|
|
Go to page 1~2 [Next] | ||||||||||
Jake12 New user 27 Posts |
How do you keep the kids attention at a birthday party? tips? I have my first party in a couple of weeks. I want everyone including the parents to leave happy and liking my show.
There are three stages in a magician's career.
"Who is he?" "There he is!" and "My god is he still around?" |
|||||||||
Mad Jake Inner circle All the voices in my head helped me make 2200 Posts |
What kind of effects are you doing? Do you have a show routined out? What is the age group of the children, will it vary? Do you have a show routined that you feel you are happy with?
Jake
Licensed Steve Dusheck Manufacturer and distributor visit www.airshipmagic.com
|
|||||||||
Jake12 New user 27 Posts |
I have a solid routine and I would think letting them scream in the beginning of the show would shut them up for the rest of it. The age of these kids are like 4 to 8 and I'm also trying to make the parents laugh to.
There are three stages in a magician's career.
"Who is he?" "There he is!" and "My god is he still around?" |
|||||||||
MagicB1S Inner circle Knoxville Tenn. 1039 Posts |
How are you with children? Do you keep there attention in a non magical setting? If Yes... Then you will be fine as long as your routine is well rehearsed and you are confident in what you are doing. If you are going to perform for children you must like them. If you don't like children then you might better pack it in now. I realize you don't have much time but I would suggest a book By David Kaye. It is called seriously Silly..... It is a must for entertaining children. I have been doing this for 20 + years and I read this book for the first time this year and I learned a lot from it. In Fact I enjoyed it so much I am now re-reading the book.
"There are Tricks To All Trades.... My Trade is all Tricks"
"An amature practices until he gets it right. A Professional Practices until he can't get it wrong" www.Themagicchest.webs.com bobswislosky@yahoo.com |
|||||||||
Mad Jake Inner circle All the voices in my head helped me make 2200 Posts |
Get them to shut up? Oh man, you may want to reconsider doing a kids show. You may want to try a nursing home first, getting kids to shut up The kids want interaction.
Jake
Licensed Steve Dusheck Manufacturer and distributor visit www.airshipmagic.com
|
|||||||||
SoCalPro Inner circle Southern California 1634 Posts |
JAKE12,
Give us an idea of some of your routines. JIM |
|||||||||
Stevethomas Inner circle Southern U.S.A. 3728 Posts |
How the children will respond to you will depend on a few factors, including how you present yourself and what they think of you, personally. If you're 12, and come in wearing black jeans and a cool t-shirt to be like David Blaine, you may as well give the show to another, more experienced performer. If you've accepted a PAYING gig, and you don't know what you're going to do, or you think you're going to go in with something you've purchased at the local magic shop last week, you're going to be sorely disappointed, so are the children, so will the parents (and they're PAYING A PROFESSIONAL TO PERFORM A SERVICE), and the word will be out very quickly to not hire you. You wouldn't want a student plumber to come to your house to try to figure out how to fix a leak, would you...not if you're paying them.
Steve |
|||||||||
Jake12 New user 27 Posts |
I've done party's were I'm just table hopping and the kids younger than me just followed me everywhere. I'm pretty much just asking for tips on how to keep everyone paying attention and happy. My routine is about 25 minutes long and it has lots of tricks were the kids are mostly involved. So I think I'm ok but I want to hear your guy's thoughts.
There are three stages in a magician's career.
"Who is he?" "There he is!" and "My god is he still around?" |
|||||||||
Steve V Inner circle Northern California 1878 Posts |
Oh man. First you are covering a wide range of ages and they will react differently. It has to be colorful, funny, and keep it moving. Other than that you are on you own. Do not stand up there and do card tricks. If that is your plan then give it up now.
Steve V |
|||||||||
LeeDillingham Loyal user Las Vegas 263 Posts |
One often overlooked suggestion is to make sure that you get the parent/adults involved also. Have some tricks where you bring one or two of them on stage. This serves three major purposes. First of all, it keeps the parents involved and they will in turn keep the kids in line. Secondly, the adults will be more inclined to book you for a future show. Thirdly, they will see you as a magician that can also do the higher dollar adult gigs.
|
|||||||||
Jake12 New user 27 Posts |
I do have lots of great card tricks but I wouldn't do any of them for a kids show.
I have the chain escape trick and scotch and soda for the parents. Half of all the other tricks I get a child to help. I forgot to tell you guys that I'm performing for a good friend of my parents. Its their daughter's birthday.
There are three stages in a magician's career.
"Who is he?" "There he is!" and "My god is he still around?" |
|||||||||
pradell Special user Alaska 560 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-09-12 21:27, Jake12 wrote: The key is to establish control from the start. "Letting them scream in the beginning" without being in control of their volume means that they are in control, not you. It may be best to start out a little more heavy handed when they're testing you at the onset, and loosten up later in the show, once you've passed the test. :magicrabbit: |
|||||||||
Steve V Inner circle Northern California 1878 Posts |
That control is one of the big problems for a kid your age, if 12, cuz you are viewed as just a slightly older kid so they think that can run over you. Maybe not the four year olds but eight is getting toward the evil age. Good luck.
Steve V |
|||||||||
Kent Wong Inner circle Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 2458 Posts |
You've indicated that you "have a solid routine", but do you have a solid SHOW? That's the first step in maintaining interest and attention. What EXACTLY do you plan on performing in your show and why? Remember that children of different age groups have different life experiences and attention spans. As a result, they respond to magic differently. Children also have specific needs and expectations when attending a magic show and it is your responsiblity to meet or exceed those expectations. After all, you are not just performing a show, you are creating a memory.
After you have determined that you have a solid SHOW, then you need to look at your warm-up. This will be the kids first impression of you as a performer. It will convey your personality and your expectations of how the kids are to behave. A good warm up will make or break an otherwise solid show. Once you have determined the warm-up, you need to focus on how you will transition from one effect to another within your show. It is this down time where you tend to run the risk of losing the kids attention. If this sounds a little overwhelming - GOOD. Performing for children (especially kids of varying age groups) is perhaps one of the most difficult performing environments imaginable. Please, give this show all of the professional care and attention it deserves. Good luck. Kent
"Believing is Seeing"
<BR>______________________ <BR> <BR>www.kentwongmagic.com |
|||||||||
indridcold Regular user 163 Posts |
I went along to a friend of a friend of a friend's child's party in a similar preperation. Being a (younger) adult I was in a similar situation, but the parents were helpful in introducing me as one of them. I did sponge ball bit, invisible deck with an older boy, proff. nightmare, floating napkin, ring on wand, and paper balls over the head with the birthday girl to finish, and it went over great. Many laughs and 'can you come to live at my house' from the little girl.
Dave |
|||||||||
stepp6670 New user 28 Posts |
My qestion about kids shows... please tell me if there is a post that helps me ..
how do I present my magic. I have did some kids shows, where I kinda just did each trick. It worked well and the parents liked it ..but I want everything to flow. Show I try to tell a story or what. Hope this makes sense. For example I do a sponge ball routine, coloring book. color changing silks, anything w/ a TT. Floating, Torn and retored news paper, (happy Bday) I have linking rings, paper balls over head, Proffessors Nightmare but would it be better to make up a story and tell it .. or just show the tricks.. please give me examples.. and if any more kids tricks please tell thanks joey stepp |
|||||||||
muzicman Special user LaCenter, Wa 989 Posts |
Joey,
The childrens magic shows are not so much about magic, as it is more about silliness, and stories, and being a kid yourself. You must possess the greatest confidence as kids are VERY perceptive and if you are not polished, they will take pleasure in seeing you fail...... and spend every ounce of energy in doing so. Basically, you have to be able to connect to those young minds and make them like you. If you cannot entertain and keep the attention of a group of youngsters for 30 minutes without doing a single magic trick, then this is not going to be an easy business for you to succeed in. You absolutely must be in touch with what they are familiar with, and avoid the things that take time to explain. Cards are not really good kids tricks, but visual story based card tricks like 6 Card Repeat seem to work ok. Also keep in mind that performing for 3-5 year olds is significantly different than performing for 6-8 year olds. The 9-11 is getting tougher and you better be pretty darn good to go after a 12-15 year old group. Trying to entertain a room of mixed ages could be tough as not everything appeals to everyone and different attention spans will always leave some in the audience uninterested and a distraction. Whatever you do, make it entertaining. Develop a character that appeals to your audience and make it less about fooling anyone and more about making it fun. More fun for the audience is achieved through laughter, participation, and connecting to you and your antics. Audiences love surprises, and they love colorful visuals and meanful motions. They can sense a tense performer (who can't)and they can easily determine if you are having fun or not. The thing is to make the care that you are having fun. |
|||||||||
stepp6670 New user 28 Posts |
Thank you so much for your post...
