Carroll Baker & Co

I am a comedy magician and mentalist based in Columbus, Ohio, and I have been doing this full time since 1991. Thirty five years, no day job. That happened for one reason: event planners kept calling me back.
Here is exactly what your guests will see and exactly what you will get.
WHAT YOUR GUESTS SEE: STROLLING CLOSE UP MAGIC
Picture the cocktail hour. Half your guests know each other, half of them do not, and everybody is standing in a small circle holding a drink and waiting for something to happen.
I walk up to one of those circles and introduce myself. Ninety seconds later a woman is holding a deck of cards in her own hands and her signed card has ended up somewhere impossible. A borrowed wedding ring is linked onto a shoelace. Coins vanish out of a closed fist. The group leans in, somebody laughs out loud, and the circle next to them turns around to see what they missed.
Each set runs a few minutes. Then I move on and leave those people talking to each other about what they just saw. That last part matters more than the magic does. Strolling magic gives strangers something to talk about, breaks up cliques, and turns a stiff room into a warm one. That is usually the real reason a planner books it.
No stage. No sound system. No stopping the party or asking everyone to sit down. It happens inside your event without interrupting it.
WHAT YOUR AUDIENCE SEES: THE COMEDY MENTALISM SHOW
This is a full theatrical set for a seated audience, and it is a comedy show first.
I know what is written on a card that never left someone's pocket. I know the name of a first grade teacher I was never told. I hand a sealed envelope to a guest at the top of the show and it turns out to hold a prediction of something that has not happened yet. In between, people laugh. Hard. Several of your guests end up on their feet as part of it, and they come off looking good, never foolish, which is a rule I do not break.
The difference between an impressive mind reading show and a memorable one is the laughs. Yours is the second kind. People will still be arguing about how I did it in the parking lot.
Everything is clean. Always has been. I have performed the same material for corporate holiday parties, church groups, universities, and family reunions, and nobody has ever had to apologize for hiring me.
TRADE SHOWS AND EXHIBITS
On a trade show floor the job is different, so the work is different. I stand at the front of your booth and stop foot traffic. A crowd builds, and when I finish I hand those people to your sales staff warmed up, entertained, and willing to listen.
I can build a routine around your product, your logo, or your message so people walk away remembering the company and not just the trick. Booth staff spend the day repeating a pitch to people who are already walking away. I get them to stop.
WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU HIRE ME
A performer who makes your night easier, not one more thing to manage. Specifically:
I arrive early, find you first, and confirm timing before I start.
I dress for your event. Black tie means black tie.
I need no stage, no crew, no rider, and no long setup. Give me a room and a crowd and I handle the rest.
When your schedule slips by twenty minutes, and it will, I adjust without making it your problem.
I read the room. A Tuesday sales conference is not a Saturday reception, and the pacing and material change accordingly.
You deal with me directly from the first call to the last handshake, not an agency middleman who has never met me.
A pre event planning call is included at most levels, so the performance fits your evening instead of sitting next to it.
HOW A BOOKING USUALLY COMES TOGETHER
Strolling only. One or two hours of close up magic during cocktails, dinner, or open floor time. The two hour version is what most planners end up choosing, because one hour usually is not enough to reach everyone.
Strolling plus a set. Close up magic through the room, then a short parlor piece to bring everyone together before the program starts.
The show. A fifty minute stand up comedy mentalism performance for a seated audience.
The full evening. Strolling during cocktails, then the show, plus a custom moment built around your company, your honoree, or the occasion.
Add ons include an extra hour of strolling, a private close up set for VIPs or a head table, and a custom effect built around your product or logo.
Tell me the shape of your event and I will tell you which of these fits. If a smaller package serves you better, I will say so.
CREDENTIALS
Awards matter when you are spending someone else's budget and you need to defend the line item.
The Society of American Magicians named me Magician of the Year with the Houdini-Thurston Award.
The International Brotherhood of Magicians has named me Close-Up Magician of the Year seven times.
I perform regularly at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, the private club in Los Angeles that magicians audition for and most never get into.
MY GUARANTEE
Every booking comes with a 100% money back guarantee. If I do not deliver what we agreed on, you do not pay. In thirty five years I have never once had to honor it, and I do not expect that to change. I put it in writing because entertainment is the one line item on your budget you cannot test drive first, and somebody ought to be carrying that risk. It should not be you.
EVENTS I WORK
Corporate events, company holiday parties, sales conferences, client appreciation nights, trade shows and conventions, awards banquets, university and student programming, library programs, fundraisers and galas, weddings and rehearsal dinners, bar and bat mitzvahs, anniversaries, milestone birthdays, family reunions, and private parties.
Group sizes run from twenty people in a living room to several hundred in a ballroom.
WHERE I WORK
Columbus is home and I work all over Ohio: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Akron, and everywhere in between. I drive four hundred miles and more without thinking twice, which covers a good deal of Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and West Virginia. For the right event I will fly anywhere in the country.
NEXT STEP
Send me the date, the headcount, and what you want the night to feel like. I will tell you straight whether I am the right fit, and if I am not, I usually know who is.

