Though it’s a joyous event, getting married ranks as one of the top ten life stressors you can go through, trailing only slightly behind going to prison. (Keep your jokes about not being able to tell the difference between the two to yourself, thank you.) Wedding planning can be a nonstop battle, which is why the comedy magicians of Slightly Unusual have put together a list of ten reasons why booking a magician is a solid move. Some of their choices are a bit arguable (they say magic doesn’t offend anyone, but that rather depends on the magician in question), but most of their points are very sound. Here are our three favorites:

1. That one weird table

There’s one at every wedding: a table full of people who don’t know each other and end up awkwardly poking at their salads instead of chatting. A closeup magician can help break the ice, giving them a way to interact that doesn’t put the burden of being interesting on them. 

2. There’s a lot of down time if you’re not in the wedding party

Weddings are nonstop activity for the wedding party, and a whole lot of waiting around for everyone else. You can only talk about how lovely the bride was for so long before everyone starts poring over their phones or drinking too much, and since kids probably don’t have either of those options open to them, they just start running. A magician keeps guests entertained in that dead zone between the ceremony and the reception, when endless sets of photographs are being taken and the food is still an hour or two away.

3. Magic can be tailored to suit anybody and can fit anywhere

Weddings are wonderful because they bring together so many disparate kinds of people to celebrate the happy couple – great aunt Jeanine, Tony from accounting, Becky’s twin nieces – but it can be tricky to keep everyone feeling engaged and involved. Your 90-year-old gran probably won’t be showing off her dance moves, but she still wants to feel like she’s at the party, and a magician making her the center of attention can do just that. Plus, it doesn’t matter where your reception is, a magician can squeeze into it. A deck of cards, some coins, and the act is ready to go, no stage required. That can be a real boon if the heavens open up unexpectedly.

You can read the rest of the pro-magician argument here, or just accept that pretty much any gathering is better with magic. Magic is, after all, the bacon of entertainment.