Corporate Entertainers - The New Vaudeville Circuit 
David Lazarus, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, December 4, 1999

One of the highest-paid, and busiest, performers on the Bay Area corporate circuit is magician Jay Alexander, 31, who charges as much as $20,000 for a 90-minute show that includes all manner of tricks, lots of laughs and a 10-piece big band.

``If P.T. Barnum was alive today, he'd be doing corporate events,'' Alexander said.

In fact, vaudeville runs in his veins. His great-grandfather performed in the 1920s as a strong man and escape artist in small venues throughout Texas and the South.

Alexander said he was first bitten by the show-biz bug as a child when he came across a trunk full of mementos of his ancestor's travels. He obtained his first magic set at age 11 and has been performing regularly ever since.

``My dream isn't to be in Vegas or to be in movies and TV,'' Alexander said. ``My dream is to live in San Francisco and still make a good living. The corporate market allows me to do that.''

Like others on the circuit, he tailors his act for each client. He researches the company hiring him and learns the names of key executives, and then tries to lace his routine with as many references as possible.

``Making jokes about the competition is where a lot of the humor comes from,'' Alexander said. ``There's a lot of positive reinforcement about the company. It's like mixing a high school pep rally with vaudeville.''

E``Corporate events are where we've all moved on to,'' he said. ``The corporate arena allows people with a passion to perform to make a living.''

Masters makes up to $5,000 for a full- scale stage show, although many of his gigs consist of strolling around company functions doing close-up magic for about $200 an hour (which is the same as the performing parrots take in).

Such ``walk-around'' jobs are increasingly a mainstay of trade shows and sales meetings. Companies are eager for any diversion that will help their message stand out.

Petaluma's Christopher Linnell, 38, specializes in impersonations. His repertoire features 150 celebrity voices and 75 costumed characters.

His $600 corporate dinner package might include mingling with guests during cocktails as President Clinton or Bob Dole and then working the crowd during dinner in the guise of TV detective Columbo.

``I'll research the company to the point where I could sell their product myself,'' Linnell said. ``Then I interest the crowd in the product by entertaining them about it.''

It's not always an easy life. Although Linnell said he works several corporate gigs a week, his income fluctuates from month to month, and the schedule can be rough on one's personal life.

As with vaudeville performers of an earlier age, Linnell also said it can be a hassle dealing with bookers and agents and others cutting themselves in for a piece of his action.

On the flip side, he pointed out that ``the absolute artistic freedom is the No. 1 plus. There's no other line of work where I could do what I do.''

And for a handful of in-demand performers, that freedom is accompanied by a very rewarding career. Comedian Dan St. Paul, 47, who rakes in as much as $8,000 per corporate appearance, has no complaints.

``There are very few people who do what I do,'' he said. ``Most of the time, companies are afraid to hire a comedian because they think someone will be offended. I have a clean act, and I customize 5 to 10 minutes of my act with material strictly for the client.''

Past clients have included the likes of Cisco Systems, Oracle Corp., Intel Corp. and Apple Computer.

``I do a lot of tech companies,'' St. Paul said. ``I might come out and say that I'm not Y2K compliant: When the clock strikes 12, I'll be doing material from the year 1900.''

Ba-da-bing.

``Or I might say I live in Foster City, which is a suburb of Oracle.''

Ba-da-boom.

``They love things like that.''

St. Paul lived for a while in Los Angeles and, like many other comics, made the rounds of the comedy clubs hoping for a big break.

``It was OK,'' he said. ``But when you consider the amount of comedians out there and the opportunity to get a network TV show -- how many make it?''

He returned to the Bay Area in 1994 and has since come to specialize exclusively in corporate events. As such, St. Paul is acutely aware that his fortunes will rise and fall in line with those of the tech industry.

``I watch the stock market very closely,'' he said. ``As long as business is good, especially for the Internet companies, I know things will keep going.''

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