The veterans out there have obviously fine tuned a smooth kids show of routines that they can use over and over again. So unless you tour all over the country, it goes without saying that eventually you will end up seeing many of the same kids over and over again as you get re-hired by the same families, schools, or by friends of the birthday child, etc. This raises a couple questions.

Do people hiring you (or more importantly - the kids) expect you to do the same exact show that they saw previously since that is what made them love you in the first place? Or do they expect you to bring all new material every time you show up? In other words, does the same Shtick work over and over again when done well?

I realize that the best acts aren't even about the magic or the props. It's about showing everyone a great time, engaging the crowd, garnering lots of laughter and evoking great personality. But how much material or how many distinctly unique kids shows should you truly be prepared to do if you want to make a good living at this? Fortunately, I suspect that certain staple routines will always be expected if you brand yourself and turn them into reputation makers.

- Gary

P.S. - I actually have a great predicament. I have more terrific material than I know what to do with, and don't know when to draw the line and just start fine tuning a show to take it on the road. But I want to be prepared and know whether I should cherry pick the best stuff for one show or create 2 or more different shows.

This has been discussed a lot, so some searches will turn up a lot. People have different ideas on this, and what works for you may not be what works for other people. I run into a lot of the same kids because I get a lot of repeat and referral, plus it's not a big town. I bring more stuff than I need for each gig, then if I know there are many kids who've seen me, I'll change up about 20% of the act. Also, I do some different stuff for bigger higher paying gigs. The kids don't seem to care too much, and they may even like seeing the same tricks. But they may say "I've seen that one, he's going to do..." and that can spoil the surprise and be annoying. Also, you may not want to be the guy that never changes his act - though some never do and they can do quite well. In a bigger city, it may be slightly less of an issue.

In my experience and my area the kids love seeing the same tricks. The same thing happens with movies, the watch them over and over again. The only time my show changes is when I perform for different ages.

I typically perform the same show. Maybe a few tricks are different based on the seasons. I have had repeat or referral business with the same kids, and I have altered the show. After I finish performing, the kids come up and say, "why didn't you perform the trick that does......" If you are good at your show, don't change it completely.

I keep a log of the schools / families I perform for and I try to change it up at least a little each time, but mostly it's the same stuff. As Dan said, the kids will sometimes give away what's about to happen, but also, when I start to do a fave trick or a sucker trick, the same kids who were shouting stuff out will start to say (amongst themselves) "Whoah! Okay, nobody say this one!" and THAT is like popcorn for the soul!

If we work this out on paper there is a chance you will need a TON of magic to do different routines at shows.

I perform about 6-8 shows every weekend. Let's say that half of those shows are referrals and the kids have seen me before. I typically book my Platinum Package 9 times out of 10 and it's a 45 minute long show and I perform about 8-9 routines in 45 minutes. So 3 or 4 shows need to be completely different. That means I would need 27-36 different routines!!! And these must be A+ routines.

And at almost every show I perform at there are kids who have seen me before as most of my business is referrals.

Phew, that's a lot of routines.

Here's another angle: What if you bring your 40+ bag of tricks to a show and someone has already seen your 3 different shows? If you're going by the logic of "must have different shows for audiences who have seen you before" you're sunk!

My point is that it is far more detrimental to your business and career to have 40 different C to B material as it could bite you in the butt.

Have a repertoire of 12-15 A+ material and make a 45 minute show using 8-9 routines and the extra routines will be back up.

Just my thoughts. I'll get back to enjoying a hard earned weekend off from performing!!!!!

Josh

I pulled out my Coloring Book.
"I've seen that one before!" they shouted.
"Do you want to play it again?" I asked.
"YES!!" they all shouted again, more loudly than before.

So part of it is whether it was fun the last time. Also, is the age mix different this time, and something else might fit better and allow the others to come along?

Just some thoughts.
Ed

I have roughly two hours of material. An hour and a half is A material, and half an hour is filler. I have no problem repeating an effect for kids - they normally love it. If I did a show without my talking dog, I would get complaints.

I will vary the material on occasion. I do an hour long show, and it follows a rough plan. But if the kids have seen me before, or if I have done a trick so often I am getting bored, I rotate it out and rotate new stuff in. That system works for me.

So much useful feedback! Much appreciated.

I ask the booker - some younger children prefer the similarity as they want a turn at a trick or anticipation of knowing what comes next.

Others want a different show - so I offer a colour-filled birthday party OR pirates and princess party. These can be altered to fit the size of room / numbers of children / particular effects they ask for.(I also do four termly Gospel kids shows so can use these if needed with slightly differ patter on a couple of tricks. Some families have ASKED me to do one of these.)

Then the add-ons of chair suspension, random fate ==> YMCA, etc.

This is one of those questions you ask that will generate 20 different opinions LOL

day cares or early learning centers- do the same show every year (kids change as they get older and move out, new people move in etc

birthday parities-in general same show as most parents do not book you the following year for the same kid. usually a few years apart or then for the younger sibling. but you should add in 2 new routines and take out two lesser routines

libraries and other public events- this is the one where you will run into seeing kids that have seen you before. again stick to the core of your show the stuff you do best. but I recommend that you have 2 or 3 new routines for these shows but its not the end of the world if you don't.