I have a seven year old step dauther and we have sleep overs often so I feel confident that I can entertain the kids, It makes sense now when not looking at it as all magic.... thank you.. sorry for the short post but have to run out. joey |
|||||||||
Peter Austin New user 14 Posts |
After reading through all of the posts I realized that there are a few things no one mentioned when it comes to doing kids shows. As most of magicians know, there are 3 different categories of magic. Close-up, parlor/club and Stage. Each cagegory is determined by the distance between you and your audience. When you're doing a show for more than just 5 or 6 kids I don't recommend using any kind of "close-up" magic. Things like coin and card magic become difficult to see and follow when you're sitting behind 2 or 3 other kids. I always try to get a "parlor/club" atsmophere and get the most distance between me and the kids as possible(no more than 8 or 10 feet though). This "distance" gives a more SHOW like feeling and grabs the kids attenion better. I also make sure they are all sitting down either on chairs or on the floor. Kids have been trained in school to sit down and be "quiet" during a performance. So, the first thing you want to do is have them all sit down. Another thing kids respond well to is music. You might want to start the show with some kind of attention getting music that will let the kids know there is a show about to start. Another great tool for making the kids more "respectful" and look at you as a "professional" is a microphone. There is something about a microphone and your amplified voice that gives you the command of authority. I know this may be an expensive proposition, but if you are going to be charging people money for a "professional" show you NEED TO LOOK PROFESSIONAL! Things like professional looking props, tables, and curtain backdrop, all add to the "professional" look and make your audience feel like they're going to see a REAL show and not just some average "JOE" who does a few tricks. Just because you can do some tricks doesn't mean that you are ready to perform PROFESSIONALLY! Don't make this mistake, it is not only bad for your reputation but really bad for your ego if you BOMB out!
Another REALLY important thing, at least for me, is NOT DOING THE SAME TRICKS THAT EVERY AVERAGE KIDS MAGICIAN DOES. BE AS ORIGINAL AND DIFFERENT AS YOU CAN! Using tricks like the Magic Coloring book, or Sponge balls, or rings have been PLAYED OUT and so many kids have already seen them. There's nothing worse than someone yelling out "OH I'VE SEEN THAT TRICK ALREAY." Just writing those words gives me the jitters...lol I HATE when a kids says that! Using things like colorful props and small, box type illusions, always get the kids attention. I don't know why, but there is something about a magical looking, colorful box that grabs kids attention. Also, there is NOTHING better than having a (well behaved)LIVE ANIMAL in your act. Of course I'd say the Rabbit is the best, but even a hamster or guienea pig are good. Most kids, especially girls, LOVE little animals! There's nothing better than letting the birthday child hold a calm and sweet little animal after it magically appears! (Always check with the parents FIRST about bringing a live animal.) Lastly is HOW YOU LOOK. As Stevethomas mentioned, you don't want to walk in with plain clothes and expect to be looked at as a PROFESSIONAL PERFORMER. David Blain can get away with it because he is a "STREET" performer and is now famous. YOU on the otherhand MUST look DIFFERENT than the average Joe. I'm not saying to show up in a tux and tails with a tophat, but you MUST look the part. Be original, use your creative juices and come up with a costume or clothes that fits you and your magic. Ultimately, NONE of what I have said will help you if you don't have GOOD Magic and are rehersed and polished. Believe me when I tell you that I know what it feels like to look SUPER PROFESSIONAL and really bomb out! Its a HORRIBLE feeling. Make sure you KNOW your tricks and have practiced them with live people so you can get their feedback. My wife and best friend are my BEST help and critics. Come up with a routine and the order of each trick (first, second, third, etc) and practic it, memorize it and STICK to it! There is NOTHING worse than looking unrehearsed and fumbling for your next trick... I hope this helps... If anyone wants some really great ideas on tricks or routines let me know, I'm always willing to help out a fellow magician! Sincerely, Peter Austin |
|||||||||
indridcold Regular user 163 Posts |
Quote:
I have never found this to be a problem with most audienced. I have found that most audiences in Australia in pubs, restaurants, and other informal/formal close up and stand up magic have either not seen very many magicians. Sticking with the classics (time tested, strong magic with audience participation) is what everything I do is based on. Sure the presentation is unique for me, but effects like sponge balls and floating napkin are always the talking points of my presentations, and they are two of the most common of effects. I have not seen a single trick EVER that has outdone the reaction of the sponge balls that I get from it. It IS my strongest effect. Dave |
|||||||||
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The little darlings » » First kids party, help please (0 Likes) | ||||||||||
Go to page 1~2 [Next] |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.05 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |