I find myself doing more kid shows during the summer, and was wondering which silk effect would be better for kids; "Acrobatic Silks" or "Silks off Hanger?" Thanks in advance!

I have done Acrobatic Silks for years not only for children but also adults. It is a wonderful effect that gets a great response. I can only answers half of your question since I have never done Silks off Hanger. I highly recomend Acrobatic Silks. It is a great in between or transition trick.

Both will work for kids. I perform "Uncanny Silks" (using 3 colored ribbons instead of silks), which is similar in effect to "Silks Off Hanger". It gets a great response. I bought the gaff from Ron London.

Hi Cardican:

They are both good effects, but different. Acrobatic silks is a sucker effect - silks off hanger isn't. For kids, I would probably pick Acrobatic Silks because I think it plays stronger. Another thing to consider is that with Silks off Hanger, you'll have silks falling to floor, which is not usually a good thing with kids because they'll grab em.

Ron Reid

Thanks guys for the advice! I will get Acrobatic Silks first, then get Silks Off Hanger later(just because I like the effect). Thanks again for all your help!

I am not familiar with silks on hangar but I love acrobatic silks and have had a great response over the years when I performed them at kid shows!!!

Could you describe silks on hanger?

Silks Off Hanger:

Four different colored silk hankerchiefs are tied on a coat hanger.

Audience member is asked to call out one of the colors
and then the chosen silk unknots itself and falls to the floor (or better, your table ; see Ron Reid's point above about silks dropping to the floor)

This can be repeated with the remaining three silks .

(A lot of people seem to choose the red silk. I've never had the courage to try it , but it would be a killer effect if you asked someone to merely think of a color and then that color silk untied itself from the hanger ! )

They are entirely different tricks. What they have in common is that they use silks that hang down. From there on they have virtually nothing else in common. Both are very good for audience participation.

Personally I like acrobatic silks best. It's easy to change colors to match your show, theme or costume. You can use the silks in another trick. You can even use a Sharpie pen to number or letter the silks for a school situation. Draw animals on them for daycare shows.

(As the silk importer I would be smarter to tell you to use the one that takes the most silks.)

Enjoy your silk magic.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander