|
|
Go to page 1~2 [Next] | ||||||||||
DATMagic Veteran user Shreveport, La 302 Posts |
Hey guys,
Let me apologize up front if I overlooked this post in the index, but the closest post I found was for 3 and 4 year olds. I have been doing kids magic shows for almost 4 years now as a hobby but stay pretty well booked through out the year. I've done several corporate events and parties, wedding receptions, dinner parties, and school shows, but I have always turned down the first birthday party unless they were really looking for an entertainer for the older kids and adults. Well I guess I got over heated yesterday because I accepted a gig for a toddler turning 1 and the oldest the other children will be is 3. I pitched a 20 minute magic show and then balloons for the kids, which my wife/assistant will do for another 30 minutes or till all the kids, about 15, have a balloon/replacement balloon. Please give me some ideas on what to do, my list, which I'm starting to second guess is: Coloring Book, Bubble Surprise, Rabbit Production, Color changing silk streamer, mikame butterfly?, rocky?, peanut butter and jelly?, stratosphere?, sponge balls or rabbits?, lota bowl?, tea kettle?. I just booked the party yesterday for June 12th, but I'm already wondering if I should have just turned this one down too. David
David A Trombetta
DAT does the Trick DATdoestheTrick.com email [email]DATMagic@aol.com[/email] |
|||||||||
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Puppets or story telling. You realize it is not bad to turn down show offers if a magician doesn't fit.
|
|||||||||
BIGmagiclV Veteran user 375 Posts |
Plus, my personal rule is not to do balloons for any age younger than 4 due to the hazards inherent with choking and such. D'lites would be something I would suggest for that age. I've used it to stop crying babies!
|
|||||||||
themagiciansapprentice Inner circle Essex, UK 1381 Posts |
Look at Terry Herbert's dvd "Magic for the Under-fives" (clips may be on youTube.) From it you'll see you need to use magic they can relate to eg pussy cats, Nursery Rhymes, SILLY events rather than just magic, Puppets in silly situations.
I'd have looked at face-painting instead of balloons. It works well for this age-group, often they just want a rosette or small badge rather than all their face covering. Balloons ... not this young
Have wand will travel! Performing children's magic in the UK for Winter 2014 and Spring 2015.
|
|||||||||
Flymo Regular user 151 Posts |
I would suggest puppets and storybooks. Take your time with everything. Allow the kids to interact with the puppet; 'feed' it, pat it, hug it and talk to it (if you have the skills!). This goes for the story too. Go really slow and be very prominent with your body language.
At least if the kids aren't old enough to speak they can't give you a bad review (does crying count?). I kid; you'll be fine! |
|||||||||
Red Shadow Inner circle 1788 Posts |
Do you normal show.
I know it might not be perfect, but unless you are planning on accepting more gigs at this age-group, its not worth your time and trouble to prepare an entire new act, just for a one-off performance. The client knows you cannot entertain a 1 year old, the child doesn't even speak yet. They just hired you to look good in front of the other adults. Do your normal show, exactly as you would normally do it. You will face a number of new problems which you can compensate for during the performance itself. But most of the real problems will be unavoidable, such as the parents talking. At this age group, they ALL stay and talk. There's no going about it. Balloons should not be given to any child under 3 years old. It says so in your public liability form and you don't want to risk a child swallowing it. I few things to note is that they love to WATCH, and not participate. Don't force any child up, and don't pull out anything from behind their ears, they won't like it. They love puppets, so maybe do more with Rocky. Steve |
|||||||||
harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
When they were all under 3, (mostly age 1 and 2) I literally was down on the ground..with balls..musical instruments and as above lots of puppets.
When there is a 1 year old (most of these I have found were delightful families from India), I as suggested above did my regular show..as the 1 year old celebrant was just there for photo ops...choose these carefully. You can get lots of referrals. Isn't it great to share our gifts during family celebrations! Harris
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
|||||||||
Skip Way Inner circle 3771 Posts |
In place of balloons, give the children the 7" beach balls available from Oriental Trading. In bulk they run around a quarter a piece. They're individually wrapped for cleanliness, won't break into swallowable bits, are pretty much bite proof and the toddlers LOVE them! I use my Balloon Buoy to blow them up in a snap. children in strollers and high chairs, tie two balloons (260 or 160) together as a tether so Mom & Dad don't have to continually chase the ball across the floor.
