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Magician in the Spotlight
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"Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality. " - Jules de Gautier
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Joe Gilmour
Nine of Diamonds
Patter Count:23
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| 04/23/2008 1:23 PM |
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As some of you already know, I have only performed for family and friends, and for my pupils at school.
I’ve been asked to do a performance at the Wedding of some friends of our family in July. Whilst I am quite nervous about this, I am also very excited. I feel I am ready to take my magic outside of my comfort zone. Besides, unless I actually get out there and do some magic, what is the point of all the learning and practice?
They want me to do a spot when the guests arrive at the reception, to keep some of them (particularly the children) occupied while they wait for the Bride/Groom/Family to have their photographs taken.
Now, here’s the thing… most (nearly all) the magic I do is with cards. I love playing with cards! But I realise that just card tricks, no matter how good, will not keep their interest for too long.
Given the relatively short time left, can you suggest some tricks and/or props I could could use to liven up my repertoire? I’m not very confident with coins. I have ‘Bobo’s modern Coin Magic’, but just can’t get to grips with coin manipulation the way I can with cards.
My presentation tends towards the comedy end of the magic spectrum and, being a teacher, I think I have a good rapport with kids. Now I’m not expecting to become Children’s Entertainer of the Year in three months (or ever!), but I do need to add a little variety. What do you think?
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Cardin
Five of Clubs
Patter Count:27
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| 04/23/2008 7:00 PM |
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If you have sponge balls, I constantly hear of how much of a marvel they are with children, and I've also seen this to be true. Also, if you have an Invisible Deck, that can work wonders. Otherwise, it's always a good idea to do stuff that can be done in the hands. I wish I could give you more advice, but while I do some children's stuff, I'm rather limited in that area as well. I've also seen that if you do Color Changing decks, it gets their attention.
Hopefully, someone will be able to give you more guidance, but at least i tried |
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Janos
Ten of Clubs
Patter Count:61
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| 04/24/2008 3:27 PM |
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Cardin has some good points. Anything extremely visual is Kid fodder, so to speak. I did magic 3 days a week for a year for kids under 5, and had to think on my feet. They remember everything you do, it always makes a big impact. Sponge balls are great as you can work a kid or 2 into the routine, always a hit. Color changes are awesome, no remembering the 6 of puppy feet (clubs, ha ha). Productions work very well. Rope routines are also a given. Coin tricks like Matrix, or productions and vanishes. Now that the repertoir is covered, here's what I've personally found to work:
1: Get down to their level, not mentally, height wise.
2: INVOLVE them in the trick
3: The more hands on, the better.
4: Sometimes, if the effect can adjust, act as suprised as they are, that works for very visual stuff.
It boils down to connecting more than anything else. As a teacher you understand this, but in a different sense, I know. It may be nerve-racking to refigure your material this way, but I'll tell you one thing, it's worth it. I can testify. The smiles and even the laughter, prompted by the trick or a mess up is magical in itself.
Good Luck,
Janos |
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Joe Gilmour
Nine of Diamonds
Patter Count:23
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| 04/25/2008 4:29 PM |
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Thanks guys. Food for thought. I have never used sponge balls, but I can see the appeal for kids. As for acting as surprised as they are... I usually am! |
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Janos
Ten of Clubs
Patter Count:61
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| 04/26/2008 12:27 PM |
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Don't worry about the card penchant, it can work too. I'm mostly a card magician myself. It's all in the presentation. Just follow the points above and just about anything you do will be a hit with small children. Like I said, it's in the connection.
