Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Ackerly Entertainment

    4.8 (93 reviews)
    Open 9:00 am - 11:30 pm

    Services - Ackerly Entertainment

    Event planning

    Magicians

    Ackerly Entertainment Photos

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Ackerly Entertainment

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    April 24th's show!

    Phil is a fantastic performer and host! His show is a regular in my house and I would highly recommend watching his stuff. The show is super family-friendly and always has high-quality performers. Thanks, Phil!

    See all

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Almies G.
    142
    10
    0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Nicole P.
    10
    23
    24

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of A O.
    0
    5
    0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Maya Y.
    1
    127
    50

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Phil puts on a fun show for the kids and gets the adults laughing too. We've had him at three parties now and had great time at each.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Ron k.
    1
    13
    3

    15 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    Business owner information

    Photo of Phil A.

    Phil A.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Ann K.
    0
    16
    0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    15 years ago

    Business owner information

    Photo of Phil A.

    Phil A.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    Business owner information

    Photo of Phil A.

    Phil A.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Business owner information

    Photo of Phil A.

    Phil A.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    He came for my boy birthday party. My son enjoyed so much and the adults too! Big thanks to Phil! Highly recommend!!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Phil was professional and did a great job entertaining us all in a party with a 70 year age range.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    We just recently had the great fortune of having Phil Ackerly perform his magic for us!! Great showmanship!! thank you Phil.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    17 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    17 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    15 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of R N.
    0
    37
    2

    11 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    16 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 2 of 3

    Ask the Community - Ackerly Entertainment

    Review Highlights - Ackerly Entertainment

    Phil is very professional and has a way to connect with kids (and adults!) while still keep them under control.

    Mentioned in 83 reviews

    Read more highlights

    You might also consider

    Grand Theatre

    Grand Theatre

    4.1
    (114 reviews)
    $$

    My friend and I went to go get tickets at the Grand Theatre, inside the Grand Sierra Resort &…read moreCasino...the GSR. We walked up to the counter and Cohen was there to help us choose our Brit Floyd Tickets. This will be my 3rd year, but the music is so great, I bought two nights so I could hear The best of the Wall one night, and my friend and I will see The Dark side of the moon the last night. Wow! I am over the moon. It was so easy and thank you Cohen, you made this a Five Star ticket buying experience with your exceptional customer service. See you on The Dark side of the Moon, in June. Living my Best Life at the GSR. Julie A

    I have been to two shows in the last year here at the Grand Theatre, and while I think it's a great…read morevenue, it's not perfect. The venue itself is nice. Well designed, lots of bars and bathrooms. It's easy to get in and out. Traffic flow is usually not too bad. They do have construction happening for the new arena, which means that parking at the GSR is limited, so be aware on show nights and come a bit early. The bar prices are semi-reasonable. They have beer, canned cocktails, and some wine choices. They also have light snacks for purchase, but no real food options. The primary challenge with this venue is the sound. It's just not great. The echoes are noticeable, and it's often way too loud in here. I always feel like I need my earplugs at this venue. Many reviews tell you how great their show was, and I think they are confusing the show quality with the venue quality. The shows here are great, but that doesn't have anything to do with the venue itself. If you are looking for a top-shelf auditory experience, you might want to consider seeing your show at another venue. If you're okay with some sound imperfections, the Grand Theatre is a perfectly fine venue.

    Bruka Theatre of the Sierra

    Bruka Theatre of the Sierra

    4.3
    (51 reviews)

    What an amazing experience! In the heart of downtown by the Truckee, the Bruka Theatre of the…read moreSierra is a treasure of a local theater in its 33rd season! From the moment you walk in, you're immersed in an eclectic, but cozy and welcoming, vibe. Decor leans on theater and nostalgia with a touch of humor (see the cat portraits on the piano). Check-in for your pre-bought tickets is by name, although you're sent a QR as well. Comfort continues as you're allowed to select your own seat: from the front-row fold-down theater seats to the tiered rows of soft but supportive 3- and 5-person couches. I'm pretty sure I've never been more comfortable watching a play before, which is nice when you're there for a 2.5-hour runtime. They recommend you arrive 30 minutes prior to show start to get the best seats, but in this intimate space, with seating in front of, and on both sides of the center stage, I can't imagine any seats without a good view of the action. The stadium levels mean you also don't have half a person's head blocking your view. Drinks and candy available downstairs, which is also where the children's theater and restrooms are located. Wide range of shows offered this season, something for everyone. That may also be the one lowlight, as Shakespeare and Buttcracker likely require vastly different skills to produce. TIP: Free parking after 5 at the courthouse parking lot (76 Court St, just a short walk across the bridge) or park at Parking Gallery on First and Sierra and they will validate.

