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Emazdad Inner circle Plymouth UK 1954 Posts |
I don't refer to kids as brats all the time, I love kids, I do refer to the brats (the naughty ill-mannered ones) as brats though because that's what they are.
I've had lots of bad kids that I've managed to contol quite well, others take more effort and I had a few that didn't respond to anything and were determined to cause trouble no matter what you do until of course you have no choice but to remove him. Some are hyperactive or have some form of behavioural problem, some are just plain undisciplined. Sometimes the problem is not a naughty child, but a toddler. Once a 2 year old that a parent had let loose during a show with a push along walker thing was allowed to run into the performing area where it knocked my table over. So you see I'm very experienced in handling all sorts of distractions but the fact the they happened made it a bad show, ie I didn't enjoy it. Quote:
Do you realize it's not very nice to tell people they are not as experienced as you are (without having a clue whether that is the fact), and that therefore their statement has no validity? I stand by my statement, no one can say they've never had a bad kid at a party.
Yours Funfully
Clive "Emazdad" Hemsley www.emazdad.com "Magic is a secret, without the secret there is no magic" Remember there are only 3 types of people in the world, those that can count and those that can't. |
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Jon Gallagher Veteran user Elmwood, Illinois 395 Posts |
Quote:
The worst one I did was when I had a group of 4 year olds for a 2-hour party in a garden. They wanted instead to play on the swings etc. in the garden. Despite all my best gentle efforts none would play the games, none would even talk to me. I guess part of it is also knowing your audience. When I was a young, inexperienced magician, I took any show offered. At my advanced age, I turn down quite a few shows, especially if I know they won't work. If someone had asked me to entertain four year olds with magic in an outdoor setting, I would have turned down the show. When someone calls me for a birthday party for four and under, I politely decline. When it's a five year old, I ask questions to determine if this is going to be money well spent on their part or not. I also always ask about where the performance will take place, how many guests there will be and the ages. This is all part of taking control. If they're going to have me performing outside at a playground, I know there's going to be enough distractions that the parents may be wasting their money. Rather than making myself look bad, I turn it in my favor by telling them that I don't think hiring me would be the best way they could spend their money. Just yesterday I turned down a birthday party for a seven year old at Chuck E. Cheese. I asked if they were going to have a private room and they said "no," so I knew I was going to be competing with the animatronics, the games, and the giant rat for attention and decided that it wouldn't be a good idea. Many times we're so anxious to book a show that we're afraid to ask questions. I guess that comes with experience. |
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Emazdad Inner circle Plymouth UK 1954 Posts |
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The party was one of my early shows. To avoid too long of a story I've cut it down. I was booked for the 4 year old party after she'd seen me at another one in a community centre down the road. I tell the booker that the playstuff in a garden must be put out of bounds which the women did— until that is she went inside to do the food. Then 2-3 of the other mums present started to let the younger siblings play on them. Their kids then joined them.
Most of them sat there nicely to watch the show, too nicely. They just didn't want to talk to me, it was if they'd been trained at the old KIDS MUST BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD SCHOOL. I tried every trick in the book but they wouldn't reacted in any way, not even wiggle their fingers, or say the magic word. None would come up and help. Luckily it's the one and only time that's happened. I turned up at one party in a hall and it was like the early learning centre. Despite my party tips page saying that all toys etc. must be put away before the show, the mum had also hired a lot of soft play stuff. "There's some younger ones here," she said, "so I got that so if they didn't want to watch the magic show they could play on it." The stuff filled the room. I told her I wouldn't do the show with that there as the older kids, who are used to playing and watching telly may decide they want to do the same. Give kids a choice and they tend to try and do both. I made her pile it all up at one end of the room and set up in front of it so the kids couldn't get at it. Nowadays like you, I set the ground rules out on the phone, and give the appropriate warnings to the bookers. I won't take stuff I don't like the sound of, or at which I think the kids are too young.
Yours Funfully
Clive "Emazdad" Hemsley www.emazdad.com "Magic is a secret, without the secret there is no magic" Remember there are only 3 types of people in the world, those that can count and those that can't. |
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