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MikeBent Regular user Boston, MA 174 Posts |
Thanks to everyone for their input!
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p.b.jones Inner circle Milford Haven. Pembrokeshire wales U.K. 2642 Posts |
**Back to the topic**
Most of the problems I have seen here are fairly common (and have been covered in 'seriously silly') How about something different. Hi, Surely the top 10 problems would be fairly common |
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Lou Hilario Inner circle 2235 Posts |
Wow, this survey is so complete, but let me add some more:
- you are hired for a kid show, celebrant is 1 year old, then you end up seeing 10 babies and 120 adults - the photographer / videographer brings in a 1000 watt spotlight and places it in front of you. You begin to sweat like hell. Aside from this, they are taking footage behind your back and sides. - have you performed for theater people? I performed for their kids while they were watching and their applause was so sarcastic. I felt they were envious. - a special child who loves magic so much and will hold on to you the rest of the party. - kids with heart problems and asthma, if you make them scream or laugh their hearts off, they will faint and your show will stop, an ambulance will be called, then you are partly to blame. This has happened to me 3 times. - magicians who are there to copy your act
Magic, Illusions, Juggling, Puppet & Parrot Show ^0^
http://www.louhilario.net |
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rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2475 Posts |
Quote:
- You are hired for a kid show, celebrant is 1 year old, then you end up seeing 10 babies and 120 adults Happens all the time. Say your lines, take the check and go home. Quote:
The photographer / videographer brings in a 1000 watt spotlight and places it in front of you. You begin to sweat like hell. Aside from this, they are taking footage behind your back and sides. Earlier I said not to do more than ask parents standing behind you to move. That didn't apply to photographers. Tell 'em to move or there won't be any show. Quote:
Have you performed for theater people? I performed for their kids while they were watching and their applause was so sarcastic. I felt they were envious. They ARE envious. You can entertain; they know how to pretend to be a tree. YOU are a theater person too, so phooey on them if they don't see that. Show 'em you can entertain rings around their sorry Stanislavsky-quotin' selves. Quote:
A special child who loves magic so much and will hold on to you the rest of the party. Try to do the rest of the show without stepping on the kid. Anyone who really loves magic is a brother in the fraternity. Quote:
Kids with heart problems and asthma, if you make them scream or laugh their hearts off, they will faint and your show will stop, an ambulance will be called, then you are partly to blame. This has happened to me 3 times. Did they hire an entertainer or an anesthetist? If it's not you who gives 'em heart failure, it'll be the next passing helicopter or dog-with-a-puffy-tail. Entertain. Quote:
Magicians who are there to copy your act ALL magicians who are there are there to copy your act. Do one trick, and then invite each of them up in turn to share his favorite effect. You'll be in the back eating birthday cake while they're doing a free two-hour show. Then take a bow. |
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TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
I have never had a problem with loud rude adults but it looks like a common one on the list. I would certainly take the earliest opporuniity to start bringing adults up on stage.
If your act does not allow for a combination of kids and adults, you might want to consider that approach (even if it's not what you like to do) for just such an occasion. Once adults know they can/will be called up on stage, they will start to pay attention so they don't look unprepared, or they will shut up so they are not noticed. Even if they refuse, it's easy enough to get all the kids chanting for their participation. And if that's what the kids want, that's probably what they will get. Put a wizard's hat on the adult, add some nerd glasses, a red nose, rabbit ears, a tail, you get the idea. And do a great trick with this person. Also, maybe they're just having fun and getting them up there would focus the whole group on you and you'll get more business with all the adults having fun because of your show.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
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Lou Hilario Inner circle 2235 Posts |
From what I understand, Mike Bent, the person who posted this topic is only asking for our Top Ten Kidshow Problems. He is NOT asking for solutions. We all have our own solutions and it is nice to hear other's solutions as well but let's focus on the topic. It's just a survey to help Mike on his research.
Magic, Illusions, Juggling, Puppet & Parrot Show ^0^
http://www.louhilario.net |
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BtheDreamer Loyal user 246 Posts |
It’s has been a long time since I have done straight kids shows. But I think it would be interesting to list some of the things that we didn't expect to have problems with when we started doing kids shows. This might be helpful in this top ten.
For example when I first started doing kids shows I would produce silks or balls and what not and throw them around like confetti. I quickly learned that an object throw on the ground is interpreted as "first kid to run up here and grab it gets it” and had to learn some crowd control techs to avoid that. Looking back maybe I should have been throwing things around Anyhow I think its easy to think of the problems we have but it might be helpful to others if we also think about problems we used to have and how we solved them. Just a thought. B
Teach By Magic - Lessons with a magical twist
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NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-07-20 10:10, Ron Reid wrote: I treat remarks that condone exposure as they deserve. |
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derrick Inner circle I dug holes for 1044 Posts |
I have a tremendous amount of empathy for Lofty. Just this morning I performed magic at a company event where the children are dropped off for a couple of hours while their parents are taken on a tour. There were 50 or so children in the room and one adult attendant hired to make sure they are all well behaved during the show.
