Jordan Zwicker (photo from JZE)
If there’s one Jewish personality in Vancouver that almost everyone knows, it’s Jordan Zwicker. The man behind many of the city’s Jewish celebrations, Zwicker, 42, has been enlivening Vancouver parties since 2003, when he first arrived here from Toronto, seeking a change of pace. Recently, he rebranded his company as Jordan Zwicker Entertainment and is now exclusively offering interactive parties that promise to get everyone excited, and onto the dance floor.
Previously, Zwicker’s roster of services included DJ-driven events with music but no interactivity with guests. He has changed up the format, with positive results.
“The kids we’re entertaining at most Jewish events are age 12 and they need motivation to create atmosphere and have a great time,” he explained. “In a personality-driven show like ours we bring a motivator who creates an experience that engages everyone. By comparison, a purely DJ-driven event doesn’t lend itself to a great, engaging environment because, without anyone running the show, the kids don’t know what to do.”
Zwicker and his team – five DJs, two dancers and a party planner – have relaunched the company’s crew with a group of dancers from Dance Play who will lead the parties. “We’re coming up with the newest songs and creating our own choreographed moves to teach to kids at parties,” he said. “Every event will have at least one new flavour to distinguish it and we’re constantly coming up with new ideas for games and including them in our shows.”
Thanks to 25 years in the business, a passion for parties and a deep understanding of how they work, Zwicker knows how to engage kids and adults at a party.
“We look at an event as a produced show with lots of elements and coordination required,” he reflected. “There’s dinner, kids’ games, interactive dance sets, slide shows, speeches, dessert and more dancing. We’re always doing something because we’re running the party. We also offer other entertainment options, like photo booths with a magic mirror, a graffiti wall, an airbrush artist and a magician. Basically, we’re a one-stop shop where you can take care of everything with one call.”
Today, bar and bat mitzvahs constitute up to 60% of business, with weddings, corporate events, schools and private events comprising the remaining 40%. Zwicker works in Metro Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary and Winnipeg but says he loves the parties so much, he feels like he’s never worked a day in his life. Getting to know families in the Jewish community is an essential part of his work and one he thoroughly enjoys.
“As an entertainment company, we are friends with the parents and the kids, because the kids are our business. We take the time and effort to get to know them and learn their preferences because, when we do a party, we’re all in this together,” he said. “The kids appreciate the fact that we’re on their level and we ensure that they and their friends enjoy their event and that we don’t lose their attention. We charge what we charge for that very reason: there’s a value behind it – the experience and expertise that’s kept us as the entertainment leader in Vancouver.”
For more information, visit jzentertainment.ca.
Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.