I will tell you this and this is my firm belief. those magicians that have a new show every year usually never have a great show. at least not for the first 5 months! my point is this. if you are constantly changing your material you will never perfect it. some of the routines in my show have been there for 15 or more years. and will stay there for 20 more! I am always looking to add new stuff and do so but I do it slowly. it takes a good 6 months of rehearsals and then another 6 months of trial and error in shows to work out the bugs and smooth the routine out.

here some thing to think about.

david Copperfield had at one time a new touring show every 18 months but did you know that while on the first tour he was working on the 2nd tour.
you see after the show was over they would pack up that show then right there set up the new magic and start working on it till 5 or 6 in the morning then break down pack and leave. then do it all over again at the next venue. he did this for the whole tour. that way when the one tour finished they pretty much have the second tour ready to go. its a lot of work but that just shows you that it takes a lot of time to perfect things and if you want to change stuff up all the time you will rarely have a high quality polished show. and that my friend is not some thing I want.

so again work one or two routines in to your show that you are working on and then you have them ready to go for those repeat customers or when you need to bring something new to the game'

good luck
oh and I would say that 95% of my show is the same every show.

sam

For me the answer to this question is very complicated and varies greatly for many different situations and has changed throughout my years of gaining experience.

In general, If I'm booked for a repeat performance I like to try to make the show at least 50% different. Certainly there are routines that everyone likes to see over and over, but the entire show being the same could lead make my client question the wisdom of hiring me a 3rd and 4th year. For this reason I keep notes of what routines I perform at each show and even try to make notes about the reactions from the audience.

Hope that helps.

I agree 100% with Sam, if you have a new show each year, your routines never have time to get polished. It is the little things that separate a good magic show and a great magic show. EVERY routine I do gets tweaked. Of course the longer I have been doing it, the less it gets tweaked, but there is a HUGE difference from when I start doing a routine to where it is several years later. Now this is me, but I think it is a rare performer who can come up with a new great show every year . . . Christopher "Taco" Magician may be the only one, I suspect, that can do it.

Then again, EVERY show can be better. It seems like every year of so I have a "revelation" that brings my show to another level - usually when I think it can't get any better. My show constantly is tweaked, and about 1/5 - 1/7 of it is relatively new things I am deciding to keep or not.

Many of the things that I thought were great 10 years ago I do't use today (I keep it on hand, just in case I need it). Some because I have found harder hitting magic, some because I get bored with a routine, sometimes I change things to routines usually done for adults (with a kid's spin on it). --This is a great two-fer, I can use it in my adult and family shows.

As Josh points out, I find that the kids WANT to see the same thing, just like they can watch the same cartoon and movie over and over. Usually it is the parent who wants a different show.

Gary, they've shared some great wisdom here. All I can do is reinforce:

- 25% of my standard show will change depending on depending on the age of the kids....no hand chopper for the 5yo but 11yo...yes. My case has about 6 tricks that I can swap out instantly if the audience is younger/older than I was lead to believe.
- because my show has remained constant for many many performances, it runs very smoothly, even with the occasional ADHD/ADD kid in the audience, etc.
- consistency has allowed me to focus more on the audience and be more dynamic in my interactions with them and their parents.
- at times, I do have a parent indicate that they want a different show than what their child saw last year, or at their friend or siblings party. As such, I have enough other material to address that.
- I do swap out tricks gradually over time so as to build strong material for other shows. The key for me is to do this slowly.
- I also have material that plays for bigger shows....school assemblies, scouting events, etc.
- Lastly, I have tricks that get added (chair suspension), etc for when a parent buys the premium show.

Lots to think about here folks. Changing tricks in and out of a show has always been a big question for me. I only replace a routine if I find something much better than what I am using. I added a new one recently and it really plays huge so I like that but I am going back and forth on which routine to delete from my current show and I am struggling with that. The good news is my customers don't know I am toying with the routines right now. Thanks for all the info here gives me lots to think about!

This is a no-brainer for me. My performances have included festivals where have done 2-3 shows per day and theme parks where I have done as many as 6 daily shows. Many of the same people in a given day will show up to multiple shows...sometimes all of them. For a magic routine to be successful I feel it it must have some surprise to it, so having multiple shows has been a requirement for me.

Having said that, kids do enjoy watching the same routines....if they are fun. I usually have a standard formula for my routine list....depending on the length of the show. I have a main show that I usually do, but also other shows. My show formula enables me to switch things around about any way I want to. For example, sometimes I may do the same openers and closers and just substitute new routines for the ones that use volunteers. Other times I may do an entirely different shows with all new routines. It depends on how many times I have been to the place and how audience attendance is set up. If I cannot predict that then I play it safe and change up my shows.

Of course I won't do a routine if I feel it is not strong enough. I am always looking to improve my shows, so trying new things can be a good thing. It also helps me and keeps me from getting bored doing the same old routines. Doing the same routines can be a good thing, because the more you do them the more you will perfect them. However, you have to be careful because I think magicians can become stale when they have done a routine so much that they seem to be just going through the motions. New routines excite me and help me to keep my shows fresh and exciting.

Reagan,
Someone who works in a theme park day-in and day out can polish a routine much faster than a B-D performer who does maybe 6 shows a week. Also, the shows at festivals & parks I have seen (and done) have been shorter, say 1/2 hour instead of an hour or more. So I do amend my post. Sorry. I am/was writing about a complete new show every year for a B-D performer.

I also agree that we have to be careful in the opposite direction, so our routines don't become stale.

One of the things Christoper spoke about in his last video was having tricks that have routines that can be swapped out, and I think that is important in building new shows.

I developed a 25 minute balloon act along with my magic act. This allows me to combine it with magic for a completely different act. It also gave me the flexibility so I could be booked in shopping malls and fairs, on the same show with a magician, without a conflict.

My dad's been doing the same act for 45 years, and it's still great with kids because it's more about their participation than the magic.

A smart magician is always breaking in new routines, I have more than two hours of material that I rotate, many retired routines, and several ways to perform many of the tricks I do on a regular basis. Every show I do is a little different. I have a closet full of costumes and I never look the same either.