Janos |
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magick
Patter Count:33
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| 04/26/2008 3:05 PM |
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you said you did mostly card magic...well at places such as walmart you can get lots of great decks with bugs bunny, or scooby doo....and many others.
if you use these cards, then tricks that make little sence to kids, can take on new meaning....allowing you to get more mileage out of the material you already do. |
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Joe Gilmour
Nine of Diamonds
Patter Count:23
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| 04/28/2008 1:40 PM |
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Thanks again guys, your comments about cards gives me a bit more confidence. The idea of Scooby Doo cards is brilliant. A bit easier than the’ 6 of puppy feet’! |
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Janos
Ten of Clubs
Patter Count:61
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| 04/28/2008 2:00 PM |
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| I bet, or does it really make it the 6 of puppy feet? The world may never know, ha ha ha ha.............. |
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DanteAmor
Forum Moderator
Patter Count:167
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| 05/09/2008 11:27 AM |
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You said youre not great with coins but check out Chris Capehart's Miser Dream, it is fairly easy, visual and fun. You can also produce all the coins, using the kid, and let them keep the coins, to be generous.
A good rope act could be fun, having them "cut" the rope with their fingers and moving the knot everywhere. You could also do a little story using Professors Nightmare.
Check out the Magic Nook. (www.magicnook.com) they have a lot of stuff you can buy (the blueprints) and make on your own, customized to your liking. |
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Joe Gilmour
Nine of Diamonds
Patter Count:23
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| 05/22/2008 3:14 PM |
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I had a look at the Magic Nook site. What a strange and interesting collection of stuff they seem to have there! Have you tried any of it?
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Alexander
Patter Count:2
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| 06/06/2008 10:43 AM |
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| Anything with spongeballs or even bouncy balls attract kids attentions. Simplistic Vanishings are also a big thing with kids. they love it. Especially when you make it reappear. |
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Joe Gilmour
Nine of Diamonds
Patter Count:23
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| 06/06/2008 1:04 PM |
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I got Steve Dacri's Spongeball Toolbox and DVD a couple of weeks ago, and have been working on that. I always thought spongeballs were a bit naff, but they are actually a lot of fun! Have tested them out on nephews and nieces, and some of the kids in school, great reactions!
One nice bonus, once you get used to vanishes and steals with the sponge balls, you can often use the same technique to vanish other objects.
I also got Multiplying Spongeballs. A bit limited, you can only do the one effect, where the regular spongeballs have many effects/routines. But again, great reactions from kids and adults.
Another area I have been experimenting with is silks. Again, like the spongeballs, perhaps a little passé (I feel like a proper 1960s TV magician!). Again, not exactly cutting edge, but great fun to play with.
This has been a valuable exercise for me and I am discovering, and enjoying, new (to me) areas of magic. I suppose, thinking about it, I shouldn’t be surprised these things are such fun, or that they work so well. They have, after all, stood the test of time.
Thanks again guys for the help and advice, especially those who sent personal messages through the forum. Still a few weeks before I do the wedding. I will let you all know how I get on.
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Aus
Patter Count:7
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| 07/07/2008 5:20 PM |
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The recipe for children’s magic is essentially the same as most other children performances. It needs to be active, sometimes visual (but not all the time) and involve the children in one for or another.
Here are some ideas that are direct from my own children’s act, I give full presentations.
The Great Ace Race (aka: Cards Across)
"Hello boys and girls, my name is The Wizard of Aus, and I won’t to ask you guys a very important question." With these words a very serous look graces the face of the performer. "You see, I want to know what the first letter of the alphabet is, do any of you know?" a number of children soon tell the performer what the first letter is. "Yes, that’s right, ‘a” is the first letter of the alphabet, but do you know why “a” is the first letter of the alphabet?” "It’s because it’s the fastest letter in the alphabet, but many people think “f” is because it's the first letter in the word fast".
“Who would like to see how fast the letter ‘a” is?”
After a varied response from the audience the performer picks two children who stand to each side of the performer.
The performer hands the deck to one child and asks him/her to deal seven cards, which when finishing, the magician hands the remainder of the cards to the other child who deals ten into the magicians other hand.
"Now if we need to show how fast the aces are, we need the aces", which matching the actions to words the performer extracts the three aces from his pocket. "We will place them in this pile here", which he places the aces in the pile containing seven cards making the total ten.
"To make the first ace travel, we need this", upon his closing words the performer takes a flag gun from his case. "Could I please have another person come on stage here and hold this in the air, and on the count of three pull the trigger", following the magicians instructions the helper does so and the flag pops out of the barrel of the gun with the word BANG.
