Family Fortunes
We surveyed one hundred people. Two teams from your tables, the board on the big screen, and the survey written about your organisation. The wrong answers are always funnier than the right ones.
Entertainment packages
A charity auctioneer who is also the entertainment
Family Fortunes, The Generation Game and Play Your Cards Right, rebuilt for a ballroom on software I wrote myself. Your guests play from the phones already in their hands, the questions are about your people, and the same person runs your auction. Very few charity auctioneers bring the whole show.
- 1person runs the auction, the pledge and the entertainment
- 8game show formats in one app, on your big screen
- 250guests load-tested playing from their phones at once
- 15 minfor a full game show round, four for a table-side one
In short
- One person runs the auction, the pledge and the entertainment, so the night is one show rather than three bookings.
- TV-style game shows: Family Fortunes, The Generation Game and Play Your Cards Right, rebuilt for a ballroom on software I wrote myself.
- Eight games in one app, shown on your big screen and played from your guests’ own phones. No app to download.
- Comedy quizzes, table-side rounds and whole-room icebreakers, placed where your programme dips.
- Questions and survey answers written about your organisation, so it feels like your night rather than a hired format.
- A room that has laughed together gives more. That is the point of all of it.
A whole room on its feet inside five minutes
Why does entertainment belong at a fundraising event?
Because a room that is enjoying itself gives more. Guests who are laughing and involved stay present for the auction and the pledge instead of drifting to the bar. The entertainment is not a break from the fundraising. It is what makes the fundraising work.
Most charity auctioneers can call bids. Very few can also run the room as a genuine entertainer, and that is the gap I fill.
What is included in an entertainment package?
A set of interactive, inclusive moments woven through your programme and chosen to suit your audience:
- Whole-room games with a single winner
- Quizzes and table-to-stage competitions
- Crowd-wide challenges and audience participation
- Light comedy and warmth between the big moments
- Hosting and MC duties across the whole night
- The auction and the pledge from the same microphone
“His energy, enthusiasm and natural charisma lit up the room.”
The rare part
An auctioneer who is also an entertainer
I started in television, presenting for Fox, Warner and Universal and interviewing the likes of Tom Hardy and Reese Witherspoon. Then came comedy film work, and then charity auctioneering. It is an unusual route, and it is exactly why the entertainment lands.
It also means you are not booking an auctioneer, an entertainer and a host separately and hoping they gel. One person does all three, so the night runs as a single well-paced show and the fundraising moments arrive with the room warm.
- TelevisionPresenting for Fox, Warner and Universal
- ComedyComedy film work, then live rooms
- Charity auctioneerOver £10m raised, and the game shows came with me
The formats
What I actually bring to the room
These are the formats I have built and run properly, not a list of things I could have a go at. Most nights use two or three of them, placed where the programme needs lifting.
The Generation Game
The conveyor belt, the demonstrations, and guests attempting something difficult in front of their colleagues. The one that gets photographed most.
Play Your Cards Right
Higher or lower, table against table, with the cards on screen. The whole room ends up shouting at one person holding a card.
Table-side rounds
Fast games played from the tables with nobody leaving their seat, including Heads Up. Ideal for the gap between courses.
Comedy quizzes
Table against table on Quiz Live, my own quiz app, with every guest answering from their phone. Built so the table in last place is still enjoying it.
Icebreakers and whole-room games
Heads or tails and the other quick openers that get every guest standing inside a few minutes. They double as money-raisers: see fundraising games.
The software
I did not buy the game show software. I built it.
Quiz Live and my Family Fortunes board are my own software, written for a ballroom rather than a classroom. I run them live from the microphone, so there is no account for you to set up and nothing for your committee to learn.
Guests play on the phone they are already holding, the same one they are bidding from in the silent auction, while the big screen carries the question, the countdown and the scores.
- No app to download, just a QR code or a six-digit PIN
- A live leaderboard after every question, a podium at the end
- Team mode, so tables compete against tables
- Questions and survey answers written about your charity
- Load-tested with 250 guests playing at once
- Nothing for your committee to set up or manage
Five more on the same panel
Family Fortunes, The Generation Game and Play Your Cards Right are the three above. Five more run from the same host panel, and moving between them takes a tap, with no laptop swap and no dead air. Every screen here is the real software.
