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Mr. Woolery Inner circle Fairbanks, AK 2149 Posts |
I know this is sort of an old thread, but I wanted to toss in a couple of thoughts.
My only magic "performance" experience is with young children in my kids' school. I volunteer to read during snack breaks and have started doing magic tricks instead of reading. The kids love it and I am known through the school as "the magic guy." Basic tricks are really the best, as long as they are colorful. Avoid complicated setups. So, Crystal Tube is great. Using a TT to vanish a silk is great. Dye tube is good for kids, but skip the sucker "explanation" with little ones. Just transform a hankie to a different color, then do it again, then finish with the same color you started with and show the hand empty. My two most memorable routines seem to be the Quentin Reynolds handkerchief mouse (that DVD is worth twice what I spent on it) and a simple, hammed-up vanish trick with a Devil's Napkin (I made my own, but they are pretty cheap). I did that last one three weeks ago and I still make my son laugh by referring to "Chet's Cheesestick", which is what I vanished just because Chet was the closest kid during snack time who had a vanishable snack item on his desk. With the very young, make your own snack disappear, not one of theirs. Bring a bag of jelly beans or a big pretzel, perhaps. A devil's napkin can also be used to produce items. Like candy. Show empty, make the bag, get everyone to repeat the magic words (Handy Pandy, I want Candy) and reach in to find a handful of candy. Show the hank open, repeat. Take three repetitions to get all the candy out. The Silly Billy stuff should give you the information to turn any basic routine into a real kid-pleaser. My copy is on the way, so I can't comment about it other than to say that he is hilarious in the You Tube clips I've watched. My kids respond really well to his humor, which is why I ordered it. The other thing that goes over super-well with young kids is balloons. Every young child loves balloons. And, unlike magic tricks, you can find loads of great information freely shared on the web. With magic, part of the fun is the secret. With balloons, the whole fun factor is tied up in transforming a big latex sausage into a dog or a giraffe or a swan or a lizard. For kids, this is still magic. Learn 5 shapes and give a balloon critter to each kid. At schools, avoid the swords (too bad, as that's a really easy shape). I'm not a balloon artist, I'm a kid-lover. When I recently saw a local clown magician thrilling kids with balloons, I decided I had to learn balloon twisting. I've been at it for three days and my kids hate to have me pop my failures. They "rescue" them before I can pop them. Kids love balloons. And it still falls into the "colorful and visual" realm. So, to sum up a really long post, here's what I'd probably do if I had the props you are proposing getting (change bag, crystal tube, big boffy wand): -Opening with a fun introduction, moving right to the magic. Most kids this age don't know if they want to see a magic trick or not. Just assume they do. -Crystal Tube routine. It is right there in Seriously Silly. -Rope tricks (keep it fairly short - my rope routine involves a knot that comes off into the audience and a simple C&R all framed with a story about how my mom taught me to tie knots) allow you to emphasize that magic can be done with ordinary items you find around the house. -Change bag trick (just use a basic color change silks, do the whole wand boffing routine, have kids shouting the magic words to make things change. Patrick Page has a whole bit he does with the breakaway wand when he's having a kid help with a change bag. I didn't even like breakaway wands until I saw that part of his Kids Business DVD. -I'd personally use a double change bag with the final chamber loaded with balloons. When the hankies (or whatever) go away, I'd be surprised to find that they have changed into colorful balloons, and immediately pump one up (don't try to mouth-blow these suckers) and twist it into a quick form like the dog or swan. Have the kids come up to you and assure them that every kid gets a balloon. This fills the last 10 minutes of the show and everyone goes away with a prize! You can even tell them that because they were so good they all get a balloon as a prize. It makes kids feel special. If time is likely to be tight at the end, have 20 balloons already inflated and in a black garbage bag set in the corner. Pump one of your produced balloons up, hand the animal to a kid, reach down and get the bag full of them and go to town twisting them. Music is great during this part. Anyway, this is almost writing a book and I'm still really new to magic. I've just found a few ideas that really seem to work well with the kids I deal with and wanted to share. -Patrick |
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