In a chalet in Courchevel 1850, Harry Covert performed an hour of close-up magic and mentalism for a small group of international guests, at the request of their concierge service. The evening began standing in the lounge and ended with a parlour show in the chalet's cinema room.
The chalet's lounge is already busy when Harry Covert approaches the first group. There are fewer than ten of them, drinks in hand, conversations in English crossing each other. Outside, Courchevel 1850 and the night. Inside, an evening among friends. The concierge service handling their stay has booked an hour of magic; at this point, nobody knows quite what that will look like.
He starts two metres away from them, with no stage and no announcement. A few minutes later, two guests find themselves at the centre of a mentalism piece, facing each other, while the others lean in to see better. The question comes before the effect has even finished: "How did you do that?"
Nobody, at that moment, has thought of sitting down. The hour that follows will end somewhere else, in the chalet's cinema room.
The group were on holiday in Courchevel 1850. An evening among friends, in the chalet, with no wish to go back out or travel anywhere. The concierge service handling their stay was looking for entertainment that would come to them.
The brief came down to three constraints. A small group, five to ten people, which rules out any stage format. A private chalet, so no heavy setup, no bulky equipment, no chance to rehearse on site. A demanding international clientele, used to high-end services, English-speaking, and who have seen a few things already.
At that scale, there is nowhere to hide. No distance, no stage lighting, nothing between the hands and the eyes watching them. Every move happens inches away from people who have nothing else to look at.
Confidentiality was part of the arrangement. Neither the name of the concierge service, nor the guests, nor a single photograph of that evening is shared. For hotels and concierge services looking after international clients, sometimes public figures, that discretion weighs as much as the performance itself.
The evening was built in two movements.
Close-up first, in the lounge, standing among the guests. No formal opening: Harry Covert steps into the conversations, settles into one group, moves on to the next. The pace follows the evening, not the other way round.
Then a more visual moment, built around two guests. They face each other. It is their choices and their reactions that make up the mentalism piece; the others are watching their friends' faces working it out rather than the magician's hands.
In a lounge with ten people, that sentence stops being a slogan. Any guest can be called on, every reaction is visible to everyone, and the whole group follows the same sequence live. An effect performed in front of eight people who have known each other for twenty years does not produce what it would in an anonymous room: here, it is friends who comment, who tease, who demand an explanation.
The second part moved everyone into the chalet's cinema room for a parlour show as a finale. A more structured format, the group together, attention focused on a single point. That is where the evening found its arc: from the closeness of the lounge to a shared moment.
All of it in English, the guests' language. Participatory mentalism relies on shades of meaning, on silences, on knowing how to bring someone back in without breaking the rhythm — none of which survives an approximate translation.
Reactions, as they were heard that evening:
"It's amazing!"
"How did you do that?"
"I have seen many magicians in my life, but you! You're really good."
"Can you come to Dubai to perform?"
A chalet is not a function room. Guests are at home there, or almost. They want to keep talking, keep drinking, keep moving. Entertainment that imposes a setup, a seating plan or a schedule breaks exactly what they chose to stay in for.
Close-up asks for nothing. No stage, no sound system, no technical desk, no dedicated room. It is performed standing in a lounge, around a dinner table, in a corner where drinks are being served, and it stops without damage if conversation takes over.
Mentalism brings something else. In a group of long-standing friends, it shifts the dynamic: guests discover reactions in each other they did not know about, and leave with something to keep arguing over long after the magician has gone.
Close-up followed by a parlour show gives the evening a curve. The first part builds the connection individually, guest by guest. The second brings everyone together around the same moment, which gives the finale more weight.
For a concierge service, a hotel or a chalet rental agency, the format has one further advantage: it adds nothing to the client's schedule. No outside booking, no transfer, no fixed timing. The experience arrives at the chalet, at whatever hour suits.
Two of them found themselves at the centre of a piece while their friends watched. The group then moved to the cinema room for the finale. In between, an hour during which nobody checked their phone.
The most telling line of the evening was not the most enthusiastic one. One guest first mentioned having seen a great many magicians in his life, before adding his verdict. That kind of preamble comes from someone who compares.
The last question asked that evening was no longer about the evening itself. It asked whether Harry Covert could come and perform in Dubai.
For the concierge service, the aim was to please, entertain and genuinely surprise clients who are hard to surprise. The reactions, heard first-hand by the team on site, answered that question.
Courchevel 1850 concentrates a particular kind of demand: short stays, an international clientele, high expectations, and bookings that have to be arranged quickly, often within a day or two. An evening of magic and mentalism fits a private dinner, an après-ski, a birthday or a reception in a chalet or hotel suite.
The same format works in the other high-end Alpine resorts. Méribel and Val d'Isère, on similar stays, with a large share of English-speaking guests. Megève, where the demand comes as much from hotels and concierge services as from chalet owners entertaining small groups.
Harry Covert works with private clients, luxury concierge services, hotels, chalet rental agencies, event agencies and bespoke travel organisers. Every proposal takes into account the number of guests, the languages spoken, the spaces available, the level of confidentiality expected and the timing within the evening.
Performances are delivered in French as well as English.
Planning an evening for your clients or your guests in Courchevel, Megève, Méribel or Val d'Isère? Tell us about your project and how the evening is structured.
For a small group, close-up combined with a parlour show as a finale works well. The first part is performed standing, among the guests, with no setup. The second brings the group together in a dedicated room : cinema room, lounge or dining room. The choice depends on the number of guests, the spaces in the chalet and the timing within the evening.
Yes, and the format changes completely. At that scale every guest can be drawn in and sees everything from inches away, which makes the effect stronger but leaves less margin for error. The material, the pace and the sequencing are built differently from a performance for fifty people. A show designed for a room does not transpose as it is into a lounge.
Yes. Performances are delivered in French as well as English. This matters particularly in Courchevel 1850, Megève, Méribel and Val d'Isère, where chalet and hotel guests are largely international. Participatory mentalism relies on shades of phrasing and timing that require working directly in the guests' language.
The rules are agreed before the performance with the concierge service or the hotel. No guest name, client name or private venue is published without written consent. No photograph or video is taken on the performer's own initiative. This case study is an example: the evening is told, the client remains anonymous, and no images of the event exist.
Yes. The same format works in Megève, Méribel, Val d'Isère and the other Northern Alps resorts, in chalets, hotels, private residences or reception venues. Terms depend on the date, the season and how much notice is given, with school holidays being the most in demand.
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