Children's Show

[haroldross]

My 'revamped' Children's Magic Show went over pretty good today.

I made it clear at the start that there would be no touching of the 'props' unless I said so. They were very well behaved with that. I did allow a lot of interaction with the props but under very controlled condition.

I did the typical children's show effects plus a few that were directed to the adults present.

I opened up with Jay Sankey's 'Wrap It Up' throwing the bubble gum on one of the tables. From there I went into a fire wallet routine that involved 'Extreme Burn', 'Paper To Money' and 'Sankey's 'Insider' using a borrowed dollar.

I did a rope routine with a rigid rope, linking rope and a cut and restored rope trick.

The highlight was the old Peter Wenk, 'Peanut Butter and Jelly' routine. When I passed around the PB&J sandwich at the end of the trick, they had to make sure there really was peanut butter and jelly on the bread. This is the first time I performed this effect using a lunch bag with a false bottom.

I did about 18 effects during my 45 minute set. The show was fairly fast paced and extremely visual which I believe is necessary to keep the attention of the children.

[Alex Hess]

Very cool man!

Glad to see you're doing these types of performances. How did everyone enjoy it?

[Eoin Lavery]

Good idea saying at the start about touching the props. How well did that work out? "Wrap it up" is a great effect and I can imagine that children would enjoy it because they understand it. Funny that you mentioned Extreme Burn. I have just ordered it for myself after watching Dynamo: Magician Impossible.

[haroldross]

I just laid out the rules at the start and I did give plenty of opportunities for them to participate. It really took very little effort to control the group.

'Extreme Burn' is one of those effects I usually have on me along with a few English pennies. That way, I'm always set to do a few magic effects. On the 'Extreme Burn 2' DVD there is a handling where you can hand out the money for examination at the end. He has a very clever way for ditching the gimmick.

I'm still getting positive reponses about the show. I'm sure I'll get a few referrals from the show. Most of the material was 'new' for me. I had a long list of effects listed as possibilities since I did not know how the crowd was going to react.

I'm thinking about putting together a 'mentalism only' set for a future performance for older teens and up. Would probably be either too intense or boring for the younger ones.

[haroldross]

Magic Show at the Library | Simply Walking Through Life

Here is a link to my daughter's blog about the show.

[Eoin Lavery]

Certainly looks like the kids enjoyed it and Harold you were lookibg quite spiffy there, lol.

[OwenGraven]

Absolutely fantastic,

Exactly the kind of kid show I want to see, and surely do perform. (I'm one of those who doesn't really approve the Silly Billy aproach because a clown is a clown, and a magician a magician what you get by mixing the two? a clownician or a Magilown?)

Personally I admit I perform WITH a clown (it's my mum anyway), what makes a huge difference because She does the preshow and calms the kids while I entertain and mistify.

So harold, Congratulations about it, I hope you keep us updated if any more shows are done.

I wonder if you've performed a coloring book (always a big trick for kids, if it's done right with a twist nobody ever saw, because the trick becomes popular).

I personally has found that producing crayons out of My magic wand and giving away those colored wands for them to swirl and touch the book, after the colors has been added, I hand out some Magic Gums to gum the book out in comedy and all the others can wipe the gumrests off. and so I got a very sepcial approach of the kids that say "i know how its done", because of all the misdirection they forgot to look for what they know.

Greetings,

Owen Graven