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funemagic Loyal user Asheville NC 230 Posts |
What are some of your favorite openers for kids shows? Not including warm ups but rather the first bit of magic they see. I'm thinking 6-8yro here. I have a small production box to produce many colorful silks and streamers.
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
I have 2 magical openers that work quite well for me and do 2 things for me. 1) It shows that I am a magician and have skill and 2) that it shows the children that we are all there to have a lot of fun on the magical journey that will take place.
The first opener I use a lot is my magical and comical drawing board opener. This is where I come on not noticing the kids are there and begin dusting off the board that says magic show today. I get excited because I love magic shows and can't wait for the magician to arrive. Of course the children correct me and tell me I am the magician. I then proceed to do a portrait of the birthday kid and of course get things wrong, like making the kid bald, and the children correct me as the giggle. drawing a mustache on the kid also gets a laugh. The finished drawing comes to life and then introduces all the children to who I am and what the show is all about. There is music playing in the background and it makes for a fun opener for me. The other opener I use is for my festival shows when I know I have a family crowd and need to generate more interest for people that are walking by. I do a 3-4 minute magical act that is set to music and is very visual and colorful. I use productions of large silks, silks to blendos, feathers flowers, gloves to streamers etc. This is all set to upbeat lively music with a lot of choregographed movement. it works quite well to get everyone involved as well as generate more interest for my festival show. I hope these give you some ideas as to what has worked for me. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
AragorntheMagician Veteran user Metro-Atlanta 304 Posts |
I always have the Birthday Child (who has been "Made a Wizard for the DAY") handle the wand to see if the transfer of Magical Powers have worked and do a simple silk/thumb tip vanish with their friends saying the "Magic Word". The look of surprise/wonder/pride/joy on their face (the BDay kid) is truly Magical while their friends appluade.
Magically Yours, Aragorn the Magician aka: Bob
aka: I used to be BOB (It's Cellini's fault)
"All Right, Who's Volunteering to be Turned into a Frog???" www.aragornthemagician.com |
flourish dude Inner circle from ? But I know where I am going! 1195 Posts |
I use the silver sceptor or the color changing shoe lace
Nothing of the same will bring any change, take action today!
Just taking a step, is a step in the right direction because when you stop working, your dream dies. www.magicalmemories.us |
magicgeorge Inner circle Belfast 4299 Posts |
I like starting with multiplying balls
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Shadow Regular user Akron, OH 171 Posts |
I start with a sad/happy clown and go into the spot can.
Both are funny and somewhat magical and it sets the pace for the rest of the show |
magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Let me ask this if I may.
What are you trying to do and establish with your first magical effect and why is this important for you? Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
sperris Special user http://www.Anti-Conjuror.com 881 Posts |
I start out with a four-rope routine and a change bag with the birthday boy or girl. I have four small pieces of rope, they go in the bag, and they come out one whole long piece but there are knots where the ropes have apparently been tied together. I have the birthday child blow on the knots and one by one they pop off the rope, except for the middle one. It for some reason isn't working so I have them make a wish and then hold the knot and slide it off the rope.
