"gobbly goop nonsense"...does that replace yelling in the show? Is it a viable alternative? Will Howie do it? and does gobbly goop muck up the Happie Amp you use

I'm still waiting for Frank to at least post a video link, or at best announce his book/DVD to help out us who can only get the yells. :8>)

Kind of a joke, Frank, but also a bit serious. If you've got alternatives that have never crossed my mind, then telling me to think and ponder hard isn't going to help. “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” (Albert Einstein) If my way of thinking has produced a show mainly fueled by yelling, then telling me to think harder isn't going to work.

Show us or explain to us what you do that is different from the apparently standard way of thinking. Please.

Ed

Hi Ed,
I'll toss in some ideas and sprinkle in a few magicians here and there, from the Café that seem to have headed that direction with their talents
Juggling (Al)
Dancing (?)
Story Telling (TonyB)
Nothing but your personality and the way you interact with the kids gets strong reactions
A very strong witty unique character (Payne)
Sight Gags
A running gag that you came up with and was NOT purchased; purchased being something like bigger wands, etc.
Physical Comedy
A musical instrument (Potty)
True Vent talents (Harris I think)
Do you even have a theme to your act? Or just a list of tricks sandwiched between a warm-up and a closer?

Anyone can go to a magic store, buy some yelling tricks and do a show with lots of yelling from day one! It's easy!
What have you done to take your talents beyond "purchasing your reactions out of a box"?

Why not check out George Carl on YouTube. He has a "harmonica act". Go watch it.
He bought a harmonica to entertain an audience. As you watch, make a list of the things HE came up with to add to the entertainment.
Just don't expect to see the harmonica right away. Be patient. In his act, he didn't buy anything that gets him an automatic laugh or clap.
He does it all on his own.

Things from the list above are the sorts of things I hope to add to my show to make it less one-dimensional and more entertaining.

Contact Juggling can mesmerize. You will get the kids saying Fushigi over and over but that's no big deal. 3 ball Juggling is fun with a good routine. Add in a Wand Spin or two for visual fun.

Linking Rings, done well, will make them wonder and get you over the kids who think they know (they do know) how they work. By the end they will have no idea.

NewsFlash is strong Magic.

There are several great Rope Effects in my Tool Box. Daryl's Amazing Acrobatic Knot, P.N. My Flying Knot Routine, Ring and Rope, (my partner Tom's) Toss Trio for Little Kids, Rope through Body.

Snap-a-Silk and Silk through Glass, Silk Cascade, a Change bag Blendo that allows the Child to feel wonder as well as a sense of whimsey.

Miser's Dream, Pat Page's Easy Money are good metaphors for bounty, greed or thrift.

These Effects are truly Magical and work great with kids. Make 'em fun but make it Magical as well.

I'd rather send them away with a sense of wonder than anything else. I'm there to expand their perception of "the Possible" in their lives and have a good time.

What gives you a feeling of wonder? Share that with your audience.

Frank, I love George Carl. That is silly done right. Check out Avner the Eccentric.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safa......bih=1000


-Mary Mowder

Mary, yes Avner is amazing. Not a kid in the world (or an adult) who wouldn't love that. And guess what.... no yelling. (Again... not that there's anything wrong with yelling).

If you watch the video Mary was kind enough link for us, you can see sooooo many potential applications for his bits in a magic act.

There are bits with hats, clubs, silks, mouth coils, chairs, etc... all props many of us use in our shows.

Oh - *that*stuff!! Too much work!
Thought you had a new method or gimmick.
Three easy steps and all that.
Coupla bucks and I'm in, right?

Seriously, that is the kind of things I try to build into my routines. Kung Fu Ball Thru Box, working at the Spaghetti Factory, helping my chicken find a card - y'know, the same ol' stuff. I just always wind up with the kids yelling at me sooner or later, so I thought I must be doing something wrong and you had the silver bullet, Frank.

