I've been doing school shows for a while now, but I'm curious if anyone does any routines for schools that has some emotional hook or resonance to it. Sort of like the David Copperfield Snowstorm routine where he talks about being a little boy. Not asking if you do that routine per se, but whether you do anything that has some emotion and theater behind it.

--Jon

Jon,

you might consider checking with your local college theatre group and see what advice they can give you for a routine. Just remember, like Copperfield, the story doesn't have to really be true. That trunk that supposedly belonged to your grandfather could just as well have come from a garage sale...use some artistic license and find a way to make the "story" work. Add some sentimental music and you've got yourself something Copperfieldish...if you like that sort of thing. Good luck!

Smartini

What age are these children? Under 12?

That sort of approach has adult appeal. Not children. They're too young for the nostalgia touch.

If you want to tug the heart strings or touch on empathy then anything to do with cruelty to animals will bring out the AH factor, specially with girls.

But temper it with humour. Children prefer to laugh. And quite right too.

Steve Taylor offers a collection of great heart-touching emotion-based effects through his "Daddy Won't Play Newspaper tear" effect. http://www.stevetaylorpro.com/CanoodleProducts.htm

The full color newspaper includes lots of comedy headlines and news stories to set the stage (Wig Truck Overturns on Highway. Police are combing the area.) and four heart-touching stories that use common magic effects such as The Dream Bag, Barry Mitchell's Mother of all Diamonds and The Dove Pan. I usually close my PTA and church family appearances with the torn-&-restored newspaper effect and the family-centered story always draws a standing ovation...which is pretty good for a two-bit kid show hustler.

I think this is exactly what you're looking for, Jon. The Mother of All Diamonds story would be ideal for a school setting...for teachers and students alike. Hope this helps.

Skip

There is something I talk often about in magic when it comes to creativity in the magic that we do. I call it emtoional repsonse. It is a "layer" that can be used in any magic act or show to really conect with your audience on a totally different level and helps to bring the audience closer to you and you to them.

Emotional Response: This is a HUGE one and can work so wonderful if done well. If done right it can make your audience connect with you long after you have left the stage. It is causing an emotional response in your audiences by allowing them to connect and relate to your character and the predicament presented on the stage. It can also work closely in with the theme you are presenting.

Every person in your audience has experienced something in common. What is common to us all is emotions. We have all felt fear, love, confusion and happiness. These are common to every person know matter who you are performing for. So if you can connect with them on one or more of these emotions, you can get that audience member to really relate to you because they are remembering a similar situation when they too had that exact same emotion or situation happen to them. They can relate.

For example, your act could be all about this guy at night who is just trying to reach a bus to get home. It is late and he misses his bus and the entire world seems to be passing him buy. He sits on a bench to wait for the next bus and turns on his radio. He drifts off to sleep only to awake moments later. He realizes that magic starts happening to him even though he does not know exactly why it is. Through out the act the magic that happens to him causes him to smile and to realize that life is full of wonder even if we may not always see it.

Now this is just a very vague example but you can see how the entire act could be a routine but now you are relating to them a story of a very well defined character with a well defined theme. You give them an emotional response to the act because most can relate to being in a similar situation in their own life. In this way they relate better to what you are doing on stage.

Another piece you will want to add into your show and the show structure is what is referred to as a "personality piece". This is a piece of magic that is performed for your audience that really plays upon an emotional response from them. This is done so that it really allows the audience to see that you are human and you share the same things they share, ahve the same desires, the same worries and experiences. This personality peice can be a very strong peice in your show because it really gets the audience on your side and if there still is any barrier between you and them, this is sure to knock it down.

The personality piece can be anything, but it usually trys to stem from something that the audience can relate to. Something that everyone in your audience may have experienced at some point in their own life. because of this, they can relate to you and to your magic that you are sharing with them. I have several personality pieces that I have created over the years and use in various shows that I do.

However, be cautious of just when in your show you use a personality piece. you must not do it too early in the show. The audience is not ready for it yet. You must first establish your skills, let them see who you are, welcome them, build that trust and only when that has happened should you place in your personality piece.

Hope this helps.

Kyle

Hi Everyone!

Some really great thoughts have come across here. Thanks so much. I have something very specific in mind in terms of a piece that's emotionally resonant, but was really going back and forth about whether I should do it for a school group. I think I'll give it a shot and see what happens. From the responses here it seems that's the right way to go, given the audience isn't TOO young.

Thanks again, and I'll let you all know how it goes. I'm working on the routine that I'll probably try out on Jan. 19th.

--Jon

I do a "personality piece" in every show that I do and it goes over wonderfully. It also teaches my audience a bit more about me as well and I think they in trun connect better with me because of it.

Kyle

Kyle, that's a great post!

Thanks Ony. I really appreciate the kind words. It has been something I have been studying and applying with my magic for a few years now. It really has helped me connect with my audience on a new level and to really bring them in closer to the entire experience.

Also, part of it derived from a happy accident. See as a child I learned I was losing my hearing and by age 14 or so I realized I would never hear normal ever again. By the time I was in my 20's I was over 60% deaf in both ears. I now wear hearing aids and even though it does help me a great deal, I will never ever hear 100% again.

Many people so long ago never ever thought I would be able to do magic. Many times I heard that you will not be able to do it the way you want to do it because you will never hear the sounds you need to hear or your audience helpers. I never gave up though. Even though I was told this many times I was determined to be a magician. It was not something I wanted to do it was something I HAD to do.

Well now that I have reached my dreams, I feel that I needed to share part of this a story... MY STORY... with the audiences I perform for. With this in mind about 4 years ago I developed a personality piece that deals with this on a magical and emotional level. It is in a sense a routine that I perform at every show I do and even though it is simplistic in nature, the story I openly share with my audiences and the magic that follows with it opens so many eyes and hearts in a way that is very hard to describe.

I did it one show on a whim. I just felt that I needed to share a bit more of who I was and what I have been through. And ever since there have been some amazing stories that people tell me after the shows about that very routine I perform in my show. I have memories of just how it has touched certain people and how to some of them, it had directly changed their lives as well.

I am not saying all emotional response acts or personality pieces need to be this way. However, I felt it important for my audience to really know who I am. I connect with the audience and through the emoitons I openly share with them, they connect with me. I connect with them and the show just seems to mend. I break down that wall between me and them.

Hope this helps.

Kyle