What it costs
How pricing works
A performance fee for what you booked, and the travel to get him there, quoted separately and at cost.
The model
One fee, expenses at cost underneath
A quote has two parts, always separated. The performance fee: what Richard is paid to be in your room, for the format and length you booked. And what it costs to get him to your venue, plus a night nearby when the distance demands it.
They are split because they behave differently. The fee is a decision you make once; the expenses move with your venue and your date, and you can influence them. The same gala in Amsterdam and in Dubai carries the same fee and a very different second line.
That is the corporate model on purpose. A private client signs an all-in arrangement; a company wants the components, because someone in finance is going to ask.
What the fee already covers
The fee covers the performance and everything behind it: preparation, material, props, wardrobe, liability insurance, and the call where the running order gets sorted out. No equipment hire, no technical rider arriving later.
Outside it sit travel and, when the schedule requires it, accommodation. Both at cost and itemised. Parking or a venue crew fee appears as itself, not folded into a rounder number.
What moves the number
Five things move a quote
How long he performs
Close-up is quoted in performing hours, usually two or three. A stage set is quoted as a set, twenty to forty minutes. Both in one evening costs less than two separate jobs.
How far he travels
Inside the Netherlands travel is a line you barely notice. Elsewhere in Europe it is a flight and often a night. The Gulf adds a travel day on each side.
When your date is
November and December are the tightest weeks of the year, and a Friday in December the most contested date in them. Flexible by a day? Say so, it sometimes changes the answer.
How many rooms he covers
Four hundred guests over three floors is a different job from four hundred in one hall. Not the count, the moving.
How late it runs
A set after midnight has consequences for the flight home. Bookable, and worth flagging early rather than at the run-through.
Getting a number
From your date to a quote you can forward
You send the date
Date, city, rough guest count. Enough to find out whether he is free, usually the same day.
A short call
Ten minutes on what kind of evening it is and where the entertainment sits. This is where the format gets chosen.
The written quote
One page. The fee, the format and its length, travel and accommodation at cost, the VAT, the payment terms.
Confirmation
A signed quote or a written confirmation by email holds the date. The run-through happens in the week before.
A worked example
What lands in your inbox
An awards evening for three hundred guests: close-up through the reception and dinner, a stage set after the last award. The quote fits on one page.
- Close-up magic, reception and dinner
- 3 performing hours
- Stage set, after the awards
- 25 minutes
- Performance fee
- Quoted for your date
- Travel
- At cost, itemised
- Accommodation
- Only if the schedule needs it
- VAT
- Shown separately
The fee is a real number on your quote, not a range. It is absent here because printing one figure for every event would mean printing the highest one.
Questions about money
Why is there no price list on this page?
Because one number would be wrong for most people reading it. Two hours of close-up at a company drinks in Utrecht and a stage set at an awards gala in Dubai are not the same booking, and one figure for both means quoting the higher one to everybody. Send the date and the city.
Can I get an indication before committing to a call?
Yes. Say in your message that you want a ballpark first. You will get a range for your format and your region by email, with a note on what would move it up or down, and no obligation attached.
Is VAT included in the quoted fee?
Quotes to companies are stated excluding VAT, with the VAT shown as its own line. For Dutch clients that is 21 percent. For companies elsewhere in the EU with a valid VAT number, the reverse-charge rule applies and the quote will say so.
What deposit is needed, and when do you invoice?
For most bookings, no deposit. The invoice follows the event, payable within the term on the quote. Long-haul dates needing flights booked well ahead are the exception, and the quote says so up front.
What happens if we have to cancel?
Cancellation is covered in the general terms, linked from every quote. In practice: real notice costs nothing beyond travel already booked and unrefundable, and the closer to the date, the more of the fee stands. Postponed rather than cancelled? Moving the booking is the first thing tried.
Do you charge for the preparation call or the run-through?
No. Both sit inside the fee. So does the reading of your running order and the coordination with your venue or production company.
How far ahead should we book?
For a date between September and December, three to six months is comfortable and less is a gamble. For the rest of the year, a month is usually enough. Date next week? Ask anyway; a gap in the calendar happens more often than you would think.
Can we book two performers or a longer evening?
Richard performs alone, and that is deliberate. If your evening needs more coverage than one performer can give, the honest answer is a longer booking or a different structure to the evening, and he will say which fits your room.
Check a date and get a real number
The date, the city, and roughly how many guests. Availability comes back the same day, and a written quote follows the call.
Most enquiries are answered the same day.