Entertainment

The South Florida-based Office Depot Foundation held a holiday party with a tropical theme. Boca By Design brought in live flamingos, parrots, and other creatures from Rainforest Aviaries and Gardens and Jesse Williams Ranch for photo ops and atmosphere.

At a holiday-themed event to celebrate the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Event Architects brought in a pair of professional ice skaters who performed on an elevated skating rink.

In addition to nighttime fireworks displays, PyroTecnico can also present daytime “fireworks” shows using colored smoke. With offices throughout the U.S., the company can stage performances anywhere. Prices available on request.

Theo Dari, also known as Laserman, works with lasers to create dramatic, high-energy, and highly visual entertainment acts. The artist has performed at numerous events, including at the Long Beach Arena's new Pacific Ballroom debut.

Tryon Entertainment is offering new so-called “human disco balls” for events. The stylishly dressed four-member crew makes appearances with text scrolling across LED disco-ball-shaped heads. The text can be customized with the event’s message.

Broadway singers and musicians perform in their underwear as the Skivvies. Lauren Molina and Nick Cearley do stripped-down (so to speak) versions of covers and originals for some can't-look-away entertainment.

Among De Leon Productions' offerings is a team of performers who do sideshow feats. Think sword swallowing and the so-called "human pincushion."

Key Artist Group offers so-called "living vines" for event booking. The human foliage can interact with guests and with one another for slightly surrealistic entertainment, just right for seasonal events.

Interactive buffet heads from Day Entertainment & Events include a glittery, grinning human cupcake.

Originally commissioned by Swarovski for the window of its flagship store in London, Private Drama's "Twilight Flutterby" costumed performer features a tornado of colorful butterflies encrusted with crystals.

"Tell-A-Vision" (as seen on America's Got Talent) is live performance art conceived and developed by Dorene Collier and AJ LeBlanc of Event Show Productions. Through two years of research, they created what they’re billing as a “moving storybook" that uses wireless technology and incorporates video screens joined with live performers.

What event doesn't need music and a little nosh? Marc Weiss, also known as DJ Chef, bills himself as a culinary entertainer. He cooks his signature dishes while he spins for the crowd.

Toronto-based street painter David Johnston uses chalk to make realistic trompe l’oeil images at live events for brands such as 20th Century Fox, Canon, and Loblaws. He creates the seemingly 3-D scenes and objects on flat surfaces such as cement or canvas.

French artist Antonin Fourneau practices water light graffiti, a process that involves using a damp sponge brush to draw on an installation made from thousands of small LED lights that light up when touched by water. Fourneau’s interactive performances are customizable, allowing audience members to try their hand at the art form.

Kansas City, Missouri-based Quixotic Fusion offers an eclectic swirl of acrobatic feats, pulsing rhythms, and colorful digital images and light projections. The group can perform from five-minute openers to 75-minute features.

Companies including Google and Disney have booked iLuminate. Dancers wear bodysuits outfitted with wirelessly controlled lights that coordinate with the dancers’ movements, resulting in sci-fi visuals.

At a Prudential Real Estate conference in Orlando, Dallas-based Corporate Magic paired live dancers with digitized butterfly wings projected inside floating orbs to create a single, fluid movement of person and pixels onstage. In-house animators achieved the effect by using green-screen technology.

Lumina the Laser Violinist puts a futuristic spin on a classic instrument. The musicians, booked solo or as a duo or trio, play with a laser bow while standing among pulsing light beams.

Many booths were designed to highlight aspects of the country or city's culture. At the Thailand booth, artists painted on postcards and woven purses for attendees.