Show. Business. Excellence.
Bespoke entertainment strategy
for sustained distinction.
Neil Kelso Productions build teams that bridge the gap between exceptional entertainment and strategic business outcomes.
We help world-class brands and venues to transform their guest experiences through entertainment that drives both emotional impact and commercial results.
Trusted by Leading Brands
Our Services
Consulting: Entertainment Strategy
Transforming Guest Experience Through Strategic Entertainment
We analyse your brand positioning and guest journey to identify high-impact opportunities where entertainment creates measurable business value. Whether you are a festival seeking to develop different sectors of your audience, or a venue seeking to refine and elevate the guest experience from start-to-finish, we have strategic solutions for you.
Development: Creative IP from Concept to Execution
Original Content That Builds Brand Equity
We develop bespoke entertainment concepts developed specifically for your venue and audience, creating proprietary assets that enhance your competitive positioning. Whether you need one extra-special element to enhance an existing product, or are staring at a blank canvas, we can support you throughout.
Coaching: Navigating Change and Transitions
Change Management That Ensures a Smooth Continuous Evolution
We provide bespoke agile roadmaps that keep you on-track to deliver consistent excellence today and into the future. Whether you are starting to understand the role entertainment can play in your guest experience, or you are looking for new ways to delight your current and future audiences, we can help you to see further and to plan ahead.
Curating: Excellent Bespoke Entertainment
Sourcing and Developing Talent and Formats for Premium Experiences
We provide opportunities to build strategic partnerships with world-class performers, creatives, and event teams whose artistry and processes align with your brand standards and guest expectations. Whether you need a one-off product or performer for an event, or are building a pool of talent, we can help you to find exactly what you need.
Case Studies
Our Unique Approach
Show + Business = Excellence
Great work only thrives when the artistic brilliance
is underpinned by robust strategic thinking.
We combine artistic excellence with intelligent strategies to create entertainment experiences that don't just delight your guests—they also drive measurable repeatable business outcomes.
Creative Excellence:
Our teams feature award-winning experts across multiple creative fields.
Strategic Foundation:
Our processes are build upon International Business Management best practice.
Measurable Impact:
We deliver strategic solutions that commercial outcomes.
Proven Track Record:
Our clients use us again and again because we care very deeply about the big picture, and we consistently deliver excellence. We're also quite fun.
Our Team
Neil Kelso
Founder & Strategic Director
Neil Kelso's Business credentials include:
Keynote speaker and strategic consultant for world-leading organisations and brands across several industries.
BSc(Hons) International Business Management and French from the University of Bath
Neil Kelso's Creative credentials include:
Critically-acclaimed Writer and Director for Stage and TV
Competition-winning classical pianist
Headline Performer at the most prestigious venues, cruiseships, private islands and yachts, cabarets and television shows.
Long-standing mentor to top performers in multiple industries and art forms.
Member of The Magic Circle, Mensa, and Equity.
Our core team of regular collaborators also includes:
Joe Morrow - Theatre & Immersive Cabaret Expert:
Award-winning performer and director specialising in the development of multi-disciplinary traditional and non-traditional theatrical work, cabaret and innovative immersive formats.
Loki M. - Cruise Industry & Talent Expert:
Founder of The Ministry of Magic, leading expert in cruise ship entertainment strategy and execution, with a specialism in magic and comedy, as well as talent acquisition and development.
Kevin Wratten - Production & Touring Expert:
Co-founder of Split Second, specialist in large-scale productions, including circus, site-specific, and international work. Forging partnerships with brands, festivals, venues, and funders.
Bespoke Team Curation:
We build a specialist team for every project. With a vast network of experts at the forefront of multiple industries, we give you access to the most valuable best-practice from around the world.
This is how we consistently bring proven strategies and innovative solutions that supercharge your strategy and refine the stories you tell.
Press Quotes about Neil Kelso's Work
“Definitely try to get seats for Sounds Impossible. Neil Kelso is a member of The Magic Circle and a remarkable pianist who explores outstanding magic thru the medium of all forms of music. One of the best shows to see at the [Edinburgh] Fringe.”
- The Herald
“The show cleverly compares the smoke and mirrors of dictatorship to the illusions of hypnotists and magicians. Just as an audience allow themselves to be deceived by stage performers, the piece suggests that citizens too easily allowed themselves to be bamboozled by the junta ... it’s a musically rousing evening – with a class band – and never loses sight of how important it is to be alert to the trickery of politicians."
- The Guardian
Impressive … a tight script and a bevy of twists and turns keep us guessing to the end... Five Stars.”
- BroadwayWorld
“Wet Paint is more than just a magic show: it combines funky jazz music, eccentric banter and beautiful storytelling to take the audience back to a place most of us have not visited since we were six or seven. The show is wondrous.
There were moments of exquisite beauty that I cannot even consider spoiling for you. Suffice to say that I could not see through a single trick (and we were all looking).
Kelso displayed considerable skill and performed several beautiful tricks but his mastery was in leading the audience deeper into the magic and the mystery until we were fully immersed and grinning ear to ear. He has an incredible stage presence, something like a cross between a bumbling Disney narrator and a Tim Burton character, giggling and shrugging and slurring throughout. Hart produced some stunning illusions and a couple of moments that can only be attributed to real magic.
The problem with even the best magic shows is that often you wind up so engrossed in watching for how they did the trick you forget to appreciate the magic. With Wet Paint you forgot about cynicism and just waited for the next incredible thing to happen. Five Stars."
- Broadway Baby
It’s all woven together so neatly. Glorious fun.”
- The Sunday Times
“Kelso hypnotises his audience with astonishing tricks and chilling mind games. His act leaves everybody glued to their seats as he makes his way around the room, singling out members of the audience and making them question what’s real.”
- BoredPanda
“Expect drama, expect laughs… the ending reveal was spectacular. One of the most thrilling immersive experiences running right now.”
- Town and Country Magazine
“Sounds Impossible: A Musical Magic Show does indeed sound impossible at first, but Kelso pulls off the premise and more.
While the magic is itself impressive, it is a secondary aspect of the performance, enhancing the discussion and performance of music. This is to Kelso’s benefit, setting him apart and making for an especially interesting show.
An audience member in the front row of the reviewed show had a satisfying reaction as the magic revealed itself, gasping loudly and clutching her partner's arm.
With a broad appeal, he gets people from both sides—impressing the magic fans with his breadth of music knowledge and the music fans with the magic tricks. He has a pretty universal appeal. Fans of either aspect of his performance will be sure to see something new.”
- World Magic Review
“An entertaining and effective murder mystery delivered in unstintingly opulent surroundings. In this enjoyable interactive experience, written and directed by Neil Kelso, a lovingly restored Belmond British Pullman train becomes a character in its own right, adding a real sense of grandeur to this satisfying whodunnit. Kelso takes care to ensure every loose thread ties neatly into the plot somewhere along the way. Kelso’s systematic pacing ensures we never feel rushed.”
- The Stage
Shortlisted: "DEAD ON TIME" Best Immersive Show of the Year by BroadwayWorld
Three times: Mervyn Stutters "Pick of the Fringe" FIVE STARS
“The mystery is was complex as a P.D. James’ novel. As the moving murder mystery develops, and the plot twists are revealed, you are carried further into what feels like a fabulous fun-fuelled romp through history.”
- Forbes Magazine