Search for a magician, a band or a game show and you will find two kinds of site. Some are directories: hundreds of listings and a contact button on each. Some are agencies. They look similar at first. They are very different on the night.
A directory hands you a list and walks away. We stay with you until the night is over, and every client of ours gets a free event portal to run the rest of the event as well.
Want to see the whole process? From the first brief to the report after the night.
How your event runs →The table is the short version. Every row on the right is how a booking with us works today.
| What you need | A typical entertainment directory | Action Entertainment on Show Me Now |
|---|---|---|
| Finding the right act | Scroll listings, guess who fits | Your agent shortlists by room, crowd and budget |
| Checking availability and price | Email each act separately | One shortlist, with availability and quotes gathered for you |
| Who you deal with | Each act, separately | One agent, one message thread |
| Planning the rest of the event | Not their problem | Free event portal: guests, RSVPs, dietary needs, seating, documents, budget |
| Supplier requirements (stage, power, access) | Sorted out by phone on the day | Entered once, chased automatically, visible to everyone who needs them |
| Run sheet | A PDF that is out of date the moment something slips | A live run sheet that updates on every screen |
| When something goes wrong | You find out on the night | Flagged in the lead-up; a clear record of who was waiting on whom |
| After the event | Nothing kept | History, contacts and lessons ready for next year |
A directory is useful for browsing. But once you have found three acts you like, the work starts. You email each one, wait for each reply, compare three quotes written three different ways, and then manage each act yourself: arrival times, stage size, power, parking, set length. If something goes wrong on the night, it is between you and the act.
When you book through Action Entertainment you tell us about the event once: the date, the city, the crowd, and roughly what you would like to spend. Your budget stays with us. We shortlist acts that suit the room from a roster we have watched work in real rooms since 2003, whether that is a magician, a mentalist, a comedy hypnotist, a band, a roving act or a hosted game show. You can shortlist your own favourites from the site as well, and we check availability and gather the quotes for the acts you chose.
Then the night itself. Every act is briefed on your run sheet, insurance certificates go to your venue in advance, and if a performer falls ill close to the date there is a comparable act to call. One confirmation, one invoice, whether it is one performer or a full program.
This is where the difference really shows. Every Action Entertainment client plans and runs their event on the Show Me Now event management platform, which gives you a free portal for the whole event: your guest list, RSVPs, dietary needs and seating; one floor plan and one run sheet that everyone shares; your venue, caterer and AV team in the same space as your entertainment; requirements chased automatically so nobody is guessing about stage size or power on the day; and one message thread with your agent instead of a dozen email chains. On the night the run sheet is live: if dinner runs late, every timing after it updates on every screen, from the MC to the performers.
Show Me Now is the platform we have chosen to run our events on. The entertainment is the part we look after inside it; the rest of the event is yours, in one place, from the first thought to the report after the night.
A directory lists acts and gives you a contact button for each; from there you email every act yourself, compare quotes written three different ways and manage each performer on the night. An agency takes a brief once, shortlists acts that suit the room, crowd and budget, gathers availability and quotes for you, and is accountable for the outcome. Action Entertainment also gives every client a free event portal on Show Me Now to plan and run the rest of the event.
You tell us the budget once and it stays with us, and the shortlist comes back with quotes attached for your event, so you are comparing like with like rather than three emails written three different ways. What you are paying for beyond the act itself is the matching, the briefing, the insurance paperwork and a backup if a performer falls ill, which is the part a directory leaves to you.
Through a directory that is between you and the act. Through us there is a comparable performer to call, because the agency's name is on the night as well as the artist's, and every act on the roster carries public liability insurance with the certificates supplied to your venue in advance.
Yes. Browse the roster and shortlist the acts you like, then send the shortlist with your event details. We check availability and gather quotes for the acts you chose and add anything we think you have missed, with a reason.
Tell us about your event and an agent will come back with a shortlist.
Tell us about your event →Browse the Roster