Then I do the line where I say put the knot under your pillow tonight and in the morning there'll be a tooth there! Which usually gets a good laugh from both the kids and the adults. Throughout the routine there is comedy by-play with myself and the youngster such as me handing them the ropes but as I'm talking I'm moving my hand around with the rope and apparently don't notice the birthday child trying to grab the rope out of my hand, etc. things like that. sperris
DANSPERRY.COM
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funemagic Loyal user Asheville NC 230 Posts |
Kyle,
I’m trying to establish for the kids that the magic show is going to be funny, safe and amazing…for the adults I’d like them to sit up and pay attention too so they don’t wander off or talk in the back of the room. I want to give the kids, without needing to say so, permission to laugh and scream. Also I’m guessing most 6/7 years old. Maybe have never seen a live magician (or live entertainment period). I want to establish just what it is that a magician does and that I’m a nice guy who is not going to cut them in ½. I want the kids to know they are going to laugh, have fun and make some magic happen. Most of that should be covered in my warm up....so I guess that I want is a quick flash of magic that gets the grown ups attention, lets the kids see what a magician does and gets the kids involved. I also try and establish the theme of the show during this first trick. Maybe I’m expecting too much. Should I do something quick and visual, like a bare hands silk production and then go into the warm up? I’ve been doing kids shows for a long time but the one part of my show I’ve always tried to tweak some is the opening. I’ve never really been confident I’m making the best first impression I can possibly make. |
Emazdad Inner circle Plymouth UK 1954 Posts |
My first effect, I wont call it my opening as it's done after my opening, at the moment is Ribbon of fun, Last year it was my Organ Pipe routine, The year before that my silk Poke routine, the year before that a simple switch box silk productionincorporating mouth coils as a gag, Before that Metomorso spots. rather than a trick. all the routines have things in common, Not only the maximum use of comedy byplay and audience participation to let them know it's fun and they can shout etc. But I always end up with a silk or a ribbon which I can then use as a continuation gag throughout the show by tying a knot in it, putting it to one side and telling the kids if I touch it it's the end of the show. The birthday child then gets to put the ribbon/silk in a change bag at the end and magic themselves a little present.
Yours Funfully
Clive "Emazdad" Hemsley www.emazdad.com "Magic is a secret, without the secret there is no magic" Remember there are only 3 types of people in the world, those that can count and those that can't. |
Popo Loyal user Valparaiso, IN 219 Posts |
I have been opening with the mismade American flag. I let them all know that I like to say the pledge before we start. All the kids and the parents help and it is a riot. It gets them all involved and sets a nice tone for us to have a lot of fun. I have also never had a complaint about the use of the pledge. If I am in a school I do change it to saluting the troops overseas because of the problems with the pledge in schools.
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lhughes Regular user Canada 151 Posts |
I think that Miser's dream or some variation of this is always a great opener for children's shows. Kids love seeing coins pulled from behind their ears.
Sleightly yours,
Lorne |
Peter Marucci Inner circle 5389 Posts |
I'm with Lorne! The miser's dream is a great opener for kids' shows because kids don't seem to think that you are a "real" magician until you pull a coin from behind their ears.
To answer Kyle, as to "why" I use that as an opener, there are two basic reasons: First, it establishes me as a magician in their eyes, as I have already mentioned. Second, I start it slowly and build to a climax, giving the kids a chance to settle down and get into the mood. This gives me control of the room, too. |
Leo B. Domapias Loyal user 297 Posts |
Peter,
Which do you think is the more effective way to present the Miser's Dream? As a silent act (with music in the background) or as a talking act (with magician having a running commentary of what he is doing)? I love the elegance of the musically scored Miser's Dream, but the music sometimes drowns the sound of the coins dropping inside the bucket. I think that the trick is less convincing when the coins tossed into the bucket cannot be heard clinking. Ben Benjay Manila, Philippines |
magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
This is why you need a good sound system and one in which your stereo and your mic are on separate channels. This way you can use the music as background only and can still have yourself miced up so that the coins are very audible over the system.
I use this at the festivals I do and it works great. I use a Fender Passport 150 system. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
carlomagic Regular user 116 Posts |
Hello there,
A variation on Misers Dream that uses a big, colourful money box - My favourite opener. I tell a quick story to go alongside the actions, to establish the ground etc... Marucci, I agree with every single word! You could not have summed up my approach more accurately. As regards to music, for me there is music just before, and then music that kicks in at the climax, with enough of a rest for me to tell the story of how I came to be a magician, alongside the Misers Dream/Money box routine. After quite a bit of trial and error, it is the opener I am going to stick with as far as I can currently imagine. Regards, Carlo |
The Wizard of Hearts Veteran user Tulsa, Oklahoma 323 Posts |
I like anything that's quick, visual, and attention-getting.
For years I used the Vanishing Coke Bottle, and before that (when I still used doves), a 24" silk production to splitting silks, and then dove from silks. These days I alternate between a P&L vanishing wand (re-appearing in my sock) and a non-patter routine to music (which will soon be replaced by a 1 1/2 minute routine to up-tempo music with The Sphere.) |
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