Hi Everyone,

I'm teaching magic at the largest day-camp in the world this summer (I'm so excited!). On the first day I want to talk to the kids about the interesting history of magic. I have a general idea of what I want to talk about but I'm interested to hear your input on what I can teach the kids about magic's history. It's very tough to keep kids attention unless it is interesting facts so any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Evan

Show 2 tricks and teach first (to establish credibility and wow factor)
magic history lesson- origin, witches to Blaine, etc. chronological
Make a magic trick out of everyday ordinary items.
magic history lesson - incorporate card sleights skill clinic - perhaps teach a trick that uses the glide?
Learn sponge ten count and a rope with history shimmed in.
magic history lesson - genres of magic and demo, street/mentalism/stage/parlor/etc.
Tricks with flash paper, skills a little more progressed with a quick review.
Not knowing how many kids - it would be nice for some take aways like ideally each kid gets a deck of cards,
better stock up on the easy cheap magic supplies - bag of rubber bands, a reel of rope/cord from hardware store, does every kid have a bandana? then do a coin thru bandana trick - get a bag of quarters, get a ream of paper and make/teach the Buddha Papers trick or the coloring book (practically the cheapest prop cost factor).
what is the age bracket, kids at camp do not really care for a lot of data they want cool gross out stuff, ( I was a camp counselor for 5 years for the YMCA - ages 8 - 17 teaching archery and waterfront). Are you given a budget or is everything out of pocket?
Do you know the paddle trick? use popsicle sticks easily bought by the bag full at a art store.
Reality check imho, if you do not know most of these magic 101 tricks, scrub the idea. sorry for the tough love but sounds like it is already a committed activity.
Teach french drop/do a matrix just for show unless you want to teach again not knowing your magic "skill" background. Did not do timeframe logistics so I don't know how much time this would fill per session/class? good luck

Oh, incorporate principles of magic like timing, misdirection, presentation over mechanics/technical
As a matter of fact - just use Mark Wilson's book as the basis for your curriculum and you should have a worry for ideas.
Teach some tricks that require no patter at all - that will satisfy the shy kids and maybe some special needs kids.
Then I would assume there will be a talent show to put together?
I would consider invisible deck, rope thru body/neck, some sort of PK related trick - something you keep only to yourself not for teaching only to establish you as the master resident camp magician.
And on a nature related item, make wands from branches - whittle, burnish and go over to the lanyard station and find leather strapping to wrap for handles - kinda wicca/harry potter style and there you have another session/history of magic. what kid doesn't know HP.

G'day Evan

In regard to your teaching about the history of magic from my experience I find that giving an overview of history chronologically is helpful and to present a series of effects as part of the discussion keeps it interesting - like a series of visual aids.

I.e. even a simple version of cups and balls when outlining ancient magic practices- leading into a discussion of Robert Houdin as the "Father of Modern magic" an overview of his life can be found on Wikepdia and possible effects could include a "light Heavy chest" (which goes along with an intriguing story)or a simple mind reading effect as he performed with his son.

This leads easily and chronologically into a discussion about "Harry Houdini" - I find that looking at his early work as the "King of Cards" allows for some demonstration of card manipulation and then moving on to referring to his escapes and performing a comedy handcuff escape works well.

From there it is simple to move on to modern performers and effects _ Chris Angels coin in a coke can is strong and relatively current - but there is plenty of scope for a discussion of modern day magic performance.

I hope that my reflections are helpful for your consideration and that you enjoy the experience. Let us know how you go.

Bob Latta (aka Troppo Bob)

Never to early to begin laying the foundation for the magician's code and the importance of not exposing tricks.

Personally, I would keep the magic history brief.
Kids at day camp age likely won't have much interest in history.
Maybe do a cups and balls routine while talking history.

The types of magic could be discussed along with a couple of demonstrations.
Stage, Parlor, close-up and Strolling, Escapology, Mentalism, Busking, etc.

I hope you don't mean **teach** tricks with flashpaper?!

I agree, the age bracket you're working with makes a big difference. Kids don't go to day camp to hear anything like a school lecture. If you can make the history stuff fun and interactive, go for it.

But I think if you're going to go into magic history, you should relate it to a trick you teach--I can remember simple versions of the Kellar Rope Tie in kids magic books, and you could go into Houdini, the Davenport Brothers and spiritualism from there.

Maybe show them a simple mirror box, or a Pepper's Ghost mockup using plexiglas. Going into a billet reading using the one-ahead principle could be a springboard to a discussion of mentalism.

The story of Chung Ling Soo or the death of the Great Lafayette could be good, slightly gruesome campfire stories, if you're working with appropriate ages. Similarly, there are the stories of Jasper Maskelyne using magic for the British army during WWII, and Blackstone, Sr. and the Lincoln Theater fire, that are exciting and uplifting.

Since it's a day camp and not school, I think you should emphasize fun and not worry too much about structure or covering all of magic history. If the kids think it's cool, they'll do their own research, the same way most of us did.

Thanks for the great feedback everyone!

Ronin,

Are there any other magicians you can think of in history that have similar autobiographies to those you stated? I'm focusing on older magicians in the early days to talk to the kids about.

Thanks!

Evan

Evan,

I'm not sure what you mean by "similar" to the examples I gave...?

If you mean colorful and dramatic, you might go with Golden Age figures like Max Malini, Robert-Houdin, The Hermanns, The Maskelynes, The Bambergs, and The Great Raymond. The Fox Sisters and Davenport Brothers might make for some good stories, too.

I know you want to focus on Golden Age figures, but there are some very interesting post-Golden Age characters and stories to choose from. John Calvert has led quite an interesting life. There's also the recent information that came to light about John Mulholland's involvement with the CIA. Persi Diaconis, the self taught mathematics genius and expert card handler who ran away from home at 14 to hit the road with Dai Vernon. For that matter, I think it would be nice if you could work in Vernon somehow--if you had to pick just one magician whose work touches almost all magical technique today, it would probably be Vernon.

I'm not sure what references you have read or have available. Ricky Jay's "Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women" has a great section on Malini, as well as a lot of other interesting variety performers.

Jim Steinmeyer's books "Hiding the Elephant" and "The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson aka Chung Ling Soo" are very entertaining and informative.

As a kid, I also loved Walter Gibson's "The Master Magicians" and Milbourne Christopher's "Illustrated History of Magic".

Blackstone Jr.'s book, "The Blackstone Book of Magic and Illusion" has a lot of good stories, and a lot of info on the Blackstones in particular.

"Conjure Times: Black Magicians in America" by James Haskins and Kathleen Benson is a fascinating read.

"Street Magic" by Edward Claflin and Jeff Sheridan is a great read, and especially relevant in the post-Blaine age.

Good luck! Let us know how it all works out!