But I do thank you for more ideas than I had before. And for the size-10 nudges away from complacency! :8>)

Ed

PS - I'd seen one video of George Carl before. First time for Avner, though. Fantastic! Where do these guys get their ideas??

I don't go for yells. Some of my routines might involve getting the kids to shout for a particular reason (one routine in particular, that rotated out of my show about three years ago). But in general I have always felt that getting the kids to yell is simple - you just ask them or produce a piece of cheap plastic like the clapometer, and let that do the work.

But we can be a lot better than that. I generally look for laughter, with occasional moments of quiet amazement. Kids occasionally scream with laughter, but screaming for the sake of screaming is not a goal of mine.

I recently shared a stage with a guy who had all the great props. His stuff was bang up to date, beautifully produced, and he got plenty of screams. I operated out of my pockets as usual, and got far less noise off my audience. But it was a resort, and at the end of their holiday the folks had to fill out forms reviewing us all. I got universally better reactions from kids and adults. Less noise, but my act was seen by all as the better act.

Frank is right; if yelling is all you got, you need to look at what you are doing, and do it better.

Tony;

Face it kids like to yell

I don’t think you can compare the reaction of you from the other performer; no video to compare with; his connection with the kids may not have been what yours was.

You performed for adults and older kids, maybe about 12 to 15; In your post you indicate that the adults and the kids filled out the feedback forms; the kids I perform for do not fill out feedback forms, the majority of them can’t write.

I learned in my first show it’s the magician, not the props, I purchased my first prop, it came with a routine and I worked hard to learn it, the results was luke warm from the kids. In the second show I ignored the routine that came with the prop and just took it out and played with it in front of the kids while explaining it in my own words for a totally different reaction, they yelled and they had fun

This is the way I perform now, no real script to work off, just me and my connection with the kids is working great the kids stay with me and don’t wander around; they focus on what I am doing and don’t cause me problems during my performance.

My business is growing, the kids yell, the parents smile, I am paid at the end of my show and the other parents ask for my contact information; how can you say I should do it better?

Buzz, the kids laugh at my show. It's a stronger reaction than yelling. As Frank says, getting them to yell is easy. Anyone can do that. Some tricks seem specifically designed to elicit that yelling (the clapomoter discussed on a separate thread). I don't need that, and wouldn't allow it in my show.

We can do a lot better than yelling. Working with that guy recently showed me that I am on the right track in this.

I like to start off with something that shows I have skill; like cards from the mouth and finger warm ups into "hand scam"
Hopefully that keeps the older kids attention and let's them know I'm worth watching.

For younger kids and libraries (which usually have lots of younger kids) I like to get them yelling with Docc's coloring book routine.
This is (IMO) the best coloring book routine there is, it's fun, interactive and magical.

Then throughout the show I do strong magic with funny premise' and look-don't-see/magician in trouble delivery.
That way the very young kids have fun, even if they don't quite get ALL the magic (they do get a lot though) and the older kids right up through adults hopefully have a fun and mind-blowing experience.

That's for younger and mixed-age groups.
For older kids I don't go for yelling, not for adults yelling.
The only yelling I want from older kids and adults is some kind of David Blaineesque disbelief and astonishment. I don't actually try for that (I don't think it's really possible to set that up) but I love it when it happens.

Kids love to yell, yelling to correct the confused magician is very very fun for them. How often in life do kids get to correct "stupid" adults (not much, till they are teenagers!). Yelling can be part of a high energy show where there kids are very involved in the show. Yelling is often proceeded by or followed by lots of laughter. The problem is when magicians overdo it - rely on it too much, and don't also have lots of really funny stuff and some amazing stuff, don't have a engaging personality, and use it as the only interactive part. Many magicians are not funny, so they then get reactions the only way they can - yelling. So the key, if you decide to do stuff that would elicit yelling, is balance and having a really good act.
I warm up the kids by asking "are you ready for some magic?!" they say yeah, but not real loud at first so I ask the to say it louder and they do, then I say I can't hear them I need it REALLY loud! and they scream it. My hands are cupped around my ears like I'm doing it to hear them better, but by doing that my hands are ready to flip my hat off backwards as though they were too loud and I'm stunned. The hat thing gets a good laugh - I act like I don't notice it, which gets a laugh, then I put it on but let my tie droop into my hat so it's covering my face and that gets a laugh. So in this case the yelling gets them energized and involved and is kind of required for the gags.