As for the show, you already have some great advice above. If your audience is entirely under 3, get down on their level. Be prepared for curious, exploring hands. Speak clearly with lots of facial expression and silly body language. Keep it colorful and place greater emphasis on being silly than magical. Children this age won't understand general magic, but they will appreciate things that go wrong, silly noises, look-don't-see and anything that creates a laugh. If you choose to do your normal show, encourage the parents to sit with and hold their toddlers. If the parents are laughing the children will emulate them and everyone will be entertained. Most of the one-year parties that I've done have been for Indian and Middle East families. Older children are always present, so I just perform my standard Eight-and-under party show. The toddlers generally take their lead from the older children.
How you leave others feeling after an Experience with you becomes your Trademark.
Magic Youth Raleigh - RaleighMagicClub.org |
|||||||||
LMLipman Elite user Falls Church, Va. 443 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-06-07 08:42, Harris wrote: About 10 percent of my birthday party shows are one-year-old celebrations. Most of those are for Indian families, but I've also had several Hispanic and other ethnic groups. Again, these are really family shows with a wide range of kids' ages and often the adults watching as well. And as Harris said, you can get a lot of referrals. I've done shows for one family three times and frequently get calls from parents who have seen me at other one-year-old parties. Magicians who pass on these are really missing a great opportunity. If your show really is just for the toddlers, do as much puppetry as possible. Lots of look-don't-see. And plan to spend the entire show either on your knees or sitting down. Don't expect them to react to something magical, they don't understand that magic happenend. Silly works best. |
|||||||||
DATMagic Veteran user Shreveport, La 302 Posts |
Great advice guys, and very much appreciated. I think I'm going to work in everyone's advice and slow down, add a puppet and some noise makers, be prepared to sit on the floor with them, and pull from my regular show and let the adults have some fun too.
Thanks again for everyone's input! David
David A Trombetta
DAT does the Trick DATdoestheTrick.com email [email]DATMagic@aol.com[/email] |
|||||||||
harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
Keep it simple, this is not Broadway, but as I was told by a consumer last Saturday, "it is Broadway to them"
I love the little ones and the big ones. God loves us all. harrsi
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
|||||||||
Bernie Balloons Elite user N.Y.C. 480 Posts |
This is going to be a rough show. Just hold on and smile. Also keep your self at their level so get down on the floor so they can see what you are doing.
|
|||||||||
Mary Mowder Inner circle Sacramento / Elk Grove, CA 3659 Posts |
Skip Way makes a good suggestion with the Beach Balls. Be sure to explain why to the Mom.
Hand clapping, finger wiggling and Music have been suggested by a friend who does shows for the one year olds (they really are often family shows in the end). Expect wandering and have fun with it. It could be worse (it could be me). - Mary Mowder |
|||||||||
danryb Special user 506 Posts |
Just a few days away.
don't be nervous and as above do what you do and do best. you might be surprised and you may find that some of the parent arrive with older brothers and sisters (this is not rare) and you may find you have a larger than expected audience of 3's and above who will be more adhered to you and to your show and in turn this will assist the younger ones who look up to the older ones and generally copy them (i.e. if older ones clap - little ones will too). Yes - you can turn down shows (I generally ONLY turn down shows that are taking place in open parks that do not have electric facility) but my theory is NEVER turn down a show. Every show provides another challenge and helps strengthen you as a performer and to gain more ever so important experience. I am pretty sure that successful entertainers are successful more than others because they have had the opportunity to accumulate more experience from performing in lots of different venue types. Enjoy, Dani |
|||||||||
Brian Lehr Inner circle Edmonton, Canada 1605 Posts |
I did a show for a one-year old Filipino baby last month. (I've done a few of these over the years). This one was held at a local Filipino restaurant, where they booked half the restaurant. So, while the show was going on, people from the other half of the restaurant (and it was full), could see and enjoy the show as well.
