I have a Bakery Bear and I tell the story of how the Blackfeet people learned medicine from the bear by watching the bear eat certain plants when he was sick. Blackfeet and Bears have a special relationship. I give them a bit of the history then I bring out Bakery Bear.

Then I tell the kids I am babysitting a bear named Blueberry. He lives next door to a bakery and he has been really snacking a good deal this summer. He has snacked so much that he has popped the buttons off his new shirt. So Blueberry promised me he would stay right here in the house while I did my show.

I put him in the house and ignore him while I tell the audience all about him. Here I am talking and he runs to the bakery. The kids go wild. They shout: "He is in the bakery!!" I tell them they must be mistaken and open the bakery door but Blueberry is back in his house. ("Hmmm." Says the ever so 'puzzled' magician.)

I repeat the procedure and the same thing happens. So then I start to let the audience know I 'suspect THEY are playing a trick on me. And Blueberry runs again. (It's the old bumbling, albeit, paranoid magician routine.)

Prior to the show, I have asked for a "hero". The hero kid gets to wear a special cape. OF course the bear appears under the cape at the end when the child is called to make the invisible bear appear. You see, when all four doors are opened, Blueberry makes himself invisible and only the magic of a child can bring him back.

So there is not much of a story as there is structured play with the kids. This can easily be a solid 5-7 minute routine. A super finale' for a kid's show.

Very nice MorningStar.

Regan

Shaner316:

In my experience with Run-Rabbit-Run, the chase is far more important than the story.

What the kids remember is the fact that YOU (the magician) never seemed to catch on to the rabbit. I learned this by asking kids after many shows, what they remembered.

The other interesting thing is this.
On two occasions I was duing shown for the same general group of kids, so I switched to Fraidy Cat Rabbit for the second show each time. Both times they asked id I would do the one where the rabbit runs back and forth. They love repetition.

Bob

I use "Run Rabbit Run" along with the "See through Mirror Box" for a Rabbit Production. I talk about how I can't find my rabbit, then try to recreate what happened on the way to the show with the props. I explain he has a house out behind mine (the two doors on the prop). I show the little rabbit and explain I took him out to get ready for the show (place in first door), but when I was ready to leave, he was nowhere to be found! After the by play of running back and forth, I open both doors (turning my back as I do to show him stuck on my back). When I finally discover from the kids screaming that his on my back...I decide maybe he's with us and I just can't see him. I place the rabbit cut out in my box and with the magic words from the kids it visibly transforms to a live rabbit.

Thanks for the compliment, Regan. I also agree with Bob Wellington that the chase is more important than the story. And yes, Bob, the kids just LOVE that repetition! I love doing this trick. I think I have more fun than the kids!

Morningstar,

You are most welcome. I love the way you related the routine to the story of the bear and the medicine. By doing so, you turned an ordinary routine into an educational routine that the kids can relate to, learn from, and have fun while doing so. When you accomplish all that with a magic routine, you can be sure that the kids will certainly remember it long after the show is over.

Regan

Mr. Wellington is right the more the magician is fooled, the more the kids will laugh.
Al

I agree with Al and Bob as well. In this trick especially, it really is the journey you are taking the kids on, that they enjoy even more so then the end results or effect. The kids just love to be empowered by seeing something the magician has not seen.

Kyle

Thanks again, Regan. My show is an entertaining, albeit, educational format and I use storytelling as patter. I talk about how all people belong in the Circle of Life no matter what color their skin or what language they speak, etc.

My message is so effective that it actually got me "blackballed" by the Memphis Art's Council. They were especially disturbed with Bakery Bear. They called it "...That horrible, horrible bear thing." Guess they thought the kids might learn skin color differences are ok. (Quick, Martha, get them covered wagons in a circle!) Thankfully, they were the only ones to ever do this.

Have you ever imagined Run Rabbit Run or Bakery Bear as powerful subversive tools to teach inclusion?

"Have you ever imagined Run Rabbit Run or Bakery Bear as powerful subversive tools to teach inclusion?"

Morningstar,
I have never thought of this type of a theme for a Run Rabbit Run presentation. It is a terrific idea! Keep up the good work, no matter what the Art's Council people say.