To the humour of the children you count the cards to reveal there are but nine there.
"One has left, now we need to get the next ace to go, but this time I want everyone to pull the most ugly face they can so we can scare the next ace to the next pile", "Ok on the count of three...one...two...THREE". After the laughter has died down you recount the pile you counted previously to show there is only eight cards there now.
Now we have to make the last ace go, boys and girls, now how should we make the last ace jump to the next pile, does anyone have any suggestion?”
No doubt at this stage you will hear a number of suggestions which can be very humorous sometimes, but the performer takes one of the suggestions and then uses it to make the final ace go over to the next pile, repeating the count to show seven cards this time.
Its worth for backup reasons to have a third humorous way to make the final ace jump in case the situation occurs where no good suggestions a made. One such example is to find a queen from the remainder of the deck and say to the kids that this queen is the final aces girlfriend, so all the kids are to wolf whistle, to make the final ace jump, but I leave this final part to the performers own discretion.
Since some one has already suggested sponge balls I will supply a routine of mine.
Sponge Balls
Sponge Balls
Well boys and Girls, I was walking down to your party I bumped into some clowns up the street, and there noses fell off. I tried to give them back but the clowns walked away.
So now I have these 3 clown noses and I won’t to show you some funny things they can do.
What I need first are two helpers. You stand here (to the left) and you here (to the right).
Now put your left hands into a fist like this. Now if I put a clown nose into your hand and one in you’re as well, and I keep the other I can make them travel.
I need my magic wand for this (after a wave of the wand the hand is shown empty). Could you open your hand please (pointing to the spectator to his left clenched fist). You now have two noses. \
Now I’ll take your two noses and place them into my fist and they will travel to your hand (the magician follows his words with actions waving the wand over his fist as he did before).
See you have three noses now, you’re very nosey indeed. Now have you ever smelt a flower and sneezed? Watch when a clown smells a flower. The magician takes a ball from the second helper and places it in a fist like before. The magician makes a few up and down movements with his wrist to simulate a smelling action. The flower wilts as if dying.
Ahchoo., see ah two (a small play on words that soon after the magician takes two balls that appear into each hand).
Now we all know what happened to parnoceio when he told a lie, his nose would grow. But clowns noses grow in a different way. You have to water them (with those remarks the magician brings out the mini watering can). New I will hold the nose in this hand and you take the watering can and give it a water for me. Well look at that, (the magician opens his hand to show the ball has grown twice the size).
Comments:
Now that’s two routines out of my working repertoire for children. Hope that helps. Another card effect that works well and one you might like to explore is Card on forehead. Bill Abbott uses it in his restaurant set for children on his Stand up magic for Children DVD.
Magically
Aus |
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Joe Gilmour
Nine of Diamonds
Patter Count:23
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| 07/08/2008 2:49 PM |
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Hi Aus
Thanks for that. The Great Ace Race sounds brilliant. What a great way to present cards across! I will be trying it out as soon as possible. Thanks again. Joe |
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Aus
Patter Count:7
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| 07/09/2008 7:47 PM |
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I'm Glad you like you like it Joe. It was one of two routines I have had published in Tom Boleware's Daycare Magician Book http://magicbook.homestead.com/
As a side note I developed this routine due to an augment that had been pursuing on the magic café for sometime that children and card tricks could not be done. 1) Because children at a young age don’t know the suits of a playing card. 2) That asking children to remember cards (i.e.: pick a card) was a dangerous situation for them performance wise as children often forgot their card or more specifically how to articulate their selection due to their unfamiliarity with playing cards.
My counter argument to this was that presentation was key, and even at a young age children knew how to count and say the letters of the alphabet, making the values of the cards less of a problem then the suits them selves. But even the suits could be familiar to children if they were able denoted in terms that children could understand. Clubs (puppy paws), Spades (bucket & spade), Diamonds and Hearts (both self explanatory to children as most know these already with out any need of association).
Anyway, I sure you would agree that my point was well made with The Great Ace Routine.
Magically
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