I mention it in the blog today but it was quite inspiring...
I was at the Disneyland Magic Shop and as usual all the boys were grouped around my friend David's S.S. Adams display of jokes and Joy Buzzers etc.

A little (and I mean little) girl came in...maybe she was 8 or 9...I didn't see her parents...she looked in the 'serious' case...asked for a Haunted Key demo. Seemed to dismiss it...then asked if they had Sponge Balls, (she didn't need instructions!) she got those and asked for The Haunted Key. Paid her money and left. Now that was cool. Meanwhile the little boys were after those Snake Cans! Haha.

Hahah. It is great to see a kid who is so onto it.
Thanks for sharing

That little girl could be my niece. She's turning 9 in august and is just starting to develop a passion for magic. I've been doing my best to help her keep from flashing and turned her on to bridge size cards which fit better in her hands, but let me tell you, that kid is sharp! A few weeks ago at dinner with my family I was doing a few card tricks to sort of idly pass the time. My sister caught me flashing a sleight that I probably shouldn't have used, but thought I had down well enough, so in order to restore their faith in my amazing powers I whipped out a modified Brainwave and ran through a novel handling of that that the guy in the magic shop at Pike Place Market had recently turned me on to. Of course I got a big reaction out of it, I mean who doesn't? But not five minutes later, Ember pulled me aside and explained about 75% of the principle of the effect and demanded that I explain the rest to her. She'd figured it out just thinking about how to do it, and was frustrated in getting the rest worked out because she didn't know that there is such a thing as RL. Hand to God, less than ten minutes it took her to get that far, which is a heck of a lot better than I can say for myself the first time I saw the effect. So I agree, the FUTURE? Well in hand.

Your post really hit home for me. Our daughter first fell in love with magic when she was about 4 when Dana Daniels pulled her up on stage as his assistant. After that trip she started doing the typical little magic tricks you find in kits. It was another trip at Disneyland that she discovered the Magic Shop. She too was about 9/10 at the time. She was so excited, and let me assure you, she didn't go away empty handed! As soon as we got back home we did some research and found out about Gerry Griffin's place, California Magic & Dinner Theatre, and he told us about our local SYM.

We immediately signed her up and she has been going strong ever since. She is now in both the SAM group and the IBM group, but still attends the SYM group to help whenever she can.

She loves magic and for us it is a family affair. My husband and I also belong to the SAM. My husband and I build custom illusions for her and help her with her routines. She performs in the summer doing both public & private events and plans on continuing to keep her calendar open once summer is over.

I am really pleased that more and more females are getting involved. For my daughter, she has had nothing but support from the wonderful magicians in our area (and from friends we have met online) who are always willing to instruct, encourage, lend out-of-print books, and show up at her shows as moral support.

Please feel free to check out her website: http://www.magicbydanielle.com/fullstory

Disneyland truly is a *magical* place! Thanks for sharing your story!

I'm glad to her that more girls are getting into magic. I have always believed that magic would be better for it.

My little girl will be five this year. she is starting to get into magic. she made up her own magic trick. she told me to watch as she blew air into her fist and put her hands behind her back and said which hand has the air in it. I fell in the floor laughing. she makes the air disappear from her hand is what is told me and she does the trick for anyone that will watch.

That is absolutely precious! You have to give it to her for thinking up an idea like that at the age of 5!!

B Hackler, your little girl might like the instuctional video Lyn Dillies produced. Larry White was the magic consultant, and it has won Many legit. national awards. You can find it in the kids section here http://www.magicoflyn.com

My daughter expressed an interest in performing Card Magic, so I had bought her Born to Perform Card Magic with Oz Pearlman. For a while she did not practice much. Suddenly out of nowhere she says to me, " can you watch it with me, so you can give me tips, or explain ?" So... she's been practicing, and practicing. Yesterday, She did "2 Card Monte" for her dad, and while it can still use some practice especially the DL, even with Bridge sized cards her hands are kind of small, she pulled it off very well.

What I really loved about her performance was the patter. It's funny but I could tell what she was going through...the rush of performing... she forgot the patter as explained on the DVD, so she was forced to make it her own.... which she did. Listening to her , she hit the high points said what needed to be said... and displayed a lot of confidence. When I gave her some advice on her DL, she accepted it... and maybe cringed a bit when I told her.." Keep practicing" But just wanted to share that yes.... The Future IS Safe.

This story hit home for many reasons...it also brought a smile to my face. I remember working in a magic shop and watching the boys flock to the pranks and gags, while the girls always seemed to want to see a demo. I also remember the magic I experienced walking into the magic shop that used to be in Disney World when I was 7 years old--that could have been me at that age and that is inspiring. I was highly dismayed when I returned to work for the company 16 years later, to discover that WDW had removed their magic shop from the Magic Kingdom...

I just finished working with kristin Lambert at masters of magic show in loveland colorado, she is only 17 and I had worked with her before in vegas when she was only 12. it is great to see that she is doing so great as a magician, she is already performing at the castle, It is inspiring to see all these people aproach her after the shows to tell her that they came to the show just to see her perform ( being so young and a female magician) I am very happy for her and I think she is an inspiration to all of us and specially females that want to get into magic.