See it in action
Real clips, real rooms
Nothing staged. These are guests at real events, filmed on the night.
The game show showreel
A Family Fortunes round going off the rails
A table-side round with the room in it
Entertainment clients
What the room said afterwards
Kevin was absolutely brilliant to work with. The Generation Game show was fantastic and served as the perfect entertainment for our staff Christmas party. The feedback from the team has been excellent across the board, and we can certainly see ourselves doing this again.
Kevin was our MC for our Christmas party awards night, and the energy in the room was amazing, everyone was clapping and laughing. To avoid the usual slump of a long awards ceremony, Kevin helped us structure the night by mixing the awards with rounds of Family Fortunes.
What you need to provide
Very little. I bring the formats, the questions, the props, the software and the running order, and I write the rounds around your organisation in advance so it feels like your night rather than a hired format.
- A microphone
A handheld radio mic from the venue’s AV kit is fine.
- A screen
For the boards, the questions and the scores. A projector works.
- Wifi or signal
Only for the rounds your guests play on their phones.
Corporate entertainment too
Awards, conferences and product launches
I host and entertain at corporate events as well as charity galas. See the full range, with more reviews and examples, on my dedicated event host site.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Do you offer entertainment as well as auctioneering?
Yes. I am one of very few charity auctioneers who also provides a full entertainment package of TV-style game shows, quizzes, table-to-stage competitions and comedy, hosted with a television presenter’s timing. You get the auction, the pledge and the entertainment from one person.
What kind of entertainment works at a charity gala?
Interactive, inclusive entertainment works best: whole-room games like heads or tails, quizzes, table-to-stage challenges and light comedy that keeps guests involved. It should lift the energy without slowing the programme, and set the room up to give generously.
Is the entertainment suitable for corporate events too?
Yes. I host and entertain at corporate awards, conferences and product launches as well as charity events. You can see more of that work at eventhost.info.
Which game show formats do you run?
Family Fortunes, The Generation Game and Play Your Cards Right, all rebuilt for a live room on my own software, with the board on your big screen. There are eight games in the same app, so Quiz Show, What the Blank, Guess the Phrase, Category Clues and a room-wide Scavenger Hunt are available too. Alongside those I run comedy quizzes on Quiz Live, table-side rounds including Heads Up, and whole-room icebreakers like heads or tails.
Do the questions get written for our organisation?
Yes, and it is the part that makes the difference. The survey answers and quiz rounds are built around your people, your industry and the in-jokes your team will recognise. That is what stops it feeling like a format you could have booked from anyone.
What do you need from the venue?
A microphone, a screen for the graphics and a short conversation with your AV team. I bring everything else, including the props and the running order.
How long does a game show slot take?
A full game show round runs about fifteen to twenty minutes. Table-side rounds and icebreakers are much shorter, usually four or five minutes, so they can be dropped into gaps without moving your schedule.
Is this different from your fundraising games?
Yes. Fundraising games are short money-raising moments with a buy-in and a prize. Entertainment is the show itself, the formats that fill a slot in your programme and carry the energy of the evening. Plenty of clients book both.
Do our guests need to download an app to play?
No. They open the camera or the browser on the phone they already have, scan the code on the big screen or type in a six-digit PIN, and they are playing. Nothing to install and nothing to remember, which matters at a gala where half the room arrives late. It has been load-tested with 250 guests joining at once, so a full ballroom can play together rather than watching one table at the front.
Can we try the quiz before we book?
Yes. There is a live, playable version of the same app online at eventhost.info/quiz/. Open it on your phone and play a round yourself before you decide.
Is the game show software the same as your free auction software?
No, they are two separate platforms and I built both. The auction, pledge and ticketing software is included when you book me for a fundraising night. Quiz Live and the Family Fortunes board are what the entertainment runs on. Your guests use the same phone for both, so the evening feels like one thing rather than two systems.
Can a quiz raise money as well as entertain?
Yes. Put a buy-in on entry or a prize on the winning table and the quiz earns its slot twice over. That takes it closer to a fundraising game than a straight entertainment slot, and there is more on those under fundraising games.
Let’s talk
Add entertainment to your night
Tell me about your event and I’ll put together an auction, pledge and entertainment package that fits.