After the show, the owner of the restaurant asked me to leave some of my business cards for her, since some of the patrons were asking about booking me. Two days later I got a call from one of the patrons, booking me for their upcoming celebration for their one-year old child. That party will be taking place in two weeks, at the same restaurant. I'm greatly looking forward to it, as they also *insist* that I partake of the buffet before the show. Here is the show I did in the 45-minute show: 1. Miser's Dream 2. 5-Card Repeat 3. Color Changing Wreaths 4. Hat Tear -- boy helper 5. Card to Mouth -- girl helper 6. Bill to Lemon -- 3 adult helpers 7. Benny the Bunny (puppetry) 8. Straitjacket Escape Although only the puppetry was strictly for the kids, and I took the coins for the Miser's Dream from the ears of all the kids, everyone enjoyed the show, and the kids sat attentively on the floor in front of me for the whole time. So, don't just do a show for the *kids*, do it for the family, and you'll do fine. Brian |
|||||||||
Mr. Pitts Inner circle David Pitts 1058 Posts |
There's good advice here. I've done many, many one year old parties. Make the show for the whole family, but tone it down a little for the babies. One thing that moms like is for me to have at least one trick where mom can hold the birthday child while they 'help' me do a trick. I do a change bag routine for this where we turn white balloons into colored balloons. In the arms of mom, even a 1 year old can reach into the bag and pull out a (magically colored) balloon. It's a nice closer/segue, and gives the audience a chance to applaud the birthday child, plus it's a great photo op for the family.
"It's Broadway to Them".. I really like that, Mr. Harris. |
|||||||||
DATMagic Veteran user Shreveport, La 302 Posts |
Thanks guys and gal!
To be honest, I've had the phone in my hand several times getting ready to call the client and give her any reason at all for her to back out of hiring me, and several reasons why I had to cancel myself, but after reading the last of these posts, I've got my confidence back and know that the show I perform will be well liked by most of the people that attend. Although it will probably be more of a learning experience than most shows, it will be good to get some additional experience for the next 1 year old show I perform at ---- or not! Thanks everyone, David
David A Trombetta
DAT does the Trick DATdoestheTrick.com email [email]DATMagic@aol.com[/email] |
|||||||||
Cesar Munoz Veteran user 370 Posts |
Hi Dat,
There's a lot of great advice here on how to turn lemons into lemonade. I just checked my database and 20% of all of my shows are 1st birthdays. I love doing them because if you do a great job, they want to bring you back for the 4th or 5th birthday so the child can enjoy your show for the first time. Before accepting one of these shows--I confirm that a majority of the kids are going to be between 4 and 9 years in age. In those cases where the kids are going to be mostly 1-3 year olds, I suggest they find a storyteller or puppeteer. Different strokes for different folks, that's just how I handle it. I mainly have two reasons for doing this 1) On those rare occasions where I've been blindsided by an audience with a lot of 2 and 3 year olds--I find it very stressful (kind of like herding cats) and 2) most importantly, I believe my show is better suited for an audience of primarily 4 - 9 year olds--so why should I take this show, when someone who is more confident with this age group or specializes in this age group can do a better job. Cheers, Cesar |
|||||||||
Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
One year old children don't give a darn about magic. A one year old bdparty is really a family party, and your audience will be from 1 to 81, so do your regular family show.
My interpertation of regular family show is: use the cutest kids as volunteers, make them giggle, the adults will love it.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
|||||||||
Alan Munro Inner circle Kentwood, Michigan, USA 5952 Posts |
I agree that the show is really for the older kids and the adults, but I make sure that the parent understands this when they book me. Occasionally, I'll encounter a parent that thinks their one year old can follow a magic show. In those situations, I really have to wonder about the parent. Most parents are realistic and realize that most of the group would rather have a magic show, than something that entertains the toddler.
|
|||||||||
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The little darlings » » 1 year old Birthday Party-Help! (0 Likes) | ||||||||||
Go to page 1~2 [Next] |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.04 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |