Geneva has a density of corporate events unmatched anywhere in French-speaking Switzerland. Multinational headquarters, international organisations, private banking, watchmaking, the Palexpo trade shows, lakeside hotels: demand is constant, often international, and almost always multilingual.
Harry Covert works across the canton of Geneva and the French Genevois for corporate evenings, gala dinners, private receptions and weddings, in close-up as well as full shows. Performances are delivered in French or in English.
TWO CASE STUDIES IN THE GENEVA AREA
In April 2026, during Watches and Wonders week, a luxury house brought together around seventy international partners for a dinner at the Olympic Museum. Harry Covert performed close-up, table by table, between courses. Guests got up from their seats to follow the performance elsewhere in the room, to see whether they would work it out on a second viewing.
In December 2025, in Collonges-sous-Salève, fifteen minutes from Geneva, a 55-minute family show brought together nearly four hundred people for an end-of-year celebration.
Two formats, two audiences, two scales. The approach is the same in both cases: the audience's participation is what the show is made of.
CLOSE-UP DURING A DRINKS RECEPTION OR A DINNER
Close-up is performed standing, in small groups, with no stage and no technical setup. Harry Covert moves among the guests or goes from table to table, stops for a few minutes, and steps away when service resumes.
At a corporate event, this format does something specific. It gives people who don't know each other something to experience at the same moment, and then something to talk about. Faced with an effect nobody can explain, conversations start on neutral ground, between guests who would otherwise have stayed with colleagues from their own department.
No technical requirements: no sound system, no technical desk, no dedicated room. The entertainment pauses and resumes at the pace of the reception.
STAGE SHOWS AND MENTALISM
For a conference, a gala dinner or an awards ceremony, the stage format brings the whole room together around a single moment. The show is built on participation: guests come up on stage, make choices, react in front of their colleagues or their families.
That is what sets this kind of entertainment apart from a conventional act. What the show is made of is the audience's own reactions, and the room follows someone it knows rather than a performer alone on stage.
The show can be tailored to the company, with a logo or an internal message built into one of the sequences.
CORPORATE EVENTS IN GENEVA
Client evenings, conferences, seminars, gala dinners, product launches, receptions on the fringes of a trade show, Christmas parties: the formats vary, the constraint stays the same. The entertainment has to fit into a programme that is already timed to the minute, without pushing back a speech or disrupting service.
This is a part of the job that is rarely discussed and immediately noticed when it is handled badly. The running order is agreed in advance with the organiser or the agency, sequence by sequence.
At brand events, discretion is part of the service. No client name, no photograph and no video is published without written consent. For watchmaking houses, private banks and organisations hosting strategic partners, this counts as much as everything else.
WEDDINGS AND PRIVATE RECEPTIONS
At a wedding, close-up fills the moments that drag: the drinks reception, the wait between the ceremony and the meal, the point where guests from the two families haven't yet mixed. The magician moves from one group to the next and becomes the excuse to meet.
A more structured show can also close the meal, before the dancing. The choice between the two formats depends on the number of guests, the spaces available and how the day is structured.
FRENCH AND ENGLISH
In Geneva, the question of language comes up at most corporate events. Magic and mentalism are delivered in either French or English, including in front of a mixed audience.
This matters more than it might seem. Participatory mentalism relies on shades of phrasing, on silences, on knowing how to bring a participant back in without breaking the rhythm. None of that survives an approximate translation.
WORKING IN GENEVA
Harry Covert has been performing since 2010. He is based in Saint-Jorioz, on Lake Annecy, around forty-five minutes from Geneva. He works in the canton of Geneva, the French Genevois and the Pays de Gex, as well as in Lausanne, Nyon and the rest of French-speaking Switzerland.
Every proposal takes into account the number of guests, the spaces available, the languages spoken, the timing of the evening and the level of confidentiality expected.
Planning an event in Geneva or the surrounding area? Tell me about the venue, the number of guests and how the evening is structured.
FAQ
Can a magician perform during a seated dinner?
Yes. Close-up is performed table by table, between courses, and stops as soon as service resumes. That was the format chosen for a partner dinner at the Olympic Museum during Watches and Wonders week, in front of around seventy international guests. The timing is agreed in advance with the organiser so that neither service nor speeches are pushed back.
Can performances be delivered in English?
Yes, in French as well as English, including in front of a mixed audience. In Geneva the question comes up at most corporate events, between international organisations, multinational headquarters and visiting clients. Visual magic needs no translation, and mentalism draws on ideas that exist in every culture: choice, attention, intuition.
Close-up or a stage show, which one?
Close-up suits moments when people are moving around, drinks receptions, aperitifs, seated dinners, and requires no technical setup. A show brings the whole room together around a single moment and works better as the close of a conference, a gala or an awards ceremony. The two often combine over a single evening, close-up during the reception and the show afterwards.
How is a client's confidentiality handled?
The client's name, the identity of the guests and the details of the reception are only published with written consent. No photograph or video is taken on the performer's own initiative. This matters particularly in Geneva, where a share of events are held for watchmaking houses, private banks and organisations hosting strategic partners.
Where does Harry Covert travel from?
Harry Covert is based in Saint-Jorioz, on Lake Annecy, around forty-five minutes from Geneva. He works regularly across the canton, the French Genevois and the Pays de Gex, as well as in Lausanne and Nyon. Travel and technical arrangements are set according to the venue, the guest numbers and the timing of the performance.
