Anyone have this happen to them? I was doing a birthday party for about 20 kids. They are just the kind of audience you want. they are totally engrossed, laughs at every joke and applaud after every trick. I call on a volunteer to help with a trick. A 6 year old (the average age of the kids) comes up. I start my banter with him and he is laughing so hard. I guess I said something particularly funny because the whole room breaks up laughing when all of a sudden I hear from my volunteer, "uh, oh! Look at this!" I look over and he is standing there with pee running down his leg! I have a parent run him off to the bathroom and get another volunteer to finish the trick. My first question to the second volunteer was if he needed to go to the bathroom.
He said no and we finished the trick. The other child came back, took his seat and just kept laughing at the rest of the show. He didn't seem bothered by it and people commented after that they thought I handled it well. This will be going on my website!
Whats the situation that had you wondering what to do?

Birthday party for a 5 year old girl... just put sponge ball(s) in her hand, getting ready to vanish the next one, and she takes off and runs completely out of the room.

I'm standing there with a thumb-palmed sponge ball and a vanishing birthday girl.

She came back after a couple minutes, but I'll admit, that took me completely by surprise and I frankly did not have a wonderful or witty way to handle it. I just
shook my head and smiled with everyone else.

--Jack

A similar situation with a different connotation!

About 2 years ago, I was hired to perform at a Night Club. Here's the thing...the owners of the Night Club were giving their 8 year old daughter a bday party and were going to do so at their club here in Dallas.

They closed up one night and packed the place with all of their friends and all of their daughters little friends...probably about 200 people in all.

The parents were very adamant that they wanted their birthday girl on stage for most of the show to assist and be the star. I told her parents I would love to use their daughter on stage, but only if she's comfortable. They tell me she's a real ham who loves attention and not to worry.

COOL! (wrong!!!!)

So I begin the show. My first two bits are done to music. I finish and address the audience, blah, blah, blah and invite the bday girl on stage. She makes it quite clear that she does NOT want to come up and assist. Not missing a beat, her parents (my clients) rush out to her and basically drag her to the stage kicking and screaming telling her to "shut up" and that "she's making a fool of herself and them infront of all of their friends." The kicker was when they told her "if you don't get on that stage, you'll be in big trouble."

All of this happened in seconds...literally. I was in shock and was trying to regain control of the show.

So now I'm left on stage with 200 people staring at me wondering what's going to happen next.

THEN IT HAPPENED...

The birthday girl let loose and pee'd all over herself while she stood their crying and terrified.

The girls mother went back to the stage and yanked her wet daughter off stage and I never saw either of them again that evening. The father motioned me to continue the show...which I did.

I finished up, packed up, got paid, and left. Prior to leaving I asked the father if all was well since I had not seen or heard from either Mother or Daughter since the incident. He said "don't worry about, we have it under control." It was very unnerving the way he said it...but I let it go, and took off.

Scary!

This is the oddest behavior I've encountered in my shows. I did a show once for a 9 year old boy. The show was in the client's house, there were maybe 15 kids present plus 15 or so adults. The birthday boy was assisting me with a trick (I've forgotten which one), when the boy's step-father, who was watching from the back of the audience, started speaking to the boy in a sharp tone about the fact that his shoe laces were untied (this was a period when kids of a certain age thought it was cool not to tie their sneakers). The boy did not respond to his step-father's comments. The step-father took out a pocket knife, walked up in the middle of the show and spent the next several minutes cutting off the boy's shoes laces. The man didn't say a word to me, nor I to him. Obviously, I stopped performing and just stood there waiting silently. No one in the audience said anything or tried to intervene,including any of the adults. The step-father then rose and walked away. I continued with the show as best I could.

Wow! If that dad started coming up to where I'm performing holding a knife, I think I might have peed myself!
that's just nuts. that's not a dad, that's a sperm donor.

I once had a little girl, much to her horror/chagrin one day, let out a huge and quite loud.....shall we say toot. I could see the tears well up and so I announced that not only was I an expert in throwing my voice anywhere in the room I wanted but as you have now experienced, I can also do the same with any sound I like. I told the little girl I was sorry to embarrass her and I would do my best to not do it again, but I couldn't promise anything. A smile came to her face and everyone got a bit of a giggle and the show went on.

I'm glad I handled this in a delicate manner, I have to admit it is not in my character to do so. Just glad I caught the early tears or I would have been in trouble with the old "Somebody step on a frog, or hey they have barking spiders in here!"

Nice save, Derrick!

Wonderfull!

Jack I would have probably said. I was doing a great spong ball routine but the vanishing girl is far better. lol.

I was doing a library show a number of years ago and asked for a boy volunteer. Up came a young guy maybe 5 or 6 years old.

It became immediately apparent when he stood up that there might be trouble. He grabbed himself in that childlike "I have to go" way.

I said to him, if you have to go to the washroom, it's ok and even pointed the direction that it was in.

He just looked at me, clutching and unclutching over and over.

I looked down at his dad who was in the audience and just got a blank stare back from him.

It was almost like I was the only person in the room that noticed the kid had a handful of himself so I asked the kid again if he had to go to the washroom. This time he said, "No."

I don't remember exactly what the effect was anymore, but I believe the volunteer only needed one hand for routine anyway.

I have had a number of kids do the pee-pee dance when they were helping out with a trick. I have trained myself to keep an eye out for it and usually finish the trick quickly or just ask mom to take little Timmy to the bathroom. This past summer during an outdoor birthday party however, one little boy knew what to do himself. He whispered to me that he had to go. Before I could say a word, he had walked over to a bush and started relieving himself (with his back to the audience at least). It got the biggest laugh from his family. I am thinking about adding it into the act. I just have to figure out how to get it to happen at every show.

It can be an embarassing situation. As children's entertainers, we have to be prepared to deal with it. It will happen again.

Joe

The vanishing child during the act is something that we have had at the Super Duper Show in Las Vegas not once but a few times. Funny thing is it happens about the same time in the show everytime to the other magician in the show. I cant help to laugh and give him a hard time.I come out and stand in for the child when this happens so show goes on.

We over heard one of the little girls say to her Mother after the show....
"Mommy I was having so much fun and didn't want to miss anything, but I couldn't hold it any longer."

After the 3 time this has happened we are thinking to add a slogon to our show... "You will have so much fun that you can't out your pee." heheheh


One thing on this. I would not point it out as the magician if the child does wets on stage or floor. You never want to embarass them anymore then that already are.

Cheers,
B-Rad