I have been making people laugh and scratching their heads for a living since 1991. Thirty five years, full time, no day job. That is a long run in a business where most people quit inside of five, and it happened for one reason: event planners kept calling me back.
I am a comedy magician and mentalist based in Columbus, Ohio. My work lands in two places. Close up magic performed right in your guests' hands as I move through the room, and a stand up comedy mentalism show where I read minds, reveal what people are thinking, and keep a room laughing for a full set. Some events want one. The best ones usually want both.
STROLLING CLOSE UP MAGIC
This is what I am known for. During cocktails, dinner, or the slow stretch of a trade show afternoon, I move from group to group with cards, coins, borrowed rings, and whatever your guests happen to be holding. No stage, no sound system, no waiting for everyone to sit down. Each set runs a few minutes, then I move on and leave a knot of people talking to each other about what they just saw. That last part matters more than the magic does. Strolling magic breaks up cliques and turns a stiff room into a warm one, which is usually the real reason a planner books it.
At trade shows it does something more specific. It stops foot traffic. I work the front of your booth, gather a crowd, and hand them off to your sales team warmed up and paying attention. I can build the routine around your product or your logo so people walk away remembering the company, not just the trick.
COMEDY MAGIC & MENTALISM SHOW
The stand up show is a full theatrical set for a seated audience. I predict things I should not be able to predict, reveal information nobody told me, and get a lot of laughs along the way. It is a mind reading and magic show that works as comedy first, and that is the difference between an audience that is impressed and an audience that is still talking about it in the parking lot.
Everything is clean. Always has been. I have worked corporate holiday parties, church groups, universities, and family reunions with the same material, and nobody has ever had to apologize for booking me.
WHY EVENT PLANNERS HIRE ME
Most of my business is repeat business and referrals from planners who have worked with me before. Here is what they tell me they are paying for.
I make your night easy. I arrive early, I find you, I check in on timing, and then I get out of your way and do my job. No rider, no crew, no forty minute setup, no attitude. When your schedule slips by twenty minutes, and it will, I adjust without making it your problem.
I dress for your event. Black tie means black tie.
I read the room. A crowd at a Tuesday sales conference is not a crowd at a Saturday reception, and the pacing and material change accordingly.
I answer my own phone. You deal with me from the first call to the last handshake, not an agency middleman who has never met me.
CREDENTIALS
Awards matter when you are spending someone else's budget and you need to defend the line item.
The Society of American Magicians named me Magician of the Year with the Houdini-Thurston Award.
The International Brotherhood of Magicians has named me Close-Up Magician of the Year seven times.
I perform regularly at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, the private club in Los Angeles that magicians audition for and most never get into.
MY GUARANTEE
Every booking comes with a 100% money back guarantee. If I do not deliver what we agreed on, you do not pay. In thirty five years I have never once had to honor it, and I do not expect that to change. I put it in writing because entertainment is the one line item on your budget you cannot test drive first, and somebody ought to be carrying that risk. It should not be you.
EVENTS I WORK
Corporate events, company holiday parties, sales conferences, client appreciation nights, trade shows and conventions, awards banquets, university and student programming, library programs, fundraisers and galas, weddings and rehearsal dinners, bar and bat mitzvahs, anniversaries, milestone birthdays, family reunions, and private parties.
Group sizes run from twenty people in a living room to several hundred in a ballroom.
WHERE I WORK
Columbus is home and I work all over Ohio: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Akron, and everywhere in between. I drive four hundred miles and more without thinking twice, which covers a good deal of Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and West Virginia. For the right event I will fly anywhere in the country.
LET'S TALK
Tell me what kind of event you are planning, how many people are coming, and what you want the night to feel like. I will tell you straight whether I am the right fit. If I am not, I usually know who is.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
Short version: I am easy. Most of my work needs nothing from your venue at all.
STROLLING CLOSE UP MAGIC
No requirements. No stage, no sound, no lighting, no power, no table. I work in normal room light, in whatever space you already have, and I move to the guests instead of asking them to come to me. If your event is only strolling, you can stop reading here.
IF I AM DRIVING TO YOUR EVENT
I bring my own sound system and my own table. You do not need to arrange either one. All I need is the room and the crowd.
IF I AM FLYING TO YOUR EVENT
Sound is provided by the venue. From your AV team I need a headset or lapel microphone. A handheld will not work, because my hands are working the entire show.
I also need a small table, and a stool or chair if one is available.
LIGHTING
For a stage performance I need a general wash across the stage with the focus centered.
Nothing elaborate. No specials, no color washes, no follow spot. Your audience needs to see my hands clearly, and I need enough light on the room to see the audience, since a good part of the show depends on working directly with the people in front of me.
STAGE
A general wash with central stage focus is the setup I work best in. I do not need wings, curtains, or a large playing area.
SETUP AND SOUND CHECK
Forty five minutes to an hour, before doors. That is all of it, load in through sound check. I will be set and out of your way well before your guests arrive.