Joe Ferranti Corporate Magician Boston
Entertaining for the Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2014
The sky was the limit for Harvard business
school, or perhaps it was the bottom of the ocean floor. Regardless the MBA
class of 2014 celebrated in style on a rainy March night, at the New England Aquarium
(1 Central Wharf Boston, MA 02110.)
I haven’t been to the Aquarium since my kids
were small. On this special night we had it to ourselves. As always I arrived
early. (Better early than a minute late.) This gave me enough time to
reacquaint myself with the penguins, who seemed excited to see me. (I later saw
they gave the same reaction to everybody.)
Arriving early gave me the opportunity to
perform for some of the aquarium staff and the food service staff before the
event began. After receiving a warm welcome, I knew all would go well during
the evening. (And it did.)
As a close up/ strolling entertainer, you need
to learn to politely make your way into conversations, interrupt in a way that
is not offensive, and let the group know that you have been hired to entertain
them. You know you are welcome when their eyes open wide and they say, “Oh yes,
we heard there would be a Magician strolling tonight.”
Then the “snowball” starts rolling. Laughter
and applause attracts the interest of the surrounding attendees. This keeps me
going for at least a half an hour, and then I start the cycle again.
I had the pleasure of meeting young adults
from around the world. My favorite response was from a young woman from Russia,
and I quote, “You are a true professional, and I respect that.” Of course I
thanked her and wondered in my head, what did she expect?
Enough about my evening, further entertainment
was provided by a live band, which played at the opposite end of where I was
entertaining. As I was leaving at 11:30 P.M., I noticed that dancing had begun.
Hooray for the band.
Also there was a diver who “entertained”
during a fish feeding. Although I was a bit busy and missed that.
Thank you to the Harvard Business School, MBA
Class of 2014. I see much success in your futures.