Hello all,
I have a daughter of 8 years and not always can find a baby sitter and she always wants to come and join in my kids shows at weekend when I have her, Has anyone every introduced there own children into there act and whats the best way to go about it?
I was thinking I would clown about with a trick and she would come over and dod it correctly then I would try and fail and she would do it right?

Any ideas folks please?
Kind regards
Kris

I started working with my daughter when she was 5. I made sure that she had a few specific things to do in the show but that the show would not be diminished if she wasn't there that day. Get her a little costume so that the client knows she is part of the act as opposed to you not being able to find a babysitter.

Sometimes I used a Chair Suspension. I just presented it as me making my assistant float. When she wasn't there I used someone from the audience. I even built a large square circle that she appeared from.

Doing shows together was great fun.

It can work, just make sure that she serves as a performer and doesn't take the place of volunteers.

My daughter has been part of my show for some time but not my main assistant. although she was for my 45 state national tour recently.
(i have been raising her by myself since she was 6 months old and now 16) she is an accomplished magician in her own rights these days.


my suggestion is this.
make sure she is an assistant and not a volunteer.
you can magically produce her from a blammo or cube squared etc

you can use her for comedy bits such as leading the audience to think that you are about to do a trick and she (with the audience seeing her) removes some thing important thus the trick goes awry. such as MIT.

teach her a few really good tricks.

such as let her do the vanishing ketchup bottle
or
maybe do a teach a trick segment after you performed it such as a 3 cups with water and slush powder routine.
after you perform it say you will teach it (maybe instead of slush powder you use a sponge so that they can really do it at home with having to buy slush powder

but as you are teaching it have your daughter sneak out and visually remove the sponge after you have shown that is the secret.

then when you are taking each cup and dumping over your head when you say and this one has the sponge so no water comes out ---you dump it and water pours over your head,

the idea here is that if you are going to use her then make it count.

when I first started with my daughter I just produced her and that was it.
i did the rest of the show.

but as time went on she was more involved.


hope these suggestions help. it can be a lot of fun but the most important thing I can tell you is that you need to make sure she wants to do it please don't force her into the act.
she will resent it later in life.
done right it can be a great learning experience for her and help her with communication skills and confidence builder.

take care

sam

Great info, my girl has just turned 6 and is interested in joining me!Thanks!

My dad did this a few times when I was younger, his method was to involve me in a few tricks that would end up being a re-occuring gag.

I can say this as having been a kid in a show, make sure your kid wants to be part of the show (as you already stated she does) and make sure she understands what you want for her to do on and off the stage (I once wandered off and missed my que, leaving my dad high and dry).

Eddie Foy and the seven little Foys

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Foy,_Sr.

Bob Hope played Eddie in the movie

It might be a good idea to have a table design with a picture of you and your child on it, that attaches with magnets or velcro. So whenever you do a show together you have that image on your box, but you can take it off when working solo. Or have a spare roller banner with the picture on just for the occasion.

The reason being, if your artwork features the two of you, it might justify to some parents that they are apart of the actual show, and not just lack of babysitter issue.

I would work out a routine that you can open the show with, that features both of you. For example, D'lites passing between each others ears and the two of you fill the Lite up Bag. She can take the red lights of your ears, put them in your mouth. You can pull green lights out of her nose. A well timed routine featuring the two of you to open the show should be all you need to do the job.

My daughter used to come along with me occasionally. So did my son. My daughter loved being involved, but my son never did, so he would sit quietly with a book. But my daughter would sit with the other party goers, and occasionally help me. She pumped balloons, made swords, and always recited the alphabet backwards to show me up. She also looked after my puppet dog, whom she had a bit of a crush on.

The bottom line was that she did what she enjoyed, and when she stopped enjoying it, she stopped doing it.

One of my grandkids comes with me
and helps me with my show sometimes.
Todd

My oldest Grand-daughter was 6 when I started to use her as an assistant in my shows. She is now 14, and she could do an entire show by herself. She has now performed 2 years in a row at her Jr. High school, winning both years.
I have also started to use my 10 year old and my 9 year old Grand-daughters. They are both becoming good assistants, plus great roadies. They also help to control kids at the show. They also are learning to do magic, and they interact with me in my show.
I'm lucky to not only have them in my life doing what I and they love, but also being able to pass along what I enjoy to do one day.
Sure, there are times when I have to correct them, or mentor them in doing a better job. There are also shows that I do not use them, because I do not feel they are appropriate to have at a particular show.

I had two of my girls want to come along and be my assistant. They both started around age 9. my oldest liked the crowd handling, story telling and ballooning. The other one was all about the tricks. I would have only one come at a time wearing the same shirt I was wearing with my logo at that time. It really gave me and hopefully them some great memories now that they are too cool to tag along ( being 15 and 13 now), although they still do like to help with the routine and show writing process. Get those days while you can.

I had my daughter in the act when she was younger. She played all kinds of roles. Levitations (several methods), tipover chest, sword box, and eventually left the "on stage" roles to run my sound. She also participated in smaller tricks. BTW, I suggest that you pay her. I gave her $5 to spend and then put the rest in an IRA for her (she earned it). Now she is well on her way to financial independence; compounding interest is real magic.

Great feed back guys, anyone recommend any simple tricks for her to help out?

Oh Yes, I too pay all of my Grand-daughters. $10, for the oldest, who also makes money Face painting at the show, if the client requests it. $7 for my 10 year old, and $5 for my 9 year old. Sometimes the money goes into a savings account unless they are saving up for something.
Believe me they earn the money, as I bring a lot of stuff to my shows.
We also go out to eat a lot before or after a show which creates a lot of great memories.
To say that I win the Grand-father of the year award in their hearts is an understatement.

My daughter used to be my assistant.Great Dad and daughter time just the two of us. I met someone once at one of shows who was her fathers assistant, she was an older woman and told me what great memories she has of that time. Sadly her father passed away but the memories stayed.

Anyone recommend any routines that may work well with father and daughter?
Thanks.

We need to more about your show. An 8 year old can do a ton of things, depending on the size and style of your show. My 9 year old sister has been joining us since she was 5. She has done everything from ride a unicycle, cube zag illusion and other stage stuff to assisting with many other elements of our show.

My grandson used to juggle.
He's much better at it than I am.

I say absolutely involve your kids in the show. I've used all of mine since they were 2-3 years old. I've got several routines with them. Here's one of my favorites: https://youtu.be/DDQi4-ymrPY. It was taped 10 years ago, so now the girls are 12 & 14.