I have been presenting Afraidy Cat Rabbit for many years. Now I put together a frog figure. I found out about it when reading "Kidtrix" from Paul Osborne.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYiNkxfI10o

Really Nice Prop Dynamike. And I watched your routine on You Tube it was done very well, GREAT JOB!!!!!!

Rodney

They fell for it hook, line, and sinker!

- Donald

I enjoyed that Mike. Well done.
Bazinga!

Thanks guys. I found out the book from the following thread: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=17

Mike, This is good for kids

The frog is the most inteligent animal of all. Ask if he knows the 3 books you're holding and he always answers,
"Redit... Redit... Redit"

If I carried a prop that size around with me, I'd want to get more than 1 minute 45 seconds out of it. There's no routine here, it's like you just got it, took it out the box and performed it!

I agree. I focus on what will please the kids by thinking like a kid. A long routine can become boring to them. The kids have been loving my routine for years. The adults love it just as well. But some magicians do not know how to work it into a short routine so a lot of other effects can be can squeezed into an hour, so they get jealous. LOL

Some of us don't want to squeeze a lot of tricks into an hour show as we don't wish to carry all of those extra props around. I'm down to 5 tricks in my hour program and working on paring that down to three.

One of my unpublished ideas for a variation on the Fraidy Cat Rabbit principle was to show a picture of a Prince and use the Fraidy Cat principle to change him to a Frog. The kicker was that at the end when I pulled out the frog picture at the end and said "You think the Prince is on the other side? Well, you're almost right. The other side is the Frog Prints!" Then I'd show the reverse side of the frog and it would have a large picture of the prints of the frogs feet, something like shown here:
http://tinyurl.com/prl27l5

Very corny...

----- Sonny

Mike was brave enough to share his routine here, something I would be terrified to do buy I guess you could just watch my videos on my site.

At any rate, Mike is a pro and making it work.

Personally, my shortest routine is gypsy thread. For 45-60 seconds I have a room full of 5,6,7 year olds dead silent. It is a nice routine and gets a huge response. I put it right in the middle of my show and is very nice break of pace.

I would love to get down to 3 routines for an hour! Phew! I'm at 7 routines for 45 minutes.

Josh

There was nothing wrong with Mike's Routine. The Children were yelling like crazy and really getting into the routine. And the Turn It Around has been around longer than you Mr. George. Some of like a lot of Props and some prefer few props. Whatever works for your show works for your show. We can all Agree to Disagree but Mike still did a GOOD JOB.

Rodney

An obversation:
In theatre classes in college, the instructor often told us to give an oratory faster, slower, with an accident, acting like we were talking to a compete stranger Excetera.

Why? Because you would be surprised at how you feel and the reactions you get when you change your tempo and pacing - Especially when the presentation did not fit the character. Example; We were asked to read obituaries and make them funny or recite nursery rhymes as though we were angry and pensive.

All that "Streching" just to go back to performing your "part" almost the same way but if you improved it just by breating in another spot or changing one word for another then it was worth the time to explore various presentations even if they were odd.

So if Mike gets better responses, the audience is the judge. Personally I like to drag-out my sucker sliding Man In The Moon till the older kids are screaming for me to "show them the box already"... but I'm so intrigued now that I'm going to do the routine as fast as possible, to see what happens.

Mike , I remmember what you said about not having anything good to say so I am going to stay silent on this one phil

Gary, that remark was uncalled for. Bear in mind I have seen you do a trick with a little bit of yellow fur dangling on threads that could be made for just a few dollars and that trick lasts less than a minute. Admittedly the gags, bits, lines and roars of laughter from the audience extend that to seven or eight minutes, but that's not the point.

:thumbsup: Smart thinking Phil. Thank you.

I agree with you Quentin. It is not about the timing, it is about the effect. My USP deals with being energetic and active, arranging many well presented humorous effects in my show. Of course I will have more to bring in and out for set up, I am still proud I am being myself.

Ok, I have sat by and listen a lot of attacks going on against DM and I have had enough. This is exactly why pros and others leave this forum. What is wrong with some people.

Mike's routine is not my style. Frog, Dog, Elephant, who cares? Did anyone notice how masterfully he handled the first cub scout who tried to come up and look around? Did they notice how he made the magic happen in the second scout's own hand when it was time? My God that is what an entertainer does. To heck with the magic. Magic is just the medium. Entertainment is what we need to have.

Mike stay your course and be true to yourself and you will be fine. It is not my style of performing but I respect you for developing yours. I have seen some really big names bomb when performing for magicians literally. But put them in their own environment and they kill. My friend, Jerry Conklin, was one such example. Jerry would tell over and over how he bombed at Magic Conventions. But put him in his own show, a phone show or a circus, and he would kick your *ss and take names! Never judge anyone by their performance until 1) you see them work for real people and 2) they are in their environment. Mike has given us all numerous candid views of who he is and what he does. Thank you for that.

Richard

My thought it is about timing. Yours and the piece in question.

Music, leading or doing a gym work out and routining magic shoes have a lot in common.

In all 3 areas my timing has changed over the years. And sometimes as quickly from a morning to afternoon show...

Harris
Still too old to know it all