Barcelona · Catalonia · Spain
Mentalism with the Mediterranean as a backdrop.
At a congress at Fira Barcelona or a gala in a modernista hall, Isma Zmerli makes your guests both the audience and the accomplices of close-up magic and mentalism, in English or French.
5.0 on Google (500+ reviews) · English or French · Reply within 24 hours
What fits your agenda
Barcelona’s calendar revolves around major trade fairs and congresses, and many companies add a client dinner or a team night to the trip. The right format depends on whether your guests are standing, seated or between meetings.
Client nights
After a long day at the fair, Isma moves through the room with effects that happen in the guests’ own hands: a card you signed, a ring that changes place, a number someone merely thought of. Partners from different countries find an easy way into conversation.
Suits client dinners, cocktails and hospitality suites.
Congress plenary
Between two keynotes at the CCIB or in a hotel ballroom, a 20–45 minute stage slot brings a handful of volunteers up and the whole audience into the game, resetting attention before the next speaker.
Set-up: a microphone plus a stage area.
Tech week
Barcelona’s technology fairs and the start-ups of the 22@ district make a natural audience for Isma’s AI and mentalism experience: drawing on his machine-learning training, he pits human intuition against an algorithm, live.
For launches, partner events and innovation programmes.
Tell Isma about your audience and running order: he will help you choose, with no commitment. For a company event, see also corporate magician and mentalist.
Barcelona and Catalonia
From Paris, Barcelona is under two hours by air, or roughly seven hours on the direct high-speed train from Gare de Lyon to Barcelona Sants. Each set is adapted to the space, whether a convention hall, a ballroom facing the sea or a Gothic hall in the old town.
Performances are in English or French, not Spanish or Catalan, which suits the international delegates the city’s congresses attract.
Trade fairs and congresses
Fira Barcelona Gran Via, in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, hosts ISE in February, MWC Barcelona in early March, then Smart City Expo World Congress and IBTM World in November, while the CCIB by the Diagonal Mar seafront welcomes large congresses. Client nights follow the fair days.
Galas
Gala dinners take place in settings such as the Sala Oval of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya on Montjuïc, the pavilions of the Sant Pau Recinte Modernista or the Gothic hall of the Casa Llotja de Mar: close-up opens the evening, and the stage slot can fit in before dessert.
By the sea
A ballroom at Hotel Arts by the Port Olímpic, a rooftop in Poblenou or the offices of a tech company in the 22@ innovation district: close-up adapts to a standing reception, and a seated audience gets the stage version.
Eixample, Passeig de Gràcia, Gothic Quarter, El Born, Barceloneta, Port Olímpic, Poblenou, 22@, Diagonal Mar, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, Pedralbes, Montjuïc
L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Castelldefels, Sitges, Badalona, Terrassa, Sabadell, the Penedès vineyards, Montserrat
Girona and the Costa Brava, Tarragona, and the PortAventura convention resort near Salou, about an hour’s drive from Barcelona airport.
Good to know: during MWC Barcelona in early March, hotel rooms across the city fill early and rates climb sharply. If your event coincides with a major fair, book your guests’ accommodation first, then the venue and the entertainment.
What clients say
Corporate event · Mentalism
★★★★★
“A huge thank you to Isma! An incredible performance: our clients absolutely loved it. Professional, astonishing and incredibly friendly. We recommend him wholeheartedly!”
Corporate event · VIP guests
★★★★★
“Isma is fascinating and charismatic: the perfect experience and wow factor for our event with VIP guests. We were all amazed by his talent, and the guests are still talking about it.”
Company plenary · 200 employees
★★★★★
“Everyone loved the entertainment! […] He was very accommodating and tailored his performance to our company’s needs and industry.”
Meet Isma
On stage or up close with your guests, Isma turns surprise into an experience people share.
The art of capturing attention and getting your guests involved.
Trained in machine learning and deep learning.
A master’s degree exploring perception, attention and decision-making.
Easy to organise
One conversation is enough to get started, even if your programme is still taking shape.
Your questions
Yes. Fair weeks are when companies host client dinners, stand receptions and partner nights, and close-up fits each of them. For booth entertainment, see magic at trade shows. Fair dates are known well in advance, so share yours as early as you can.
Neither. The show runs in English or French, and international congresses in Barcelona generally work in English, so it sits naturally in the programme. If a large share of your guests would prefer Spanish or Catalan, raise it at the outset so the format can be discussed openly.
Yes, along the coast and inland: Sitges, Castelldefels, Girona and the Costa Brava, Tarragona or the PortAventura convention centre near Salou. Send the venue and the date, and the trip from Paris will be priced in.
Yes. A stage slot at the start of the day or straight after lunch helps a large audience refocus, and Isma times it with the congress organiser and the AV team. Close-up can then take over at the evening reception, lasting between one and three hours, scaled to attendance.
Late winter, with ISE in early February and MWC in early March, then the autumn congress season through to November, when Smart City Expo World Congress and IBTM World both take place at Fira Gran Via. Around those weeks, plan well ahead.
Four things shape it: the date, the format, the running time and the size of your audience. Travel from Paris, by plane or train, is listed in the same quote, which you receive within 24 hours of your request.
Let’s talk about your event
Share your date, venue and programme for a quote, or ask which format would suit your guests.
Reply within 24 hours.
Across Europe and beyond: a selection of our recent dates.