About 5 minutes into the show I/we realized we had a special needs child in the room. No warning from the parents. This child began regularly interrupting the show. First he began rushing to the front of the room to scream into the microphone I had set up for my assistants to speak into, then it escalated into grabbing any prop he could get his hands on. He refused to sit near the room attendant and when she tried to make him he would throw a fit. When he wasn't rushing the stage he was hitting or pestering the children next to him. Neither the room attendant or I was prepared for the type of behavior this child exhibited. Not only did he disrupt the entire show but his parents didn’t pick him up for well over 30-minutes after all the other children had left. The poor room attendant eventually was able to hold him in her lap for short periods of time and I managed to somehow win the hearts of a few who asked for autographs and whatnot at the end of my performance. This child’s parents should be ashamed |
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Skip Way Inner circle 3771 Posts |
B, I've told this story before but your comment brings it to mind. I'm a retired cop. In the late 70's I was managing several officers as onsite security for a regional Scout-a-Thon hosting several hundred Cub & Boy Scouts and their families. The local scout council had set up a stage with well known area performers. One such performer was an Elvis impersonator. He had The King down pat, including the tossing of monogrammed white scarves into the audience. The first three rows were Downs kids and kids in wheelchairs. The scouts filled in the rows behind. Once the scarves began sailing into the audience hundreds of scouts literally began climbing over the kids in the first three rows to get to those scarves. All control was lost as my guys and I were literally tossing snarling scouts off of and away from these front row kids. We shut the show down and some order resumed.
We were going to shut the stage down completely, but the next act was Ronald McDonald's magic show. We asked Ronald if he threw anything into the audience; he replied no. We asked him to cut any routine that required a volunteer assistant on stage; he agreed. I figured: What could go wrong? No sooner had Ronald started with a simple scarf production than the scouts stampeded around us through the back and side doors of the portable stage and began grabbing whatever they could for souvenirs ... including Ronald's wig, gloves and costume. As we were pushing the kids away from the stage, my last view of a wigless Ronald was him running full tilt for the nearest building literally in his BVD's. The event was out of control and we shut everything down. To this day, I'm very cautious about tossing anything into or near an audience. I also wear a pair of athletic shorts and a T-shirt under my wardrobe at all times ... just in case. Skip
How you leave others feeling after an Experience with you becomes your Trademark.
Magic Youth Raleigh - RaleighMagicClub.org |
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Autumn Morning Star Grammar Hostess Today, I corrected grammar in 1378 Posts |
Dealing with the needs of a child who has disabilities can be challenging. I think this issue needs to be addressed in advance, because the parents or teachers often "overlook" this potential issue.
Maybe something written in a sensitive way on the contract or your "Performance needs" flyer with a telephone follow-up prior to the show would help. Maybe wording like: "Please let me know if you have children with special needs in your audience." Then you can talk to the parents/teachers and have a contingency plan. Plus, bring along a special expendable magic wand. I will explain… Once, I had to ask a teacher to remove a special needs child from my audience. Sometimes the way you approach this can make a real difference. Here is the story: Mary was autistic and had other emotional issues. In the first ten minutes of the show, Mary had hurt several students in the audience, and had even drawn blood by flailing and running across them trying to escape from the room. She screamed constantly and acted like she was in agony. The whole audience was distracted and some were crying from being hit and stepped on. I said: What is your name, sweetie?" Her teacher said "Mary." I said, "You know, I think Mary would like to go for a walk to center herself. Just so she won't miss anything I will give her my special magic wand to carry along (a plastic black and white wand that is expendable). Don't worry, your students will be fine with me." The teacher took her, but she was totally frustrated with the entire situation and I cannot blame her. She has a tough job. The show went fine and the teacher and student were much calmer afterward and I let Mary keep the $1 wand. Autistic children experience everything in their world in an extremely amplified way: Light, sound, music, voice, and noise. I knew my small sound system was too much for her, along with my drum, flapping birds, and voice. The child was in TRUE agony. I know teachers are taught to try and mainstream special needs children by having them attend all the same programs as everyone else. This is a usually good thing. But when a child is truly suffering because of the environment or situation, no one benefits.
Wonder is very necessary in life. When we're little kids, we're filled with wonder for the world - it's fascinating and miraculous. A lot of people lose that. They become cynical and jaded, especially in modern day society. Magic renews that wonder.
Doug Henning |
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Marvello Inner circle It's amazing how little I can say in 1612 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-07-30 08:32, Skip Way wrote: And I still have that wig to this very day! just kidding - that sounds really crazy Skip! Definitely NOT any eagle scout candidates in that group!
Never criticize someone else until you have walked a mile in their shoes. Then, when you do criticize them, you will be a mile away from them and you will have their shoes.
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Skip Way Inner circle 3771 Posts |
[quote]On 2006-07-30 09:10, Marvello wrote:
Quote:
And I still have that wig to this very day! I THOUGHT you looked familiar!!! :) Skip
How you leave others feeling after an Experience with you becomes your Trademark.
