Hosting and Planning An Awards Night

Preparing for Success: Behind the Scenes

This blog post is focused on the recent Lots For Tots Awards 2024. My name is Oliver Couchman and I had the pleasure of hosting the evening and also performing close-up magic for guests during the drinks reception and also between the courses. However, let me take you right back to the start.

I first spoke with Beth in December 2023, where I proposed the idea of hosting the evening and performing some magic for the guests. Beth was hesitant about having an external host but liked the idea of using magic to break the ice for everyone on arrival. After some backwards and forwards, organising other acts and checking out my reviews/photos etc - I got the green light from Beth.

We scheduled a call and went through the initial details of the evening and I constructed a timetable that we could both follow and later pass to the venue (Derby Mickleover Hotel) as a tried and tested run sheet. When putting this together, I ensured there was too much time scheduled for each section so that it allowed for any delays, and thankfully on the night, it did just that!

There was a delay getting everyone into the main function room, a slight delay on the welcome speech and also on the starters. Luckily because of the intentional buffering, we got everything back on time for a punctual finish ready for the DJ in the evening. I’ll talk about the evening shortly, but I just wanted to highlight the effort Beth and I put in to ensure the evening went as smoothly as possible and the importance of keeping timings realistic and not too regimented - as the reality is, they won’t go to plan if you do this.

Research and Strategy:

Before the awards night was upon us, I wanted to understand exactly who I was performing for and who I was hosting for. If I was working with a group of rugby fans, the comedy and magic would’ve been completely different. It was a special night with businesses that created much more magic than I ever could by supporting children and giving them a life worth living.

I felt genuinely happy to announce the awards knowing why they had won them and how they had got there, it was seriously moving. On that note, as well as the importance of understanding your audience I feel it is respectful and fundamental to use the correct pronunciation for all of their names. Beth will vouch for me on this, but I am proud to say that I read everyone’s names perfectly, which for me is so important. My surname is Couchman, pronounced ‘Coochman’ - it’s like bucket and bouquet, it’s no biggy… I don’t particularly care, but when someone gets it right, I smile.

Preparation Timeline:

We tried our best to be as prepared as possible, and of course there are always hurdles that occur along the way. However, you know what they say - fail to prepare, prepare to fail. There were lots of changes along the way, to outline a few: a judge wanted to announce an award, the other entertainers changed their set length, the categories needed an order change, we needed to show some videos and then we didn't , we needed magic tricks in the gaps and then we needed less and then more - the list goes on! Did it matter? NO! Because we were prepared and our communication was on point from start to finish.

Team Collaboration:

Beth and I took the lead hand for organising this event, and I won’t be too modest, we smashed it! The venue had a run sheet (that actually worked), I was able to help the other acts with their timings, Beth was relaxed, everyone had a great time and the DJ was smiling all night.

Dress Rehearsals:

You can only rehearse so much for a live event, but with everyone arriving in plenty of time, it gives you time to build chemistry and make sure everything is ready. I arrived hours before the event, had dinner with the singing waiters and had a great laugh getting to know them. In fact, they were absolutely bloody brilliant and had everyone shocked. The waiter fell over, throwing cutlery all over the floor making a massive CRASH - everyone rushed to help them until he stood up and broke into song singing Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen. It was superb!

Key Takeaways and Lessons Learned

Love what you do. Prepare to succeed, not to fail. Communicate with your client/supplier. HAVE FUN!

If you’d like to book a call with Oliver at Revilo Twist Magic, please click the link below.