    I REALLY need to update this review! The one from 2012 certainly does NOT reflect my current…read moreopinion of Brüka after attending numerous performances here. Looking back I still agree the welcoming atmosphere, comfort of the seats and ease of viewing the stage, and ease of purchasing tickets. Shout out to Holly for being a great box office manager on top of the other 5,000 duties she has with Brüka. Over the last 11 years, we have attended some amazing productions of traditional, familiar works to cutting edge topical pieces and the hilarious local-centric productions. Some plays are funny, some are hard to watch, some are thought provoking and some are just flat-out enjoyable. Do I like all the plays? Not always. However, the consistency of good actors, creative staging, and brilliant adaptation of a "black box theater" makes it what makes the magic of theater . . . . . magical. I apologize for the negative review based on one show. I should have taken a step back and looked at the big picture. Brüka is a stunning example of community theater at it's best. Thank you Mary Bennett for your vision and artistic direction in providing high quality theater for the Reno community.

    Slaughter House

    Slaughter House

    2.6
    (29 reviews)

    The site was fun and scary. If you want to have a good time check it out I had a chance to meet the…read morePromotor and owner of the attraction and Eli and Katie are two of my favorite people in the world, and if you get the opportunity to meet them you will agree. I like that they bring fun things to the community to do also there Christmas attraction that I hope they still do is great also. I can't wait to get back to the Reno area again to see them and injoy the Christmas season.

    My wife and I have been wanting to try out Slaughter House ever since moving to the area but for…read moreone reason or the other, it just never worked out. Finally, this last Halloween, we were able to make it work. Slaughter House is held at Greater Nevada Field, which is where the Reno Ace's play. They offer the usual Haunted House experience and a Haunted Train attraction (more on that later). Considering if you purchased both attractions together (and getting access to the faster line) it would be cheaper, we decided to go that route. Afterwards, we wish we just went with the Haunted House. We waited in line for around 30 minutes before getting into the House and all in all, it was alright. Sure, it had moments that made me jump and even freaked me out a bit, but all told it just wasn't that great. There's one portion of the House where you're forced to walk through a ball pit that features a "scary" Clown to add to the discomfort. Normally, there would be nothing wrong with that. But, what is wrong with it is my wife has a very bad ankle and it could be rolled very easily. There was no warning at all about having to walk through a ball pit where rolling your ankle wouldn't be too difficult. So considering I was highly annoyed by this and focused on making sure my Wife didn't get hurt, it took any and all "scare" out of this portion. To his credit, the actor playing the Clown picked up on this and backed off. That was cool of him. As soon as it started, it ended. I felt like there was no grand finale or anything like that, you just suddenly left the maze and that was that. Pretty flat if you ask me. Oh, and the first thing they do upon entering the Haunted House is take your picture along side a creepy actor. It's your usual tourist trap type thing with them pitching you to purchase said picture at the end. Full transparency though, I bought it. Lol. It actually turned out to be a good photo of me and there aren't very many of those. Lol. Now here's the portion of the review where things really take a turn for the worst. The Haunted Train. It was probably the saddest thing I've ever experienced. The train carts are stupid small and cramped (it became apparent to me at this point that kids were the primary target audience for this), they played music by the band "Disturbed" (probably its only redeeming quality), and they attempted to scare you while you passed by Coke a Cola and Hot Dog vendor carts. Super scary. They didn't even TRY to cover these. I was able to spot the scare actors coming a mile away. It just flat out sucked, ok? The little kids on the ride weren't even scared. They either need to completely revamp this or scrap it all together. Seriously bad. Don't bother wasting your hard earned money on this. So the reason for the 2 stars is the fact that the Haunted House (the main attraction) was just ok and had a flat ending, the Train ride sucked, and the fact that a female Security Guard (at the main line entrance) could be heard by all of us in line talking a whole mess of sh*t about customers. Now, I used to work in Customer Service and I hated every minute of it, so I completely understand how stupid and rude the general public can be. However, you NEVER talk about customers RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. That's just asinine even to me. If you hate it, then do what I did. Go get a job where you don't have to deal with them. Problem solved. Also, all told, we spent north of $50 for the attractions and I'm sorry but for what you get, that's too much. It just wasn't worth the cost. So all told, there's a good chance that this was our first and final visit unless they make some big changes. We're more than likely going to opt to do something in Virginia City for Halloween this year. Then one upside to all this? Parking was free in the garage across the street. So there's that.

