There are many different types of entertainment that are available for hire to make your party or event fun and memorable. This blog aims to explore some of these ideas, focusing on unique and fresh entertainment concepts that your guests will remember for years to come. My background is as a dueling piano entertainer, and I’ve been working private events and clubs for over 15 years. I hope you enjoy the blog!

You own a club and want to have a weekly dueling piano show. How do you start?

1. Well, first, identify your level of commitment to the concept. Many bar owners like the idea, but want immediate results. A dueling piano night needs to be developed, just like any other business. As the word gets out and people start telling their friends, the business grows. In the beginning there may be fits and starts, but if you loose heart after the first slow night, you risk throwing away what could be a very profitable concept because you didn’t give it a chance to grow.

2. Understand that a professional dueling team costs more than most other club acts, but the benefits outweigh the costs if done correctly. A good Dueling Piano team will sell drinks. They will do toasts, drinking songs and keep your paying customers in your club by taking requests, audience participation and on-stage roasts or “call-downs.” Because it’s unique entertainment, it will be a much easier draw than a bar band or a DJ.

3. Be willing to promote and advertise your investment. If people in your community know you have Dueling Pianos, they will come. It’s an easy sell, but you have to sell it.

4. There are ways to set up the show so that it is easier for the entertainers to grab and hold your room. For instance, set up the tables so that none of your guests are facing away from the stage. If the room can be set up so that the piano show is in the center of the room (in the round) that makes it so much easier for your entertainers to stay connected with the patrons. You want to avoid putting the show at one end of a narrow rectangular space. The show will be more successful if you put them in the middle of the long side of the rectangle. An experienced dueler will be able to work with you to achieve a well set up room. Use this resource.

5. The more TV screens you have on during the piano show, the harder it will be for your entertainers to keep the room and sell drinks for you. Ideally all of the TV’s are completely shut off. The worst situation is for TV’s to be on behind the performers or over their heads. This concept is so important and so misunderstood that I think I’ll write a blog post just focusing on this. But for now, limit your impulse to turn on your expensive big-screen TV’s while your expensive headliner entertainers are trying to sell your drinks!

There are many other considerations that go into a sucessful dueling piano show, so consult with your dueling team for guidance. For more information check our Club Consulting page.

Everyone wants their party to be memorable. One fun idea is to hire celebrity impersonators to mingle with your guests. Nothing loosens up a stuffy corporate crowd quite like sharing a cocktails with Gaga or Elvis.

A couple of months ago I was hired to do a Dueling Piano show at Le Meridian Hotel in Philadelphia for a corporate party. What I didn’t know was that they had hired Neil Diamond, Bette Midler and Elton John impersonators to work the party as well. Before we took the stage, I spoke with all three and asked if they would mind singing with us.We figured out what songs we could all do, and then my dueling piano partner and I began our act. While we were performing up on stage, the impersonators were mingling with the guests. After a few songs we invited up Bette (Donna Maxon) to do her version of Doctor Long John. The crowd went nuts! We continued doing our show and then 30 minutes later we brought up Elton who took over the stage with a medley of his greatest hits while we took a break.

I thought that the choices of Bette Midler and Elton John impersonators were particularly inspired because they are both over-the-top personalities and you can’t help but have a good time and smile in the face of  such flamboyance. I think Lady Gaga, Tina Turner, Prince, Kathy Griffin and other larger-than-life entertainers would all be great choices too.

Of course there are brides have been hip to this for decades. Just think of the many marriages in Vegas that have been officiated by Elvis. But you don’t have to be in Vegas to get married by the likes of Cher or Joan Rivers. There’s a company based out of NYC called Bubby Gram that has impersonators that are registered Wedding Officiants. So now if you live in the greater New York City region, you can have Joe Pesci seal the deal. What could be more romantic?!

The first thing people think when they see two grand pianos and a drum set on a stage is, What is this? What’s going to happen? Two people sit down at the pianos. Then the music starts. It’s a song everyone knows. The second pianist gets up and walks to the center of the stage and begins to lead the crowd clapping. Then the chorus comes along, and right at the point where everyone knows the words, the musics stops, both pianists point to the audience and, Voila! Everyone sings! Thus begins an outrageous party of comedy, music and audience participation as both pianists try to out do each other singing and playing their way through audience requests of the hits from the last 40 years.

Then it’s onto a birthday bit, where a birthday boy is called up to the stage and the pianists make up a song that has something to do with his secret passion for cross-dressing, or something equally absurd. And so it continues through the night. If you want to see a short demonstration of what a typical show is like, visit www.NYNYDuelingPianos.com and a 2 minute video will pop up.

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?