Kids play Hide and Seek; that's a mentalism premise. Kids play Twenty Questions; that's a mentalism premise. Kids play musical chairs; that's a mentalism premise. I don't know where the idea came from that mentalism (or mental magic, if you must be picky) and kids don't mix. Start with any common kid's game and you can turn it into a mental routine; tag, hop scotch, tic tac toe, red robin, jacks...and so on.

Spellbinder,

You are absolutely correct! Almost any kid's game can be used as a premise for a mentalism routine. At the beginning of my mental epic routine I talk about the game of "20 Questions", and it gets the kids realizing that what I m about to show them is just a matter that I've been playing 20 Questions for so many years that I only have to ask 2 or 3 questions now.

When I perform "Everybody Wins" (Edwin Hooper's original release, I believe), I talk about Hide and Seek. I explain that this time, instead of finding WHERE something is hidden, they have to figure out WHAT is hidden WHERE, in order to get the best prize possible.

The musical chairs premise is perfect as a lead-in to a Chair Test. I have been wanting to test out a chair routine that I have, and now I have the perfect premise, or lead-in, for it. Thanks Spellbinder for re-jogging my mind.

I've used Sammy Patrick Smith's "Deja Zoo" trick for kids 6 and 7. I find it doesn't play well for younger children and the premise of the animal pictures seems too childish for older kids.

Another good hook for mentalism with kids is misunderstandings between parents and kids.
Kids often have no idea what their parents are thinking and vice versa.
...But what if could!?

You can now either have the kid read the parents mind, or you can proceed to do the mind reading, explaining that you developed the capacity as kid, wondering what in the world your mom was thinking.

You could even build it up with all the cool stuff you could do and get away with if you could your parents mind.

P.S. John Breeds' book has a couple of very strong mentalism routines designed specifically for kids. They are great.

I've recently begun to introduce menatlism into my routine for the 5 and up and it's gone down really well. The trick for me is to put the emphasis on the performance (in my case I really ham up the 'mystical sage' bit), while the effects only play big to the older children/adults present, in this situation the end effect is just an added bonus. The performance is all. In fact based on this aspect of my show I've begun to toy with the idea of this 'sage' like character running the whole show.

Taco, my Toucan puppet does several mentalism routines. I've even made special cards up for different times of the year and different age groups.

I really think many get caught in the concept of what they think mentalism magic is about. We have this notion of how it is performed as we have seen it performed for adults numerous times. The key is to take yourself out of that mind set and allow yourself to reinvent and beocme creative with the mentalism approach.

I think it is unfair to say that mentalism can't work for kids. I think it can. Like anything, it is in how you approach it and how you routine it. If you make it fun and something the children can relate to 9like agmes folks have mentioned) then there is no reason to think it wouldnlt go over really well.

You just have to rethink your approach to it. You can not go at it from the apsect of how you would do it for teens or adults. It simply wouldn't play. However, you can take a basic mentalism principle and build a really funny and entertaining routine around it based on what you already know makes kids laugh and have fun.

Just my 2 cents.

Kyle

My spy themed party coming up this weekend has just changed to a movie star themed party. No real problem, but I was thinking "what can I do that is movie star themed?"

I have a couple references I can add during some routines and then I thought
"Oh, of course. Q & A."

Maybe. I have to admit that, even though I like the idea I am nervous; but I can do a favorite movie/favorite food Q&A act and if it doesn't go over well I can always bring out my puppet, who is the star of the show anyways.

I'm working with a "Zella Mind Reading Act" version and a "PsiGrafico" version, which would have a funny little fortune for the kids to keep at the end (and answers one or two technical problem I'm concerned about using the Zella act for kids).
If I end up doing it I'll let you know how it goes.

A big issue with any Q&A routine with kids is that today's kids (and a lot of parents) have horrendous handwriting. I do mind reading shows for 11 year old and up, and I get real chicken scratches on my slips.

One routine that plays pretty well for older (i.e 8+) is Kurasate from Max Maven. For those of you who know the routine, I have found from experience, that you do have to emphasize that only the people holding the marbles should be able to see them, otherwise the other kids will give it away.

Docc Hillford had a little bit that I remember, where he would pretend to open a door on the back of the subject child's head to 'pluck' out the thought.

And any routine based on Equivoque is basically a mentalism trick. I regularly use Charlie's Secret Message from David Ginn. Ginn has an entire video based on that method.

Good post drosenbe0813.

Well, I had got really excited about the psigrafico idea and was going to design some fun tick sheets but after talking to the parent the idea was scrapped. Oh well, I'm ready if the opportunity comes up again.

Check with James Munton (the Spy Magician). He has a trick called Hollywood Squares where people end up selecting the picture of a celebrity and you play a related tune on the kazoo. It's easy and a lot of fun. James is on the Café or you can check out his website at magicsells.com. I've bought several of his items over the years and they're consistently high quality.

I do a book test at every kid show. It is detailed in my lecture notes.

My Hollywood Squares routine is not suitable for a kids birthday party, because of the instructions the audience has to follow.
But it is great for teenagers and of adults. I perform it at a lot of family home parties where there are mainly adults, but a few kids are present.

Finally, my Little Book of Quotes would also be suitable for a Hollywood-themed party since it includes quotes by Steven Spielberg, J.K. Rowling, etc.
Again I wouldn't use it at a younger kids party, but it is great for family events.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about any of these routines.

Best,
James

Courtney
If I were you I would take James up on his most generous offer because James is the real deal. Even though he has a rather strange Texas accent.

Take a look at Ken Scott's New Blendo Magician, it could be a great Mentalist Trick for Kids.

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......um=17&18