Background: My second grade daughter proudly announced to me that she wanted to do magic for her school's variety show. I do mostly close up card work and mentalism so my experience with platform magic is nil. She has the standard tricks that most kids her age have.

My thought was for her to do a square circle routine (I built one when I was a kid). I am allowed to be her assistant and she has 2 minutes and she wants to do it to music.

Question: Is two minutes to long for a SC routine? Also what type of loads would you recommend? Off the top of my head, I thought she could produce silks; then her color changing silks which she could then change to a new color; streamers and then wave her magic wand at me and pull a mouth coil from my mouth; maybe a "rabbid" rabbit which she could push back down with her wand after "being scared" then show the bxo empty. Finale would be to produce a giant silk that says "The End".

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Courtney Springirth

So far you have mentioned several hundred dollars in props for young daughter.

I think you will find that 2 minutes is longer then you think. Practicing will result in shorter and shorter length of the routine.

It all depends how much you wish to invest and if your daughter will practice and practice. Most kids that age 6 or 7 do not have the attention span to present a good routine.

I suggest you go to your local magic shop and take the advice of the owner. Take your daughter along to pick the tricks she would enjoy.

I think you have the right idea. Do you have all of that magic props or do you need to purchase them. I agree what wmheghi say. If you have it, you should practice with her to see if she can do it. If not look into what she would like to do.

Courtney,
Two minutes is, indeed, longer than you may think. But I believe your idea for the routine with a square circle is a good one. I seriously question the idea of the mouth coil, though, especially for a group of kids. (They may try to emulate you later and end up choking on the paper!)

Silks from load chamber, color-changing silks, streamers from chamber, rabbid, and The End silk: Sounds good to me!

Thank you wmhegbli, Dawai, and Mr. Marucci for your comments and suggestions. I did visit Barry's Magic Shop yesterday to look around for load ideas and cost things out. (BTW - if ever in Maryland, please visit Barry's shop. He is a great magician, friend and frequent golf partner). He had your standard SC and also a 'Square Square' that I had not seen before. He offered me a great price on the SS but I think it may be too heavy for my daughter. Some of the load items I already have. I have silks and color changing scarfs that I purchased some 25 years ago that I can use. I was surprised at the cost of rabbid rabbit. My daughter just wanted to make sure it wasn't real when I showed it to her online! I'm still fooling with the idea of making a SC - my old one may be in may parents garage somewhere. Finally, I have to take Peter's comments about the mouth coils into consideration. Maybe a small visual effect to start the show with before going into the SC.

Wmhegbli brings up a good point about attention spans. My daughter, who is 7, is involved in her third year of competitive chearleading (the kind you see on ESPN late at night, not the "rah-rah" type) and practices about 8 hours a week for a 2 minute rountine. Competitions are about twice a month. I only mention this to suggest that she understands how important practice is. I showed her the SC routine on an on-line demo so last night she wanted to do a "walk-through" of the SC routine which we did several times. We did then do it to her cheer music which is exactly two minutes long. She also had to do two small effects for the Varitey Show coordinator and explained what she would be doing of the big show before she would be allowed to perform Varity Show night. So I know she's as committed as a 7 year old can be. (Sorry for the babblings of a proud father).

Again, thanks for the posts. I look forward to any other comments and suggestions.

Courtney Springirth

Sounds like you have a wonderful daughter. You should be a proud father.

I cannot suggest anything as there is not much magic that is self working for someone that age, especially in stage magic.

Maybe you could include the simple torn and restored napkin without the sucker finish. Keep it very simple and make it magicial.

A version is in Tarbell Course and the Mark Wilson Book of Magic now in paperback at most magic shops and book stores. I suggest you get the Mark Wilson book and go thru it. It has super magic in it. The last version of the book I seen is like 3"x4" in size and only a few $'s.

Thank, wmhegbli. Great suggestion. I'll look through Mark Wilson's book. I have the original book that my parents purchased for me some 25+ years ago (back when it had a faux leather cover and came with all the props) when I first became interested in magic.

I used square circle for a church kids group (preK-4th grade)

I produced tons and tons of candy. I got a really good assortment (*inexpensively*) and started by pulling out individual candies (so they knew which of their favorites were coming). Then as they kept coming out, I'd pull out bigger and bigger handfuls. These all went into a glass bowl which made it look like I produced many more tons than I did.

Needless to say, the kids loved the trick because they each got a grabful of candy. (Give 'em what they want!!) They were filled with wonder and sugar!

(grin)

-Dave



-Dave

Hi Dave -

One concern I have about producing candy is having the kids (generally the smaller kids sit up front on the floor, while bigger kids and parents sit in chairs behind them) go "nuts" after the candy and someone getting hurt. Passing a bowl would not be practical since there will be more kids then candy that can be produced as well as eat into the time my daughter is allowed to perform which is two minutes.

How about tying in the production with her other pastime - cheer leading (or whatever you call it over the pond!! - I shall call it cl)

Using her music she produce the stuff for her CL - uniform (silks?), pom-poms, stick thing (appearing pole) Banners, flags etc. This could be very colourful and would tie in her main interest.

Just a thought.

I use a Square/Circle (MAK) in classroom showl aften. If you can get to Philadelphia, I would be glad to lend you mine and give you a routine that will help her filll the 2 minutes. PM me with your phone number so we can talk.
Bob

Bob -

Thank you for your generous offer. I did pick up a SC from Barry's Magic Shop very reasonably and most of the loads we have made, some we had as we took Simon's suggestion and incorporated some of her chearleading material. I'll PM you with number. Thanks again.

Courtney

I have the Mak's version....I'm seeing some at auction sites that have the front top of the square extended. I like these cause it hides the front view angle. With the regular SCs, everyone has to be at eye level or it could give it away:( Crowd managment, I know....

IF anyone has any solutions, please lemme know.

Wayne