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DrGoodkin New user 99 Posts |
Rope through Neck
Razor Blade Trick Anything with Fire Human Blockhead Wrist Choppers (and all mutilation tricks) Nothing Blue ..this eliminates tricks like "Silk to Panties" and "Magic Ding Dong" Choking hazards.. mouthcoils, sponges, balloons Putting things into or pulling things out of any orafice Card Tricks Cigarette Tricks Alcohol Tricks (multiplying bottles ...CHANGED LABELS ARE OK) Pain montes OUCH While it's true anything CAN be used, this list was just an intellectual exercise to see what kind of image we present, or what can be duplicated by an unthinking child. There are so many tricks that do not fall into the realm of "questionable", this list shows those that MIGHT be questionable.
- Sincerely,
Dr Goodkin |
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
How about the old knife through the arm trick, or the old pull my finger trick.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
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DrGoodkin New user 99 Posts |
I think knife through the arm falls into the mutilation category....
never HEARD the pull my finger trick..... LOL
- Sincerely,
Dr Goodkin |
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magic.ian New user 29 Posts |
I recently did a few shows for an in-hospital camp for kids with cancer. As I went through the different tricks I was warned against ANY balloon tricks as many kids have latex alergies. With that in mind and much to my sorrow I have slowly started to eliminate all balloon trick from my repertoire.
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rottenmagic New user 51 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-05-08 23:04, Father Photius wrote: Totally agree. I used to vanish a coin and pull it out of my daughter's nose. That caused two problems. One, she would start trying to get more coins out of her nose. Two, every time I practiced in front of her and made something vanish, she thought that it was gonna appear in her nose. |
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seadog93 Inner circle 3200 Posts |
I disagree with several things on "the list" (rope throught the neck, anything with fire, any mutilation, choking hazards (esp. as defined here), anything from any orifice, card tricks). I think it's interesting how often people quote, as gospel, "it's not the trick it's the magician" and then make up a list like this. All of the tricks/catagories I just listed I use or know people who use successfully.
Just one quick example: I do cards from the mouth all the time, I get wonderful reactions from kids, parents and non-parent adults both in shows and impromptu. This trick violates at least three categories of your "never do these" list.
"Love is the magician who pulls man out of his own hat" - Ben Hecht
"Love says 'I am everything.' Wisdom says 'I am nothing'. Between the two, my life flows." -Nisargadatta Maharaj Seadog=C-Dawg=C.ou.rtn.ey Kol.b |
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
Seadog93
All kids love fart jokes, but how many parents think that fart jokes are appropriate for their child's birthday party? The parents are running the show, and signing your check.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
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Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
I personally don't use fire in my show.
I'm not 100% opposed to it's use. But I'm 100% opposed to it's use in stupid ways. I once saw a local performer who did kids and family shows, who started her act by putting white gloves on. Then she doused them in lighter fluid and lit them on fire. I was told that she even did this at daycare shows. That was totally inappropriate, and dangerous. I can't tell you the number of people that asked me to re-assure them that I wasn't going to do something like that in my act, because they wanted to book a magician (but not someone who did inappropriate things). - Donald
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
At Summer out door parties I have had parents insist that I finish my show with my flaming torch juggling finale, so as I said the parents run the show.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
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seadog93 Inner circle 3200 Posts |
Al Angello,
I have a couple reactions to your post. The first one is that I don't personally use fart jokes, I didn't bring them up and I don't think that they address my comment. My second reaction is that it absolutely depends on the kids and the parents (that's another problem I have with this list and the idea behind it "kids" covers a HUGE range). In fact, while I don't like fart jokes myself Silly Billy actually recommends them for some age groups. Also, on the subject of Silly Billy, my understanding that the entire theme of his show for older kids is gore and mutilation magic, ...quick, someone e-mail him the list! Donald Dunphy I totally agree with you. It's easy to do a lot of these things really badly and inappropriately. I think it's something that we all need to think about in regards to what we do. I also think that your post is much more thoughtful than x=never do. If someone says to me, "NEVER do any of these in _________(fill in the context)." I begin to think of ways to appropriately do those things in that context. In this case it's pretty easy for me to think of plenty examples for most of these categories that can be totally appropriate (I will agree on the nothing blue though). I think that it's easy to do most of these badly and inappropriately, but that is a far cry form saying never. It's very easy to do Shakespeare VERY badly and it's easy to find lots of examples of that, but luckily some people can and do play it very well (not me mind you, but some people).
"Love is the magician who pulls man out of his own hat" - Ben Hecht
"Love says 'I am everything.' Wisdom says 'I am nothing'. Between the two, my life flows." -Nisargadatta Maharaj Seadog=C-Dawg=C.ou.rtn.ey Kol.b |
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DrGoodkin New user 99 Posts |
As I said earlier...
this is not a "NEVER" list. This is a "let's question this" list.
- Sincerely,
Dr Goodkin |
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Brian Lehr Inner circle Edmonton, Canada 1605 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-05-09 23:30, DrGoodkin wrote: Um, then you might want to start a new thread with a different title than "Tricks you would NEVER perform for kids" Brian |
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DrGoodkin New user 99 Posts |
You know....as soon as I wrote the response I realized that the thread title was misleading....
I knew someone would call me on it. Apologies to all.
- Sincerely,
Dr Goodkin |
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LVMagicAL Elite user 460 Posts |
Here's a few I most likely won't do again:
Sawing a kid in half Shooting a bunny across stage from a cannon Making a lion appear in the back of the audience, without a leash Swallowing a live swordfish Houdini Water Escape Producing a live elephant from a change rainbow house Bullet Catch Coppertone's Walking through jet engine blades Spike This is just a partial list...I'm sure I could think of some more if I think back to those kid shows where some effects just went horribly wrong. I hope to be out of the hospital and performing again real soon. Thanks to everyone for your card and letter. MagicAL |
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stijnhommes Special user 568 Posts |
Quote: I don't see anything wrong with any of these. Unless you suggest the kids put them in their mouth, spongeballs, napkins and eggs are no more a choking hazard than a magic wand or a silk. Mouth coils are debatable. They shouldn't be a problem, but they could be if smart kid reverse-engineers your effect -- in which case they should be smart enough not to try it.
On 2010-05-08 22:06, hpcman wrote: One thing I definitely wouldn't do for kids is a smash & stab routine with a big sharp knife or nail. Montes are fine, but for kids shows I'd definitely not use one with a "real" danger or pain element. |
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Dennis Michael Inner circle Southern, NJ 5821 Posts |
I disagree on fire...
Fire tricks are OK if it is impossible to duplicate. I do the library card, then talk about my first really "Hot Magic Book" from the library..."the Hot Book". I don't see it the kids do... It gets a good reaction and cannot be duplicated. There are a variety of "NEVER Do Magic" that can or has been redesigned for kids. The "Smash and Stab" can be done with "Smash the Egg" Fire with the "Fire Book" "Multiplying Bottles" with "Root Beer Soda" Do not do Billard Balls in Mouth and out of stomach, a kids did swallow a small ball trying to pull it out of his stomach. Do Not Harm Animals. (I put a "Spring Skunk" in a ditch bag then put tricks on top of it. Younger kids thought I was harming the Skunk, even though I did tell them it was not real.) Cake in Pan, with math and fire, has been duplicated with a pan and gasoline, so avoid a routine which can be duplicated.
Dennis Michael
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DrGoodkin New user 99 Posts |
I agree with Dennis..
younger kids think you're harming toy animals...I've had that happen. Even if you show them it's a toy, they still believ it can be hurt. Nice comment !!!
- Sincerely,
Dr Goodkin |
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Wes Holly Special user Cincinnati, OH, USA 644 Posts |
There are absolutely no absolutes (or, never say never).
How about not doing anything at all? If a child watches you do a magic trick then tries to do it at home and fails, he will get frustrated and start to suffer from an inferiority complex, which will take many years of counseling to overcome. Of course, his lawyer will send you the bill. And then there's the "he didn't choose me to be a volunteer" complex and the "he scared me when the balloon popped" syndrome, just to name a few. Be true to yourself and your character. Build a show that's appealing to your demographic. Your audience's reactions and comments will help you decide what to do or not to do. wes holly |
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Ken Dumm Inner circle 1239 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-05-10 10:03, Wes Holly wrote: Well said....completely agree... |
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Dennis Michael Inner circle Southern, NJ 5821 Posts |
Wes,
"He didn't pick me" is a true hurt, I know I wasn't picked and I never forgave that magician. I just even....I became one! Also, it is interesting that in different parts of the country, and different parts of the world, one can get away with routines that would not be allowed elsewhere. For example, as discussed elsewhere, the "Punch and Judy" routine would be considered a bullying routine here in the US. Some actions here in the Northeast is accepted, however, in the bible belt in the south, it would not be accepted, as discussed related to some of David Kaye's routines. This is true with Blood and Guts, Halloween routines, people spend billions to get scared! (Not magicians, but movies.) If one questions a routine, then redefine it to make it acceptable, change the items, change the look, change the wording. If one really looks hard enough a Never Do routine could be Acceptable as mentioned above. I don't think razor blades is acceptable, however, what would? Mouth items has been an issue for many years, since the beginning of the Magic Café.
Dennis Michael
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