Hello all I was wondering if I should use a square circle as a opener or closer in kids shows please help

I wouldsay this depends on what you want to produce. If you for example produce candy or chocolate, than definitely use it at the end!

Magixx

Yes thank you but what about silks and that kind of stuff ??

I don't think you should use the square circle as an opener or closer.

Really well than should I use it in the middle??

I think you should have a stronger as an opener and a colser. You might want to check out the Silk Road for a nice production. The only thing about the Silk road is you can't be surrounded.

You can very easily use the Square-Circle as an opener and as a closer. If you are doing a living room/parlor show, you are opening by talking to your audience, getting them settled, and establishing the stage area (laying a magic rope on the floor, when a kid crosses the rope all magic stops). You can use the prop to tie your show together.

You can be holding the “can” (circle) part of the prop in your hand. Start by showing it empty; drop it in the square as you pick up the square (just a bit of timing and it will look as if both were above the table at the same time). Show the square empty, place back over the circle and product your first trick from the prop (say 20th Century Silks).

I produce my entire show from the prop. I produce silks (for a couple of silk tricks), ropes and a pair of rope scissors, sponge balls, and a deck of “Old Maid” cards.

I also produce a magic wand that is gimmicked to be a card sword and have a card fountain built in the chamber. I force the Old Maid card, loose it in the deck, put the deck into the prop, produce the wand, trigger the fountain, and do the card stab. Yep, I leave a mess for the kids to pick up. Each card has my contact information on its back. I get permission from the host to do the trick.

It is my next to last trick. The final trick is to lift both square and circle and find a small bowl with a gold fish.

My prop is homemade and built with two sides that are open it sits diagonal on the table so I guess I really have a Diamond-Circle! The “circle” has a rim/lip on it to make it look like a top hat (magic hat or wizards hat). It is right out of Mark Wilson’s “Complete Course in Magic” book!

I have performed this routine on stage. I walk out carrying the tube/circle in one hand, and the box/square in the other and assemble it on the table to start the act (see Mark Wilson’s book for an idea of how to do this).

In all a good prop if used in a magical manner. It does not only have to produce static props. It can produce you act and can vanish the stuff you don’t need (After my cut and restored sequence the scissors go back in and vanish, I’ll need them again and in the process of looking for them, “prove”/show the prop empty again).

One of the biggest problems I have seen with the use of the prop is that the performer brings out a load that is so much smaller than the prop. You should have the biggest load possible and the smallest prop possible. I could go on for hours on using the loads to cover table steals. I produce a huge bottle of Coke/soda for the kids from silks that have come from the prop (think the old marketed trick “THIS”!). My finale fish bowl is too large to fit under the circle part of the prop. It sits on the circle at the conclusion of the act. Think about that!

Thank you for all your help