At one of our school assemblies this week, we had a teacher come up to us while the kids were being seated and ask us if we do magic in our magic show. True Story!

We told her yes, and that we are magicians and that is what we were hired to do.

She asked us if there was any way we could do the assembly without doing magic tricks of any kind.

I thought she had to be joking, but she proceeded to tell us it was because she had one student out of a 600 student school that was Jehovahs Witness and was not allowed to watch magic shows.

When we told her it was not possible to do the assembly without the magic, she seemed very upset with us and said she would have to find someplace for the student to go until it was over.

She walked away very frustrated, and I could accept that, but she was almost angry at us.

So apparently 599 students should not get to see an assembly with magic in order to not offend 1. AMAZING!

I totally get tolerance and am a big proponent of it , but at what point can we expect the one person to have tolerance for the 599 people?

~Nanci

What I find frustrating about those religious folks who disapprove of "magic", is that they should surely understand that magic is real, it's integral to our very existence. And of course, it's not "evil". Yes, I've encountered folks in the past who ask for "no magic magic shows". What usually works, is to remove any reference to "magic", and simply to present the show as a "spectacle".
Bloody daft if you ask me....
Potty

Nanci, I am not shocked that a teacher came up to you and asked you that. When I taught the D.A.R.E Program in the elementary schools for 11 years, I witnessed a lot of this type of stupidity. Nowadays, so many people want to be so polictically correct that they are willing to sacrifice the many for one.

You were hired to do a "magic" show with magic. I remember how a couple of teachers raised cain with me carrying a gun in the school. I talked with them about it. Since I am a police officer and a gun is part of my uniform, what was the problem? They said it scared the kids. I never witnessed a child showing fear of me as many came up to me. They even told me that they could not carry guns in the school. Well "DUH", they are not cops.

Don't let this bother you. You may encounter it again with another idiot. I am very blunt when I speak what is on my mind and don't worry about offending anyone. I don't look to offend anyone, but I will be open and honest with them about things. I am glad to know that this religion does not like magic. Next time they ring my doorbell, I will make a silk vanish in hopes they will as well.

Glenn

Idiots are idiots.

You're doing a magic show? Hummmmmm, can you do me a favor, do you think you can do the assembly without any magic tricks??? (Pure stupidity)

Funnily enough, I could do a magic show without magic. Puppets and storytelling would pull me through. But I would not agree to that under those circumstances.

Stupidest thing I was asked was by a parent after watching my ex-wife doing a full hour show.

"Does she speak English?"!

I have been hired and then when I arrived was told I could not use the word magic, wizard, magic wand or use them in the show, or have the kids say the magic words. I very politely told them if I removed all of that from my show it would be about 5 minutes long and not very funny. I basically did the show exactly as I always did because if I had to stand around and think about all that as I did my act it would have been awful. The kids loved it, the teachers loved it, and the person who hired didn't watch but came up after the show and said "Thank you for understanding, the kids seemed to really enjoy it!"

The problem in Nanci's situation is not with the child, religion or the education system. The problem is with the one teacher who handled a situation poorly. The teacher being just one individual who spoke her mind, like others here are now doing.

Difficult to do a magic show with no magic!

STUPID!

"The needs of the many out way the needs of the few".
Spock, Wrath of Khan.

It's also likely that the teacher was under pressure from that child's parents.

- Donald

I hope the teacher refrains from breeding.

I doubt it.....I've had a religious type come up to me & complain of the puppets, BEFORE complaining about the magic. She said the idea of a talking monkey promoted evolution. I almost replied "Well then mabye you should shut-up!"

Once at a kid show in a church I was warned several times that if I told the children any dirty jokes they would shut off my mic, and not pay me.

At a children's show in a church, what in the world were they thinking?

Okay - just going solely off the premise that a defensive and combative performer doesn't look good ....

I wonder if it would be beneficial to reframe a show like this in the context of "a theater performance full of wonderful things - like the special effects you see in your favorite TV shows and movies, only live on stage!" (I could see this only at a school or perhaps the library; a birthday party or other gathering should be free from this - I would hope!!)

Again - I do not agree with the way the teacher handled the situation (although I do agree with RJE2 and Donald in their assessments). I'm thinking only along the lines of attempting to de-fuse a potentially explosive situation involving an upset parent, a child who is singled out and doesn't know why, a pressured teacher, and a magician facced with doing a no-magic magic show. And doing so in a non-combative manner that might help with repeat bookings.

Ed

Nanci, what a story! We are dealing with pure ignorance. As Mick said, idiot are idiots!

In P.C.-mad states, it's getting to be very difficult to create fun programs for schools and libraries. As an example, for Halloween shows here in Washington state, we are not allowed to mention Halloween. We also cannot mention a ghost, a skeleton, or a carved pumpkin (although non-carved pumpkins are OK, for some reason). In addition, the word "witch" is taboo. Want to know the official explanation? Because it might be offensive to ugly people. LOL!

Glenn ... love your idea of making a silk vanish! My dad used to get rid of those "door-knockers" by inviting them in for a drink!

**sigh**

Doesn't make any sense to me, Nanci. What a world, huh?

David

Arthur
Great idea next Saturday afternoon when the Jehovah Witnesses come to my door I'll invite them in for a couple magic tricks.

I love it

I love that last line! Pity you were too polite to use it!

I did arrive at a summer camp to do an hour for a group of over 200 children and parents, to be told they had had a magician a few days before, and could I leave out the magic. I did an hour of storytelling, and they were so impressed I got a gig a week for the rest of the season. But then I love storytelling, and it was a fun gig for me.

But I'm sure if it were a talking snake puppet that would of been more than believable