I make magic. Designed for the moment.
Most of what I make is built specifically for the night it’s going to happen — corporate evenings, keynote sessions, custom brand pieces, theatrical productions. Never the same set twice. Recent credits: Penn & Teller: Fool Us, TEDx, the Peabody Essex Museum Commission.
Four kinds of work.
Tableside
Cards and small objects, table to table. The kind of close-up sleight of hand that quiets a conversation for a minute and creates a moment guests talk about the next day.
- ·Cocktail hours and receptions
- ·Intimate dinners
- ·Hospitality suites
An Evening with Evan
Forty-five to seventy-five minutes on stage, built around your audience. Not a generic set with your logo on the table; the show is crafted for the room.
- ·Annual galas and holiday parties
- ·Theater audiences, 60 to 800
- ·Closing entertainment for offsites
Custom Brand Piece
A magic effect built around something specific; a product launch, a milestone, a story you’re trying to tell.
- ·Product launches
- ·Museum and exhibition openings
- ·Brand activations
The Magician’s Keynote
The talk that grew out of my 2019 TEDx. I take audiences inside how magic actually works: the design problems, the mindset, the troubleshooting, and what any of that has to do with running a company.
- ·Leadership offsites
- ·Innovation and design conferences
- ·Sales kickoffs that need to feel less like a meeting
Twenty-two years of questions.
I started at eight years old. Magic became a way of seeing the world. Of questioning beliefs and building worlds.
Nearly thirty years later, that question turned into a TEDx talk, commissions for Museums, theatrical design at the theaters around the country, and a Penn & Teller: Fool Us appearance in October 2025.
Every show I build starts with a question: what should this audience walk out talking about? Then I work backwards from there.
The design comes first.
“Northrup is not your dad’s magician. He sees magic through many different lenses.”
“Northrup uses storytelling as a means of engaging with audiences and bringing a theatrical flair to his performances.”
A deck of cards. Twenty thousand hours.
Most of the magic you’ll see at a corporate event is rented. It's the same forty-minute set, swapped between gigs, with your company name dropped into the patter. What I do is the opposite. I write a piece for the night it’s going to happen.
It takes longer. But it makes the magic unforgettable.
I know what you're thinking...
What size events do you work?
From eight people around a dinner table to 800 in a ballroom. Most commissions land between 40 and 250 guests — the size where craft can actually be felt.
How far in advance should we book?
For tailored pieces, four to six weeks is comfortable. For The Magician’s Keynote with custom design for your audience, eight to twelve weeks is ideal. Tighter timelines are possible; reach out and we’ll figure it out!
What's the budget range?
Every client has individual needs, and every show is slightly different. For tableside walkaround magic, the fee is determined by the length of performance time. For a stage show, it will depend on your specification. An experienced and insured full-time performer will be charging $2,000-$10,000 per engagement. The cost can be higher for fully customized designs.
Do you travel outside New England?
Yes. Home base is Boston/Salem, but I travel for the right engagement — New York, DC, Chicago, and West Coast bookings have all happened in the last twelve months. Travel and lodging are quoted separately.
How is this different from a corporate magician?
A corporate magician brings a set. I design something for your event. I’m coming from theater, not the magic-trade-show circuit — my credits are at the Huntington Theatre, the Peabody Essex Museum, TEDx, and Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Every booking gets a piece that fits the occasion, not a routine pulled off a shelf.
A theater person who happens to do magic.
I came up through theater, went to Brown to study languages, and picked up story structure on the side. I kept noticing that magic was harder and more interesting than people gave it credit for. So I made it my life's work to figure out why. The way I work on a show is the way a director works on a play.
If you want a corporate magician with a roller bag full of tricks, that’s not me. If you want something crafted for the night you’re putting on, you’re in the right place.