Magic Youth Raleigh - RaleighMagicClub.org |
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derrick Inner circle I dug holes for 1044 Posts |
Autumn,
In this situation there was no way to know a special needs child would be attending the performance even if I had made note of it in my contract. The company hiring me didn't know. The child's parent(s) simply dropped him off and left with the tour group with no warning to me or the room attendant (who was not a professional child care specialist). Possibly the only thing that I might request in the future is to have no less than two attendants in the room so I would feel comfortable sending a child out with one and there would be at least two adults remaining in the room. Derrick |
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Autumn Morning Star Grammar Hostess Today, I corrected grammar in 1378 Posts |
Derrick, you did the best you could. It is sadly irresponsible of parents to do this. Though their lives may be so overburdened trying to cope with the demands of a special needs child this does not give them the right to put their child in an unfamiliar situation where they know the child will be overwhelmed and problematic.
Sounds like that sort of clause in your contract for more than one attendant would be a good idea. Autumn
Wonder is very necessary in life. When we're little kids, we're filled with wonder for the world - it's fascinating and miraculous. A lot of people lose that. They become cynical and jaded, especially in modern day society. Magic renews that wonder.
Doug Henning |
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Autumn Morning Star Grammar Hostess Today, I corrected grammar in 1378 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-07-30 08:32, Skip Way wrote: Good grief, Skip! I wonder what sort of merit badges they got for that? "Woodlands Clown" Badge? Maybe the "Happy Peel" or the "McMuck-it Up" badge? Where were the den leaders, busy yanking Ronald's socks off? No, Marvello is right, they will not be getting any Eagle Scout badge candidates from that lot of hooligans!
Wonder is very necessary in life. When we're little kids, we're filled with wonder for the world - it's fascinating and miraculous. A lot of people lose that. They become cynical and jaded, especially in modern day society. Magic renews that wonder.
Doug Henning |
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Potty the Pirate Inner circle 4632 Posts |
Number one on my list is also noisy adults, but I've learned to control them through a series of carefully-worded remarks. The difference in the attention paid by the kids is staggering as soon as the noisy adults shut up. It took me some time to realise that kids can filter out the noise of other children talking and playing, but they're much more likely to prick up their ears if adults are talking during a kidshow.
Sadly, the adults often drink too much alcohol (which I feel is out of place at a kids' party, just my opinion). Booze-fuelled parents can be almost impossible to shut up. Apart from that, my main problems have been with adults interrupting the show unneccessarily; recently I was just nearing the climax of my main pirate show (which is basically a one-man pantomime), and the mother appeared and announced: "there's an ice-cream van outside the house". Half my audience vanished, incredibly the other half stayed, so I carried on with the story. The kids filtered back in over several minutes, but they were no longer captivated as they had been. Also, I recently had the organiser of an event interrupt my show just as I was about to do the last couple of effects. "Can we just take a quick photo? The photographer has to go to another event soon." I told them they'd have to wait for the end of the show, and did one more trick, but she stood there with the photographer, right beside me, impatiently tapping their feet. I ended the show five minutes early and let them take their photo. I waited till I was driving home before I screamed at the radio. By the way, I agree with just about everything RossMcRae says. I think when Ross says you shouldn't worry about folks being behind you sometimes, he's not advocating exposing the secrets of magic, but he's being realistic, and also aware that if folks are standing behind him, they probably have no interest in the show anyway. I relate precisely to Ross's comment - I perform Zig-Zag soda can regularly, and a rear angle is a dead give-away. But no one has EVER spotted how it's done, I always manage to hide the back of the prop when it might be seen. |
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p.b.jones Inner circle Milford Haven. Pembrokeshire wales U.K. 2642 Posts |
Number one on my list is also noisy adults
Hi, I still do not personaly see this as a kidshow problem, rather a problem with the show not being suitable for the WHOLE audience...... If you turn up at a gig and do a show for just part of the crowd what can you expect... perhaps the problem in question should be .... how do I make my kidshow entertaining enough for the adults present to want to watch it too phillip |
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Jarana Regular user 183 Posts |
All this problems are a reality, but what about something we cant control- something that happens to some of us in shows- maybe just a few- or maybe just me!
The sweating problem ! I am in Miami and here it is real hot, do any of you have any sweating problems?, I use a clown/ringmaster/magicians custome, but even if I'm working indoors, or even if I didn't have on the coat, I think my sweat wont stop- ther has been times when I'm performing and in my mind in thinking "They are just looking at the sweat dripping down my face" and I have confimred this by in a couple of instances some kids have said to me "ohh you are sweating!!!!" Has anyone gone through something similar?
Got a website? We can help--> www.clorus.com
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Lou Hilario Inner circle 2235 Posts |
Yup, I also sweat a lot. You might have to design your own costume or act to fit the situation. Or you could bring your own electric fan on shows that are outdoors. I also inform the video or cameraman that I'm not paid extra to sweat on his spotlights.
The more heat, the more stress. Just keep your act stress free. I eliminated body loads on my act if I know it will be outdoors or hot indoors. The more comfortable you are in shows, the better your performance. Also, don't forget to wear comfortable shoes.
Magic, Illusions, Juggling, Puppet & Parrot Show ^0^
http://www.louhilario.net |
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