|
|
Go to page 1~2 [Next] | ||||||||||
Matthew Jones Loyal user 224 Posts |
I'm talking with a magician right now and she's got a gig for a kids party for a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds in August and the only things she has are:
ropes three decks of normal cards Kids Kards Out Of This World deck magic colouring book and a raven so as you can see she doesn't have a whole lot of stuff that would constitute a show and I don't want her to make a fool of herself so what would be some nice easy magic that would be great for kids? She doesn't have a lot of money to pay for some stuff like that Card Duck or the Hippity Hop Rabbits so it would need to be somewhat cheap and not hard to do, I really would like her to succeed in her first show so please would somebody answer this? Hope to hear from somebody soon. Sincerely, Matthew |
|||||||||
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
There is something called The Grandmothers Neclace principle that uses two ropes. The idea is you tie bandanas or plastic bracelet type rings, or plastic coffee cups to the rope and then and your command they fall off. Children can help hold the ropes.
She can easily make up a set of 21st Century Silks using bandanas or scarves. Get some cocktail napkins and she can do torn and restored napkin, I do this as a fail, fail, fail, succeed. She can go to the magic shop and get a TT and a couple silks. She can make a devils hank to vanish items out of bandanas or hankies. She can get a cheap puppet and work it to death.... Get an envelope with a sheet of paper in it. Get two sets or make two sets of finger puppets Tell her to leave the cards, and raven at home. I don't know what out of this world cards or kids cards are. There you go, a complete magic show for a few bucks. Let me know if you have any questions. |
|||||||||
Mr. Pitts Inner circle David Pitts 1058 Posts |
For this age group she only needs about 25 minutes.
A rabbit in the hat puppet, Folkmanis sells a decent one for fairly cheap..$15 or so. A copy of 'Realm of the Rabbit". A good inexpensive book with lots of ideas for the rabbit. She can get a good 10 minutes from these two items. More really, but ten easy. the magic colring book is good a silk and a thumbtip ropes are fine - professors nightmare a d'light Visual, direct stuff. Look don't see bits (the rabbit is great for this. Have a plan, a routine, an act, just like you would for grown-ups. Talk to the kids, guess their names (guess funny names), pull coins from their ears and elbows. There's lots of stuff you can do for kids that doesn't require big expensive props. If she has some magic skills and a friendly personality she'll be able to work up something resembling an act in this much time. Don't wait though, tell her to start working now and try out her ideas on actual kids. It'll build her confidence and give her some idea of what works and what doesn't |
|||||||||
Matthew Jones Loyal user 224 Posts |
Thanks for the replies guys and I'm still talking with her about it and MagicSanta, Kids Kards is this: http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=899
She does know how to do that Fiber Optics rope routine but do you think that would be too long of a routine for a kids show? Also that stuff is all she has learned at all, she just started learning magic a few months ago. Also, do you think that Fizz Master by Paul Harris and GUM by Jeff Prace would be good effects to perform for kids? I've had some great reactions with those effects when performing them for kids. Here's a link to GUM: http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=2054 both of them have got me some great reactions from both kids and adults. At first I was actually thinking of telling her to pick up Strip by Jose' LacQuest because it uses a breath strip container, but the best effect in it uses cards, you think it would be one of those rare card effects you could perform for kids? Here's the link to it: http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=2049 Thanks again for your help guys and I'll let her know what both of you said. Sincerely, Matthew |
|||||||||
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
I don't know gum but the cards look cool. Fiber Optics can be broken down to make it shorter.
Other tricks are the old ribbon cutting in a sleeve of paper, paper coils and torn paper to hat, both which can be made by yourself. Anything with color and that is like you are playing with the children works. You do not have to buy expensive props to entertain the lil guys. |
|||||||||
Matthew Jones Loyal user 224 Posts |
Ok. so do you think that having the rope routine about 5 minutes would be pushing it or would that be alright? Also she doesn't know anything except the stuff I listed. Do you think that Fizz Master effect would be good for a kids show? Basically you make all the carbonation from a shaken up can of pop transpose with another can of pop that hasn't been shaken up. I tried it at my mom's school during a fun day last year and I got some great reactions with it, especially when I brought out one of those cocktail umbrellas and said to the group of 12 kids, "Here, for those of you who don't want to get wet you can hide underneath this umbrella." that got me a huge laugh.
Also I bought this effect called the Annihilation Deck by Cameron Francis, here it is: http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=S12277 and basically one of the bonus effects teaches this really cool card at any number effect and I haven't tried it on kids yet but basically you have a spectator select a card from a red deck of cards and you have a blue deck of cards which you don't touch throughout the entire routine and when they deal down to their number they freely selected it's a perfect match. I'm still debating if that would wow the kids or not but you never know, but the traditional Annihilation Deck is more to my liking and would appeal to kids more than that one I described. Hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, Matthew |
|||||||||
Ed_Millis Inner circle Yuma, AZ 2292 Posts |
Personally, I think the best advice you could give her is to wave off the show!
-- She's just started learning, but you're going to throw her to the wolves in 2 months??! -- She's just started learning a hodge-podge of "tricks", with nothing except canned routines; she has zero experience in routining a show start to finish, never mind handling interruptions. But you're going to send her out as a professional entertainer??! -- You're looking at tricks to buy that you don't know if they fit her performing personality because she doesn't have one, you're asking if cards go over for a 4-to-5 year old audience (they don't!! read through the posts here!!), but you are giving her advice??! At least get "Seriously Silly" by David Kaye ("Silly Billy"). And read it at least once a week until you do the show. Look - learning tricks is the easy part! Learning to be entertaining is the hard part - which is why too many beginners buy a trick that entertains _them_ and think that if _they_ perform it then _they_ will be entertaining! NOT!! The trick you saw on Penguin's demo video entertained you because it was performed by a skilled entertainer. To acheive the same effect on *your* audience, *you* must be as skilled AT ENTERTAINING!!, not just "working the trick". When you think "magic show", emphasis the SHOW, not the magic. I have bored kids and adults alike with great tricks that worked perfectly because *I* wasn't able to show them = I wasn't entertaining. And I'm now beginning to learn how to keep kids engaged (entertained) with a TT, a change bag, some silks, and a coloring book. Oh, and a 99-cent 5-foot magic wand. The tricks are not the magic - the SHOW is the magic. Be the master of the show, not the doer of tricks. And that's not likely to happen in 2 months. Ed |
|||||||||
Matthew Jones Loyal user 224 Posts |
I told her not to do it myself but she said she wants the experience and she can't afford to get that Seriously Silly DVD or book she has almost no money for anything but she still wants to do the show so you don't need to criticize her for not being experienced enough at least she's trying to get better.
|
|||||||||
Chad C. Inner circle 1522 Posts |
Wants the experience...what kind of experience does she want - a bad one. Why not FIRST put together a kids show and THEN accept a show. Get experience once a show is in place. As she is just starting out and doesn't know much magic except what she has bought recently - this is a disaster waiting to happen.
OR does the parents of these kids know her and are just wanting some free entertainment and are willing to let her try something for the first time - if so, then that's another story. But if they are paying for this and think she is a "real" magician - it could be a bad experience and a serious letdown for the parents who are booking the program... I would advise to turn it down again... |
|||||||||
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
It is hard to fail for that age and if she isn't charging them then she has a place to fail and learn. If there is an expectation of a pro show then I'm with the put it off group only because people should get what they pay for.
|
|||||||||
Ed_Millis Inner circle Yuma, AZ 2292 Posts |
Why does every new person take a negative statement as criticism? Did it ever occur to you that what to you appears as a "slam" or a criticism just might be a more experienced performer telling you where he almost died as a performer?
I have lived by the advice I was once given: "Every beginner needs someplace to be bad!" It's true - there is nothing that will help you grow like experience. But there's a world of difference between taking swimming lessons and jumping off the end of the pier! She doesn't have kid's material and doesn't know how to routine for kids. You don't either and you're trying to help her. It reminds me of one of my kids who at age 14 told me - "I know how to drive - I've played the video game!" Having taught four kids to drive (including him!), I knew enough to pound into them that just because you know enough to go around the block, it doesn't mean you're ready to take on rush hour! Okay - that's driving, where you can rack up some serious damage with a small mistake. And this is magic, where you can bumble through an entire show and still get paid at the end, and nobody gets hurt. But if there's a real desire to improve, then there's a little bit of your soul in your performance. (If there isn't, then you have no business performing!) And you're either honest enough to admit when you're in too deep, or you risk damage to that bit of soul. There's a difference between taking on a challenge that you think you can handle, and saying "Yes" to a customer and then scrambling around trying to find out how to fulfill your promise. If this is a very small-circle situation (performing for friend or family on a request, and both the performer as the client know you're possibly not up to the task), then you might get away with doing no damage with a face-plant performance. But if this is to be the opening gun of a career move, then you carry all of us with you. Because you represent not just yourself, but _all_ magicians when you go out there. And the taste you leave in that person's mouth is going to color how they see all of us. (You may not belive that - but that would just prove your lack of experience.) Again, I'm sorrowful (as opposed to sorry/apologetic) that you see this as "criticism". But we who do this for real and for profit aas well as for fun tend to take it very seriously. And we assume that anyone else who wants to "do magic" probably wants to know what we know, which also means this aspect must be in your thinking. At least do this: -- Go on YouTube and watch Silly Billy and Mr Greggy. Watch how they interact with the kids, how much "magic" as opposed to how much interaction. -- Mr Greggy used to have a PDF download of a routine with multiple wands. I can;t find it now - he's changed his web site. But you might contact him and ask about it (http://www.mistergreggyparty.com/ContactUs/). You probably can;t do the routine, but you could learn a lot by reading through it. -- Scour the threads on this site and see if you can get a sense of what works and what doesn't. -- Come up with a character for her - maybe just an exaggeration of herself, or maybe someone totally made-up (princess, wizard, cowgirl, whatever). And *that* "person" does the magic. So what does that person do? And how does she do it? And how does she respond the the magic and the kids? -- Go to the New to Magic forum and read a lot there, too. You've only got two months to go from zero to 60! Good luck!! Ed |
|||||||||
Matthew Jones Loyal user 224 Posts |
Thanks for the help and it isn't me that's doing the show, I don't perform kids shows just adults teens and families and she's just doing this as a volunteer because she got hired by the person in charge of the Variety event organizer for her kids 5th Birthday and she really wants to do it but I just hope that she doesn't embarrass herself too much to where she'd become a Youtubian Magician.
If she had the money for whatever she wanted to get I would tell her to get that TT DVD by Darwin and that Seriously Silly DVD as well and pick up some TT's and silks and that Hippity Hop Rabbits and she'd have an entire kids show right there and we've been working on a character for her as well. She'll have glasses that are similar to Silly Billy's and wear one of those oversized hats and we haven't really talked about what pants and shirt she would wear and she said her dad makes balloon animals so she'll have him teach her how to do that and do you know if they make those Blendo flags with the Canadian flag? I heard somewhere that they are great for kids parties. I hope I don't sound rude but I've had a lot of bad experiences online with people who say they're helping when in fact they're just saying, "We don't like helping people so figure it out yourself and then you can ask us for help." types of attitude and I get tired of hearing the same thing over and over again when all I want is an answer that sounds more like bashing than actual helping. |
|||||||||
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
You can make a blendo yourself pretty easily.
I'd give you more info here but people would freak out and cry. Don't worry, most who won't help wouldn't know what to do anyway. |
|||||||||
Matthew Jones Loyal user 224 Posts |
They're actually the Moderator's on Penguin Magic that won't help me, they say they've been performing magic for at least 35 years and I find that really hard to believe.
|
|||||||||
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Good call....
|
|||||||||
Mary Mowder Inner circle Sacramento / Elk Grove, CA 3659 Posts |
If she really just started in Magic a few months ago I doubt she is ready for this but here is my best advice.
Something with a change bag. If she can see one she could probably figure out how to make one. Try it with trash cloth first. It's harder than it looks at first. At that age kids enjoy naming the colors and blowing or finger wiggling or saying silly magic words to cause the Magic. They also like (a reasonable amount) of correcting miscalled names and colors. As a group they are too young for sucker gags. A Square Circle is easy to make from a coffee can ,small piece of black velvet, cardboard, Contact paper and some shiny elastic chord. Remember the kids will probably be sitting on the floor so check the angles. Scarves from thrift stores will do for the production as they don't have to pack tightly. Building a simple story around the effect will make it more fun for the kids. P.N. would go over better than Fiber Optics and if she can do Fiber Optics she can learn P.N. Sometimes a close friend in magic will loan an effect. Make sure she knows the replacement value if it's damaged. Magic is only the first concern. She should start planning how to carry it in and if she needs a table. You can't assume the hostess will have what you need. She should be candid with the hostess and explain that this would be her first show for that age group then let the hostess make the call. |
|||||||||
Matthew Jones Loyal user 224 Posts |
I talked her out of it and instead she's just going to do a storytime and find some story that would go well with that Fiber Optics rope routine so they'll at least get a little bit of magic out of it. You have any ideas on stories that could be centered around that effect?
|
|||||||||
Mary Mowder Inner circle Sacramento / Elk Grove, CA 3659 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-06-20 00:29, Matthew Jones wrote: I can't tell if she's volunteering for a Birthday Party or she's hired for a Variety Show. If it's a free show, she should do very little time and perform material she can do competently. If it's a paid show, she's not qualified and should turn the show down. She'll feel horrible if she flops for a half hour or so and then either accepts money or has to refuse money she doesn't warrant. - Mary Mowder |
|||||||||
Matthew Jones Loyal user 224 Posts |
Like I said above, I convinced her to back out of it and just decline performing for this person's kid and wait until she's better and has a better character and show.
|
|||||||||
Ed_Millis Inner circle Yuma, AZ 2292 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-06-20 05:40, Matthew Jones wrote: _That_ is one of the best solutions I've seen!! Congratulations on creating a positive outcome: the kids get magic and a story, and she gets experience. Wish I could help with the story, but I'm not at all familiar with Fiber Optics. I can tell you that I wrapped my Prof Nightmare routine around a story about my first job in a pasghetti factory cutting the noodles to the right length. Complete with hard hat, tool belt, and wind-up teeth noodle cutters! Ed |
|||||||||
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The little darlings » » Need Some 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 0.06 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 < |