters dressed in caftans. Drape the place in beautiful Moroccan fabrics, add candlelight and torches and you’ve got yourself something special.

2. Bollywood theme with traditional Indian Marquees (think an extravagantly decorated tent with lots of throw pillows and fabrics), beautiful Indian ladies in lovely silk saris, Henna artists and Yogis.

3. A sushi night with Japanese geishas dancing and playing traditional instruments such as the shamisen or shakuhachi, and singing. If you want a more hearty fare, hire Tepanyaki chefs to cook in front of your guests. What could be better than a fire-shooting volcano made of onions?!

4. Argentinian Tango night with costumed dancers/instructors, plain wooden tables with candles or lanterns, low lights, bottles of Malbac, tango posters or paintings on the wall. Remind the guests to dress in black and red.

5. A Queen’s Jubilee with royal footmen, cockney tourists, and a royal court. High tea anyone? If that’s too high-brow, just add a Beatles tribute band.

6. Brazilian Carnival with costumed stilt walkers, samba dancers, Brazilian bands, and vibrant carnival costumes and statues.

7. Chinese Circus with fire performers, Chinese circus acts, martial art dancers and extremem martial art performers. Throw in some body painters and origami and calligraphy artists just for fun.

One of my favorite entertainment providers for some of these types of performances, at least in NYC, is Smash Party Entertainment. I have no affiliation with them, but they were the inspiration for this article.

NYC may not have beautiful beaches or tiki girls serving drinks in grass skirts at sunset but there are many reasons to choose New York City for your destination event. The most compelling reason is that most everyone wants to come here at least once in their life. A New York trip is a pretty common bucket list item. Love it or hate it, you have to experience it.

When you plan your event in NYC the options are endless. Starting with the most obvious, side trips to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Rockefeller Center  or the Empire State Building can be done easily and quickly. You could plan an afternoon picnic in Central Park with a softball game, followed by a couple of hours strolling the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the American Museum of Natural History, both of which are directly adjacent to this great city park. A group outing to a broadway show is a must. Who doesn’t want to get the opportunity to see a show on Broadway?

One of my favorite places to take my NYC visitors is the Broadway Lounge on the 8th floor of the Marriot Marquis Hotel. It directly overlooks the hustle and bustle of Times Square for one of the best views in NY. Why not have your party meet here for snacks and cocktails before or after your broadway show?

Transportation for your guests is simple in NYC. If your guests want to explore on their own they have access to subways, courtesy cars and plentiful taxis 24 hours/day. Ok well, taxis are plentiful except when it’s raining. But the point is, no one has to rent a car or worry about driving directions. And you can get around much of New York by just walking.

Another reason to choose NYC? The food. NYC host’s some of the worlds greatest restaurants, many of which you can rent private rooms, or have them cater to your own private location. If you’re going to pay for food, why not get it from a world-class chef? But this is an entertainment blog, which brings me to me next and arguably best reason to have your wedding or annual sales conference in New York City.

New York is home to the very best entertainers in the world. Even if you can’t afford to hire Tony Bennet or Michael Feinstein, you have access to performers that wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else. And virtually any type of performance art that you can think of is available for hire. So whether you want Chinese Circus performers to contort over your Bananas Foster, or (((shameless plug alert))) a world-class Dueling Piano Show from New York, NY Dueling Pianos (still with me?), you can find it in New York City.

Ok, I lied. The available entertainment is not the very best reason. The tippy-top, very best, Grand Pubba of reasons for choosing New York City is that your guests will never forget your event for rest of their lives. That’s worth something, right?

Having worked hundreds of receptions, fundraisers, private parties and the like, I have seen every type of song request you could imagine. For the record, I am a dueling piano entertainer, not a DJ, and I market our performance as a “Request-based show.” I believe there is a way to field requests appropriately. I also believe that anyone who makes their living at providing music for parties, events and weddings has a good idea of what songs will keep the party going and what songs will not.

