I know that it won't last but I thank God everyday that my daughter is only 5!

Best of Luck!!

Donald,

Thanks for the info. And, yes, I've searched the Café for this topic prior to posting. This thread provided just what I was looking for though.

Thanks again to everyone who is willing to share from their storehouse of knowledge and experience.

Scott .

lol. I can relate!

Just a quick update. Some people enjoy hearing how their advice has helped, so here it goes. This past weekend I had the opportunity to perform the show that started this thread.

I must say I couldn't have asked for a better bunch of 12 year old girls. I performed my coins from silk close-up routine, many routines from my family show, directed a couple of fun games (really more of an outlet for some personal expression), taught everyone how to make a basic balloon animal, and then made balloon animals for everyone. The show was really well received.

Oh yeah, I also perfomed one of John Zander's routines, Your Card. And it fryed everyone there. John has an excellent lecture. If you get a chance to see it, DON'T GO. I don't want everyone else using his material too .

Scott O.

When I do shows for this age group, I do an adult show (clean, always! ), and am sure to include mental epic (they seem to like mentalism, as well as magic). They also really like balloon hats at this age.

- Donald

Actually, one of the effects I did is a mentalism type effect. I display a small box containing an object, and I ask a few people to guess what is in the box. After a few guesses, I explain that there is a whole world full of items that might fit in the box. So, I have conveniently reduced it to about 30. Each of these is written on a slip of paper and placed into a bag. After reading 5 or six (like toy car, can of green beans, message from your Aunt Mabel) I give one person (in this case the Birthday girl) a chance to "do the magic." With a message of "you can do anything if you put your mind to it" I have her concentrate on the bag and then the box. I tell her "When you're ready, just dig into the bag and pull out one slip". Of course what's written on her slip and what is in the box, match. And she is amazed at her own ability, plus gets a nice little gift.

This is just the outline for the routine, but when fleshed out, it gets a nice reaction from everyone.

Scott .