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Kabanning New user 58 Posts |
Why kids love magic?
In today's society, this question really seems to depend upon the age group. As sad of fact this is, kids are getting more and more jaded in earlier ages. I personally believe that this is because we live in a time where hope seems to be in a vacuum. Turn on the news and we hear of homeless families, devastating disasters, and intense political issues. While kids aren't directly effected by some of this, there does seem to be an effect on the adults and that seems to get passed down to the kids. But it isn't all bleak. When you get to the younger kids, they like to believe in things like Santa and the tooth fairy. When they see a magician, it is the very embodiment of this only they get the opportunity to see it right before their eyes unlike Santa delivering gifts on Christmas where the action happens when they aren't looking. It gives them something to believe them and in some essences - hope. Hope is such a precious commodity in this day and age. Seeing a magician lets them, for a while, forget most problems they face in daily life. I like to equate it to how I feel when I go flying. When I'm flying and not on a search and rescue mission, I get to let go. I take in the wonderment of what the sky has to offer. Everything down below looks like little toys that I can hold in my hands. All my problems are left on the ground where they can't reach me. There is hope and there is freedom from the trials of daily life. I think that these kids have similar feelings. It gives them a chance for hope. As you get in to older kids and even adults, they seem to want to be shocked or surprised. They want something different. This is probably part of the reason why Youtube does so well. They aren't in it for the hope. They are in it for the experience. A lot of them enjoy games like the Halo series or Mortal Kombat where shocking things happen (and often times gory as well). This is where they come from. These days, this form of entertainment is even more immersive with the recent invention of motion technology systems like the Nintendo Wii and eventually, the newest iterations of Xbox and the Playstation. Kids get a hand in the action and take a role in what goes on. Parents often times are more than willing to plop their kids down in front of a Wii while they do something else. But this is only part of the explanation. The other part is that they have lost their ability to believe or at the very least misplaced it. They are far more exposed to the plights of our world. They know that bad things happen out there and in some cases witnessed it themselves. The difference between younger kids and older kids is understanding. Older kids understand things at a different level than their younger counterparts. Part of it deals with brain development. The older kids get, obviously, the more their brains develop. It is about 12 years old when they reach the last stage of brain development. Now I do think that with the way things are these days with kids hitting puberty sooner, it is possible that their brains are developing faster which could also contribute to them getting a little more 'jaded' (for lack of better wording) at earlier ages. But that doesn't mean that older kids are unreachable. It just means that kids like magic for different reasons depending upon the approach used. Older kids want experience while the younger kids just want to believe and hope. I realize that this was a complete TL;DR post, but I've put in a lot of thought about it. Take it any way you wish but this is what I think. |
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Dennis Michael Inner circle Southern, NJ 5821 Posts |
Kabanning,
Well said, In the 70s I played Santa Claus and it was rare, usually girls, that still believe in Santa at the age of 12. Nowadays, if they can get through 3 grade believing (8 years old) it is rare. Magic still holds that mystery once one switches to "suspension of beliefs" mode. Even now, I really don't want to know how it's done, I look forward to the laughter, the sensitivity, and emotional impact a good magician can deliver. This is probably why I don really like, Pick a card, lose a card, find the card tricks.
Dennis Michael
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rikbrooks Inner circle Olive Branch, Mississippi 1317 Posts |
I think Captain10 hit it on the head. They get an adult that gives them 100% attention. It makes them feel very good.
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Dennis Michael Inner circle Southern, NJ 5821 Posts |
Or Brooks is it too..., "It's an adult acting like a kid, which they don't see often, 100% of that attention time?"
Kids do love it when adults act clownish.
Dennis Michael
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Bryan Smith New user Korea 99 Posts |
With all due respect to those in favor of the theory, I don't think it's the attention thing. Kids get 100% of adults' attention a LOT!. Teachers, parents, tutors, and many others give kids attention. In fact, you will never be able to get nearly as much attention as when you're a kid for the rest of your life!
And then there is the fact that magicians generally do NOT give 100% attention to a single kid in the audience. You might say that about the kid assisting in a trick, but even that kid isn't getting 100% throughout the whole show, and they seem to like the other parts as well. I think it's fair to say that kids like magic for the exact same reason that adults like magic. Adults who don't like magic have simply lost what most kids have that make them like magic. Those are things like curiosity about the world, a craving for new experiences, a good sense of humor, and probably some other things I can't think of right now. Maybe the question isn't why so many kids like magic but why so many adults don't.
"I'm half drunk most the time
and I'm all drunk the rest" --Tom Waits |
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Dennis Michael Inner circle Southern, NJ 5821 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-09-02 08:59, Bryan Smith wrote: Very true and there is the psychology of a child's thinking that plays a big part. Quote:
Maybe the question isn't why so many kids like magic but why so many adults don't. I asked this question and got lots of interesting responses
Dennis Michael
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Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
I can think of two answers.
First answer: Because they see the props as toys, the same way us adults do. Second answer: It is how the good magicians performs is what they like/love. If it was performed by a bad magician, it will not keep the kid's attention. So in other words, "Why do all children like/love a good magician"? |
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Dennis Michael Inner circle Southern, NJ 5821 Posts |
Dynamite answer! Kids do not like a poor magician! They like magic but for some reason they lose interest in a poor entertainer.
Very true, a poor children entertainer magician has a lot of difficulty with a children's audience. Defining Poor Kid's Magician: One who does not interact with the kids, has little if any laughter, and performs magic that the kids do not understand (as in card tricks with exceptions). OK now we are getting somewhere. "Why do all children like/love a good magician"?
Dennis Michael
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Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
Quote:
OK now we are getting somewhere. "Why do all children like/love a good magician"? Because it makes the kids feel "high". |
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jcarruth19 New user 6 Posts |
I’m going to answer the question this way: Why do kids love to DO magic?
The practice of magic can give, at least for a time while growing up, a feeling of power and skill they didn’t have before. And getting up in front of others to perform builds character and confidence. Mix that with a kid’s natural curiosity and wonder about the world, and you have a winning combination you can’t get any other way, except by participating in other performing arts such as music, theater, or competitive sports. I was a kid-show magician while still a kid, and did a hundred children’s birthday parties and stage shows up until my first year of high school. I had built my own backyard aviary, hand-raised doves that I used in my act and let the kids pet after the show, and also built my own props and tables, so I knew my way around a lumber yard, a tool bench, a sewing kit, and an ironing board at an early age. It gave me a confidence and creativity I would not have gained otherwise, and has stayed with me to this day. It also taught me how to improvise when things went terribly wrong, as they often did. Later in life, I was part of a two-man harmony group, and during one of our gigs we had forgotten to bring along a needed piece of equipment for the show. While my partner started to panic, I just naturally moved into improvisational mode, unfazed. That’s when I realized what my background as a kid-show magician had done for me. In retrospect, I think it fundamentally changes a kid’s relationship with the world around him, building character and confidence. |
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Danny Kazam Inner circle 1516 Posts |
Well for one, not all kids like magic...as in tricks, but kids at an early age experience the feeling of magic from many different things. Things such as the clouds in the sky. For example from my own experience, I can recall lying in a field or hill looking up at the clouds wondering how they stayed up there like that while admiring the beauty of their soft cotton like puffs floating effortlessly above the sky. I would stare at a specific cloud and watch how it would change shape and sizes, sometimes the cloud would take on a form. Sometimes a face, or an animal. Some required more imagination while some required very little. I can remember the feelings I would have. A mystery I was curious of, but a mystery I wasn't interested in solving as much as I was interested in just enjoying.
When I was much younger and being from Irish decent, my family enjoyed believing in Leprechaun's and little forest people so anytime we would go to the woods or to the country I felt there might be a chance of seeing a Leprechaun or a little forest person. It made the walks magical with a feeling that anything could happen. That kind of magic began to leave the more I learned about clouds and that Leprechaun's didn't exist. However, the first time I saw a magician perform I was brought back to that same magical feeling.
Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.
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JassTan Regular user Singapore 105 Posts |
Children love suprises. I personally think most children like magic because they are naturally curious and enjoys being entertained. And a magic show its basically like a BIG game the magician playing with the mind of the audience, its engaging fully of surprises and above all it very empowering, the idea of:with magic, anything is possible to a small child is very empowering.
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