Here’s a trade secret: the professionals (think wedding bands, dj’s and dueling piano players) know what 60-70% of the requests will be before they even arrive to your wedding. I know I will be asked for Brown Eyed Girl, Don’t Stop Believing, Margaritaville, Sweet Caroline, Bob Seger, American Pie, Bohemian Rhapsody, and as of this writing, Call Me Maybe and We Are Young. And yes, I will probably include those songs in my show whether you ask for them or not. As for the other 30-40% of the requests that may or may not come as a surprise, about half of those are useable as party music. The ones that I can use, I do, and everyone is happy, and the guests feel like they have had a part in making the party special with their request. The ones I can’t use, or don’t know how to play, I won’t.

If I get a request for Tom Sawyer by Rush, or The River by Springsteen, for example, that would clearly bring down the vibe of the reception, I would not being doing my job properly by including them in the show. I handle every request with a smile and a “Thank you!” If the requestor returns and wants to know why I haven’t played their song yet, I will usually say that I have a bunch of requests to play before theirs, but that I will try to get to it. If someone comes to me at the end of the event demanding to know why their song didn’t get played, I compliment their choice of request and apologize for not having the time to fit it in.

If you hire professional entertainers or DJ to provide music for your reception, you are hiring them not only for the music they provide, but for their judgment as to what songs to provide and when to provide them. My job as a professional is not to play everyone’s requests; it’s to create an energy that has an overreaching arc that I develop and nurture throughout the course of the night.

This is why I label my dueling piano show as “request driven” and not “all request”. Another tool I’ll use (and a DJ can do something similar) is to play a chorus of the “bad” request in the middle of a mash up of other songs. I may even add a funky baseline to it if it’s a slow ballad, just to keep the energy up. My bottom line is that I will be able to field the vast majority of requests in a way that will make sense in the context of the night. The ones I don’t get to, I don’t get to. It’s not a big deal. If someone tries to make it a big deal, I apologize. But if I’ve kept the party going and people on the dance floor, I have done my job.

In the past 4 months I’ve entertained at 5 separate 40th birthday parties. Maybe Steinway had a big sale 41 years ago, and everyone was making whoopie on their new baby grands, I don’t know, but all of a sudden everyone seems to want a dueling piano show for their big four-oh. Since our show is an all request show, I’m in a unique position to know what songs people want to hear. Here some of the more popular requests that folks brought up to our pianos at these parties. It’s by no means a comprehensive list, as 5 parties are not exactly a statistically significant sample size, but it’s not a bad place to begin. Not surprisingly, there are many 80’s songs on this list, since they were all in high school throughout that decade.

Take On Me (Aha)
I Love Rock ‘n Roll (Joan Jett)
Tainted Love (Soft Cell)
Like A Virgin (Madonna)
Like A Prayer (Madonna)
Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty)
Purple Rain (Prince)
Dancing Queen (Abba)
Mony Mony (Billy Idol)
Billy Jean (Michael Jackson)
Thriller (Michael Jackson)
Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics)
Sister Christian (Night Ranger)
Safety Dance (Men Without Hats)
Land Down Under (Men At Work)
Don’t Stop Believing (Journey) By far the most popular request.
Take Me Home Tonight (Eddie Money)
Fight For Your Right to Party (Beastie Boys)
500 Miles (Proclaimers)    I still don’t know what “haver” means
Never Gonna Give You Up Yes, they wanted to get Rick-rolled.
Ice Ice Baby (V. Ice)   They stopped, collaborated and listened.
Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard)
Livin’ On A Prayer (Bon Jovi)
I Will Survive Like a bad penny this songs never goes away
American Pie (Don McLean)
We Didn’t Start the Fire (Billy Joel)
Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)    Everyone sings along to this one
Summer of ’69 (Bryan Adams)
You Give Love a Bad Name (Bon Jovi)
Part of Your World (Disney)  Wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete?, but no…

and the strangest request from these freshly-minted quadragenarians…drum roll please….

anything Daughtry.  (WTF??)

There you have it. So if you’re hiring entertainment for your wife or husband’s 40th B-day party, you now know exactly what to tell the band or dj or dueling pianists to play!