    Controlled Burn Reno

    Controlled Burn Reno

    4.0
    (2 reviews)

    Wow This group has a…read morelot going on outside of Burning Man. They had the biggest group performing at Compression recently. A friend's husband has been working with this group to perfect his skills at spinning fire. This group had all ages on stage. It was cool to see the kids as young as 10 spinning lights, as they master their art they'll get real fire like the big kids. There was just so much going on- batons, rings, chains and fans, all on fire. They had incredible choreographed dances. Each costume had its own flare and yet the entire company melded together. What a fascinating group. Off stage there was a giant fire cannon shooting massive flames into the sky over the audience. On the other side of the stage and old van converted into a unique fire thrower. It was like a calliope that mixed music and flames. Across the back of the stage was this massive, I mean beyond huge, structure or pipes that created nine forks tossing up more flames that kept up with the music and stage performance. It was incredible and I'm glad I got to sit down from and enjoy this amazing group. And all that warm heat drifting over the crowd was fabulous too. Angie B you would have loved it on the cool summer night.

    I first saw Controlled Burn a few years ago in San Francisco's Union Square during the Annual…read moreTemple of Poi's free Fire-Dancing Expos. I've been seeing a few of these annual amazing fire expos now, and Controlled Burn has been an integral part of the SF fire expo. Yesterday 28 July 2012 was when I was able to attend, photograph and watch with AWE Reno's very own amazing 5th Annual Compression! Art and Fire and what an event it was! It was fabulous, and included Burning Man vehicles and personalities, and on center-stage downtown Reno City Plaza converted to Reno's very own (smaller) version of Burning man. In stage were hoopers, martial arts moves, flying aerialists, belly dancers, drill team bands and acrobatic beauty. There was also gypsies, performances by the Bay Area's Temple of Poi's members, the Vulcan Crew, the Oregon Conclave, Black Rock City All-Stars, the eNVision Performing Arts, and a grand finale by the event's host: Controlled Burn . It's fantastic enough to see all this fab performances but add to this as night fell the artistic and fiery addition of propane flame effects by Dave King of Controlled Burn and programmed by Stu D'Alessandro which added a incredible and unique background "curtain" after each fire-dancing and performance end with bursts of flame, and the whole event ending with a fiery dance party! If you haven't seen a fire event ever, or yes you have, I'd highly recommend seeing this event for an awesome fire display which will rock your visual senses plus fry your skin even 100 yards away! WoW!! Photographically Speaking: Photographing a fire scene is not easy. Night scenes are difficult as it goes, then add bright flashes of fiery flames and it all calls for a nearly-impossible scene. Use a steady heavy tripod and a fast eye/hand coordination to determine correct exposures. Use longer exposures of about 1-3 secs for capturing the flaming designs but shorter exposures starting at abt 1/30th of a sec or higher to record the individual performances and details. For organized events like this be first to contact them to get permission to snap, plus get closer. If not, then be sure to get a clear spot yet not block anyone else's view, after all everyone wants to see the awesomeness of such an event! A wide-angle might get you a good scene shot but a short/long telephoto zoom will get you some incredible closeups once you get your exposures pat-down. Be sure to bring a short portable chair and maybe even knee-pads to save your joints against the hard ground. Have fun!!

    Ackerly Entertainment - theater - Updated August 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...