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michaelmystic2003 Inner circle 3062 Posts |
Now, for starters, I'm just going to put it out there that I'm not too fond of kid shows. Despite this, I still do get booked for a few every year. I have the equipment, personality, and basic skills to pull off a successful show but as far as experience with kid shows is concerned, I'm still in my relatively early stages.
I just got back from a children's show I performed at a local library. The show was going well at the start, then about halfway through something caught me off-guard. A young boy in the front row started talking to me. No big deal, right? Respond to what he says and continue on, right? Nope. No matter what I said or did, this boy would just not stop talking about his magic set. I said things like "That sounds great! Maybe of you practice you'll be able to do something like this...." but nothing worked. He talked solid for 2 minutes with me desperately trying to figure something out. His mother didn't try anything either. So, my question is, for future reference, how DO I politely and professionally get out of a situation like this? It felt like there was nothing I could do. Thank you for your help! Michael Kras
Learn more about my upcoming book of close up magic and theory SYNTHESIS & SECRETS: A Magic Book in Four Acts: https://www.michaelkrasworks.com/synthesis-secrets
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Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
Woofdy...been there, many times.
There is no real good way to get out of it once it happens. I mean let's face it, this is a little kid who is so excited to be near a REAL magician he can not control himself. It was so important for him to let you know he was a magic guy. In any other situation it would be just fine. I have a couple of things I've done that I will share, they work for me but this is by no means a suggestion that it will work for everybody. To avoid this, BEFORE I start the show proper I sometimes give instructions in a funny way please no talking when I'm talking, no swinging from the chandaleirs, that type of thing. I also always add if any of you have any questions or would like to discuss magic with me please come up after the show and Iwill anser any questions you may have. This will head it of at the pass....sometimes. If I still have a kid doing this (and telling you about their cool magic set is a pretty popular topic!) it is usually a kid who is somewhere between four and six years old. Kids this age will often say the funniest things if you give them half a chance so I will turn it into a bit. "What! You are a magician! PERFECT! I am so glad you came here today. Can you come on stage and help me with a trick." Now one of two things are going to happen at this point 1. The kid is just going to be busting to help you do the trick so you will be able to go through any standard helper trick you would normally do but just give the kid extra credit. Give the kid a peer introduction when you bring him up, "This is my friend Johnny a fellow magician, and he has graciously offered to help me with this next trick lets give him a gig clap." If it goes this way, easy peasy and your done. the kid will go back to his seat and stare at you like you were the greatest human being to ever grace the planet with his magic footstep (So will his parents by the way!). 2. You bring the kid on stage and give him the glorious introduction and he still wants to tell you about his magic set. I say (and some people may want to bludgeon me for saying this) Just go with it! It might be really funny. You can ask him if his set comes with a vanishing elephant or if he names some trick he is excited about act very jealous and say, "I've always wanted that one! I can't believe you got it in a set!" Really there are TONS of ways to go here and it will not go on any longer than the two minutes, the difference is you just took the two minutes of dead time by having to be polite to the child and turned it into a bit that while still polite to the child entertained everyone. I've had good luck with both of these approaches but I will readily admit they may not be for everyone. Particularly in the beginning of the show, I just want to get the energy going, keep the flow of the show going, and get everyone focused on the stage. By bringing the kid up with me I can accomplish all of that as it suits my character. YMMV Best, Dan- "MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
Red Shadow Inner circle 1788 Posts |
1. The child is looking for attention. Bring him onstage and make him your volunteer.
2. Give him something to hold / play with. This will distract the child. Its not a permanent solution, but will give you time to finish your current trick and then you can hear him out. 3. Distract the entire audience. You can do this with a quick game of Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes. They all join in and that annoying child will forget what they were planning to say. 4. Ask him what trick he learnt, then ask him to perform it. If he has it and does, then it will eat up some time making your job easier. If he doesn't it shuts him up because he in unable to get the attention he is after. 5. Make him laugh to forget what he is trying to say. Point to the wall and shout 'Look over there!' - Everybody turns their head and you quickly hide. When they look back, your gone but some child will have seen you. It gets a laugh and the child is now drawn back into the pace of the show. |
montymagi Special user Slidell La 752 Posts |
I agree with Danny, bring the kid up on stage and make him a star for a few min. The only down side to this is it may catch on and others will want to do the same. But the odds of that are slim. I also bribe them. "If you wait until after the show to tell me all about it you can meet my bunny also". If nothing else works, ignore him and do your show. If you have to do that I would follow up after the show and give him a few min. of your time. That way at the end of they day he does not feel "brushed off" by the magician.
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Stevethomas Inner circle Southern U.S.A. 3728 Posts |
Yes, the only drawback to making "Captain Interruptus" a star in the show is that it can teach any other wannabees that if they act the same way, it'll get them on stage, too. Some of those probably want to just show you up instead of adding to the show or comedic aspect.
Steve |
Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
Woah.. I am not talking about captain interuptus. He is another situation. This is a child that is telling you about a magic set. He is not just blasting you with wild questions to get attention. Those kids I just look at and say, "After the show I will be happy to answer any of your questions." Sometimes you have to even say it to them a couple of times.
This type of kid, who is just flat out excited to be in the same room with a real magician is another story. These are the kids YOU WANT helping you on stage because they are NEVER going to be a control problem for you. They are on your team. I guess I should have been clearer about that. As far as the rest of the kids wanting to be on stage...doesn't that happen at EVERY kid show? If you ask for volenteers EVERY KID IN THE PLACE raises his/her hand. Even if you were to say, "Who here would like to get hit by a bus!" every kid will raise their hand. It's nature. I deal with that by having tricks where the entire audience is involved and I specifically tell them that they ALL were a big help with that trick. After the show if they would like to come up and see me I will give them an official magicians assistant certificate for helping out. I try and make them ALL feel like they helped. Best, Dan- "MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
michaelmystic2003 Inner circle 3062 Posts |
After the show it occured to me that it might have been a good idea to say "Wow, that sounds awesome! But I'm doing my show right now and I can't talk about it at the moment, but if you stick around after the show I'd love to talk about it for a few minutes."
During the show that just never occured to me. My brain was working double time trying to figure out how the heck to get out of it, while simultaneously I was trying to listen to what the kid said and respond accordingly instead of staring at him blankly. It was a pretty stressful few minutes. Thank you all for such great advice. I think either getting him up to help (depending on the kid) or telling him you can talk in private later would be most effective. I say "depending on the child" in regards to getting him up to help because I wouldn't doubt that some of the young aspiring magicians out there will be itching to steal the show and lord knows what could happen then.
Learn more about my upcoming book of close up magic and theory SYNTHESIS & SECRETS: A Magic Book in Four Acts: https://www.michaelkrasworks.com/synthesis-secrets
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
If you are doing kids shows you have to prepare for that type of thing. With little kids your show is interaction and you'll have kids stand up and say "My mom got me a toy yesterday" because they want to share something with you. Usually I found if you acknowledge it they are happy. Now I don't know what you, Michael, means by the kid not stopping because ten seconds if you are not expecting it is a long time but it wouldn't phase most experienced workers. It actually is a compliment, the kids have accepted you.
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Bernie Balloons Elite user N.Y.C. 480 Posts |
I have had the problem with smart mouthed kids during my shows ( I am from NYC )only a few times a year Depending on the crowd I have said outloud can somebody get him a mouthfull of popcorn and it does get a bunch of laughs and the keep quiet for the rest of the show
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
There is a big difference between a kid interacting with the performer, usually in response to something the performer says, and a 'smart mouthed kid'.
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mr shiney Loyal user 266 Posts |
If the child keeps going on and on and on I make a little joke out of it. I get a sweet out sprinkle alittle magic dust on it and say to the kid this is a magical sweet all you have to do is sit there and eat it really quietly over the next ten minute and some thing magical will happen!.
this is all done tongue in cheek and the parents get what I'm doing in a nice way. most of the time they stop talking get back into the show, sometime after 10 mins they say nothing magical happened and I say o really it was magically quiet for me. |
magicgeorge Inner circle Belfast 4299 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-12-30 17:11, Michaelmystic2003 wrote: That's actually a pretty good response. I'm in two minds about getting the kid up. I agree they're being enthusiastic so that should be rewarded rather then punished but on the other hand the rest of the children (& parents!) might not be quite as astute as you. I'd give something like your first response (tidy it up a bit) then if they stuck to their side of the bargain use them for something later on. George |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Yeah, if they go too long just tell 'em to tell you later. They are not being rude they are being kids. I'm sure you all have seen where you mention a cartoon chharacter and one kid says "I've seen that cartoon!" and then 7 other kids have to confirm they, too, have seen it. Just part of doing the show.
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rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2475 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-12-30 16:02, Michaelmystic2003 wrote: All the foregoing suggestions are valid, IMO. But what's wrong with "breaking the fourth wall", and I mean entirely ignoring expectations for a short period? I know 2 minutes seems like a long time when you're 'tapdancing' to try to stay on-course, but ... hey, it's just 2 minutes. It's a library, people go there with open minds, and you recognized that this kid was just bursting with uncontrollable enthusiasm for what you were showing him. This is how many/most magicians get their start, isn't it? Maybe it would be OK to let the show go off the rails for 2 minutes. If you control the digression, it's less likely to become a complete train wreck. You can "let the kid's steam escape" with a few "ummm-humm"'s for two minutes, and even take back control with something like "So I guess we're both magicians, huh? Tell you what, how about you and me, we do a trick for these people?" and right then and there call the kid up for a quick impromptu something (surely there's a thumbtip on you somewhere, isn't there?) I'm not suggesting that this always is the right response, but ... call it "steering into a skid." Sometimes it can save your life. I can remember a whole bunch of times when my lines were "...and what was your bunny's name? Was he nice? How many people have bunnies?" |
Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-12-31 14:05, rossmacrae wrote: Wow, That's a great description, maintaining control by going in the same direction as the distraction then getting right back on the road once it's over. If you fight it...you're most likely going to go right into a tree. You are also so right about stage time. Two minutes of stage time can seem like an eternity when you are 'in the skid' but to the audience it's barely a blip. Steering into the skid, I like that, a lot. Best, Dan- "MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
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