Yep, I agree.
I do Dan Harlan's name gag (I don't remember the name) from his birthday party DVD for the same effect.

It also reminds me of Samuel Patrick Smith in his books making the point that if your doing a magic show, then you need to make sure your actually doing a magic show.
Sammy Smith is a good example (I think) of doing some very strong magic for even very little kids. I like to do things in a more "british" way (I guess, I do it Silly Billy's way) than he does, but I really love his books and DVD.

Yea, but sometimes it's hard to understand Silly Billy's "British" accent. LOL

-Mary Mowder

Hmmm... misunderstood, again. I do not recommend a yelling "contest" to start a show. I have provided a method for establishing desired "behavior patterns" while still having fun and interacting with the kids. I have found this particular method to be effective in focusing the incredible energy of the kids into the show so they pay attention and react without having to be told to do so. If it doesn't suit you, don't do it.

More disturbing is your assertion that the rest of the show wasn't "worked out." The show was intentionally designed around some well-known, time-tested effects (and my "take" on them) while adhering to the constraint of fitting into a briefcase. The effects are fun and visual, the kids are involved, and all helpers have a magical experience. Perhaps I am misguided, but my experience tells me otherwise.

On the subject... proper use of a "loud response" from any audience promotes a sense of unity. Implemented and contrasted (as I have done) creates a focused anticipation. The only "wrong" response is one you have not fully thought out.
--Dan Harlan

I've done Dan's name gag and it's great when done properly. To me, that means that after the yelling is done, you've got some work to do to bring it home and make it actually funny. With the right amount of acting, it would be damm funny for an adult act as well.

And I love SPS's quote about actually doing a magic show. LOL. I used to do his billiard ball routine in my kids show until I started working on my own.



Howie,
I haven't seen your act so I'm not going to say you can do it better. But are you saying you cannot do it better? You're done improving your act because kids yell a lot and they don't wander off?

Seadog, whats the name gag? I do a thing sometimes, I didn't make it up I don't think, where I get everyone at the party to all say their names all at the same time - I say it's more efficient that way and that I'm really good at remembering names. Then I go in a row and name them (about 5 of them till the laughs trail off) but I get them all wrong and I make them increasingly ridiculous "your Wendy Lou, your Coco, your Sponge Bob, your Barney the Dinosaur...).

That was the gag off Dan's video, Dan. Yup.

That's almost the same, but your ending is a bit different .

Moonrazor's comment seems to have been removed (I'm not sure why, I disagree but it didn't seem inappropriate), but Mr. Harlan himself addressed this.
I use this all the time to start my kids shows off, it's very fun and it's funny and, as mentioned, it gets some audience unity right away.
Definitely not "just an idea," or if it was, it was a very good idea.

How is Harlan's ending different? I just realized I spelled 'you're' as 'your' several times in a row in my post - angering all my high school teachers. I shouldn't post till I've had all my coffee.

Moonrazor's comment is still there (Pg.1) and it is not offensive. I just don't agree. The ending I use is to repeat ALL of the names at the same time... exactly like I heard them... "Grebilanmarjefifilsturby!" Occasionally, I will add, "...and Bob." Then, I may ask, "Okay, who said 'Bartholomew?'" Since they are all trying to get their name heard so I will pick them to help, often one of the kids will raise their hand, and I say, "Is your name Bartholomew?" It never has been, but if it is (ever) I would actually have Bartholomew help. Regardless, I finish by saying, "That didn't work very well, so I have another idea... whoever is the quietest, sitting the straightest, with their hand held high in the air... gets to help me here on stage."
--Dan Harlan