Booking a fire show for your parents’ 40th anniversary is not the same job as booking one for your company’s annual gala. From the outside the act looks the same: torches, flame, and a room full of people holding their breath. Almost everything around it changes though: how long the show runs, what the music is, whether the performer speaks to your guests, and where the show sits in the evening.
FireGuy performs at both. Brant Matthews has spent more than 20 years and over 10,000 performances splitting his calendar between private celebrations and corporate rooms across Canada and the USA. Here is how the two formats really differ, so you know what to ask for when you get in touch.
Key takeaways
- A private milestone show is built around one person’s moment. A corporate show is built around the room’s schedule.
- FireGuy’s sets run anywhere from one minute to a full hour, so the same performer can do a quick showstopper or headline the night.
- Private parties get close-up, personal performance. Corporate rooms get a bigger, punchier set that reads from the back row.
- Either way you get the same Guinness World Record holder, the same acts, and the same 5 million dollar public liability insurance.
What a private milestone celebration looks like
Milestone birthdays, anniversaries, vow renewals, engagement parties and family reunions all share one thing: there is a person or a couple at the centre of the night, and everyone in the room knows them.
That changes the show. Guest counts are usually smaller, so people sit or stand close and can see every detail, from the moment a torch goes out in FireGuy’s mouth to the reaction on the guest of honour’s face. The pace is slower and there is room for the performance to breathe. FireGuy can play to the guest of honour directly, work the crowd between acts, and time the finale to land right after the toasts or as the cake comes out.
Venues are more varied too. A private booking might be a backyard with string lights, a rented hall, a cottage dock, a rooftop or a restaurant patio. FireGuy performs anywhere in Canada and the USA and has entertained at more than 1,000 weddings, which is the same kind of intimate, once-in-a-lifetime room as a milestone party. You can see how that side of the work comes together on the FireGuy wedding entertainment page.
What a corporate event looks like
Corporate bookings, from holiday parties and product launches to conferences, fundraisers and formal galas, work to a timeline that somebody else already set. There is a run of show, an emcee, sponsors to thank, and often an AV crew with their own cues.
So the show gets tighter. The set is timed to a slot, the acts are chosen to read from the back of a big room, and the music is high energy rather than personal. Instead of playing to one family, FireGuy is lifting the energy of a few hundred people who may not know each other, and giving the room a moment worth filming.
The audience is different in another way as well. At a corporate event the show reflects on the host company, so polish matters. FireGuy’s Formal show is built for exactly that kind of room, and the same act has played to audiences that include Netflix celebrities and Jackie Chan.
What changes, and what stays the same
When people ask which booking is harder, the honest answer is that they are simply different. Here is the short version.
What changes between the two:
- Length: a private show is often one short, well-timed moment, while a corporate slot may be longer or split into segments.
- Music: personal songs for a milestone, broadly appealing or brand-approved tracks for a company event.
- Interaction: private shows plan for guest-of-honour moments, corporate shows keep a cleaner line between stage and audience.
- Timing: a family can shuffle the running order on the day, a corporate event locks it in weeks out.
What never changes:
- The performer. You get Brant Matthews himself, not a stand-in.
- The credentials. Guinness World Record holder, 20 plus years, 10,000 plus shows.
- The paperwork. 5 million dollars of public liability insurance, whether it is a backyard or a convention hall.
- The goal. Guests should still be talking about it on the drive home.
Choosing the right show for your room
FireGuy is not one fixed act, which is what lets the same performer work for both kinds of event. The core acts are fire eating, fire breathing, fire dancing and fire juggling, and they get combined differently depending on the space you have.
There are also full show lines built for specific rooms:
- Formal is the luxury set, made for galas, black-tie dinners and high-end private events.
- Glow Guy swaps flame for LED and glow. It is battery powered and can perform anywhere, which is the answer when a hotel or venue will not allow open flame indoors.
- Cold Fusion is the winter show, for December parties and outdoor events in the cold.
- Banana Flambé is the comedy-flavoured fire eating set that goes down well with a dinner crowd.
- FireGuy and Foam is the family and kids’ party version.
- Virtual shows run over Zoom, which is how remote teams get the same act without a venue at all.
How to brief FireGuy, whichever event you are planning
The enquiry that gets you the best show has the same handful of details in it, no matter which side you are on.
- The date, the city and the venue.
- Indoor or outdoor, and whether the venue allows open flame.
- Roughly how many guests, and whether they will be seated or standing.
- What the night is celebrating, and who it is for.
- Where in the evening you want the show, and how long you want it to run.
For a private milestone, the answer to “who is it for” is the most useful line in the whole email. For a corporate booking, the run of show and the venue rules matter most. Send either and the format gets built around it.
Frequently asked questions
How long should the show be?
It depends on the room. FireGuy’s sets run from one minute to a full hour. A milestone party usually works best with a short, sharply timed set around a key moment such as the toasts or the cake. A corporate event can carry a longer set, or two shorter ones either side of the program.
Can a fire show work indoors?
Often yes, and where a venue will not allow open flame indoors, the Glow Guy show is the swap. It is battery powered and can perform anywhere, so you keep the wow factor without the flame.
Will the show be personalised to the guest of honour?
For private celebrations, yes. That is the point of the format. Music, pacing and the timing of the finale get built around the person the night is for. Corporate shows are personalised too, just to the brand and the program rather than to one guest.
How far ahead should I book?
Earlier is better for both, especially for popular dates in December and through wedding season. Getting in touch four to six weeks out gives plenty of room to shape the set and sort out the venue details.
Ready to plan your show?
Whether it is a 50-guest anniversary dinner in the backyard or a 500-seat corporate gala, the format should suit the room, the guest list and the reason everyone turned up. Tell FireGuy what you are planning and he will build the show around it. Get in touch with FireGuy Show to check your date.
