Hello,
I thought that kids love magic so they are easy to please.
But I found it was wrong recently.
There was a table, 6 people, a family was sitting there.
One 4 year old girl, 5 adults.
I tried to perform for the girl, I produced sponge ball from her clothes, but she didn't look at me.
I produced another sponge ball, she still didn't look at me.
She is so shy....

The other day I perform sponge ball for another kid, about 3-4 y/o.
He can't understand either.
There was no reaction.

Now I'm afraid of performing for kids....
What should I choose to perform?
How do I perform?
Can anyone give me some advices?

Thank you,
YuYen

Hi YuYen:

Three and four is a little young. I think you'll find that six years old and up is the age you want to perform for. Also, a single child can tend to be shy, but if there's three or four or more, they will really respond as a group. Some of my best shows have been for first grade students.

Jim

YuYen, I have no problem performing for two year olds, 7 year olds, teenagers or adults. The issue (as I see it) is that many magicians "do tricks" by following the directions and are thrown-off when anything happens that isn't in the directions.

The solution is to learn theatre, take acting classes and comedy classes so whatever the audience consists of you will entertain them.

In the meantime: Your interests, in your profile include mentalism which should be performed for people (usually 12 and up because children do not become logical before the age of approximately 6). Since you like mentalism why don't you perform street magic. Also, read the thousands of jokes and come-backs in the http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewf......24&80054 starting with Standard Show Lines.

One last observation; You might have had a bad audience for the sponge balls. Sometimes it's better to cut your routine then to shove it down the throats of people who don't understand or care, no matter what the age.

Thanks a lot.
These are really great advices.

"The issue (as I see it) is that many magicians "do tricks" by following the directions and are thrown-off when anything happens that isn't in the directions." is totally right coz you cannot predict what will happen when you perform it for kids.

One more question,
In the WALK-AROUND or TABLE HOPPING situation, what is your choice to do for kids?
Sponge bunnies, DLite, anything else?

Thank you.
Best,
YuYen

I usually do sponge bunnies, the bent penny trick (I bend a lot of pennies so they can be give away items) and cards from the mouth (I use a presentation that engages the young ones and gets their attention before the actual move) I've also have a lot of extra baby bunnies so I can occasionally give one away to a kid who's been extra great, or is just too attached to the bunnies. (Some kids are hard to convince to give them back, which is why I usually don't let anyone under five or six actually hold them) Fun thing is most of the time when I give away a bunny I usually get a tip that more than covers the cost of the bunny.

Entertaining young children is an art. You need stuff that isn't overly patter heavy, relates to something they can understand, visual or in the hands, and stuff that makes them the hero. You don't ever want to do a trick that makes a young child feel foolish or embarrsed, because their response is usually to cry. That turns the parents against you, and can be heard around the restaraunt or other venue you're working. You don't want to be the magician that's known for making little kids cry.

Question - Before you produced the sponge balls - did you talk with the children? What did you say or do? You need to connect with them first. True, in that age catagory they don't appreciate much of the magic but you can still have fun. I don't consider myself a children's magician (becuase I'm not) but I have had good luck entertaining children. The main thing is you connect with them in some way BEFORE any of the magic.

If children act shy you should pay no attention to them. Perform for the adults and get them laughing. When the child sees you pull a sponge ball from an adults ear they will often put their hand up and check their own ear. Then you can then pretend to see the sponge ball and offer to get it for them.

My philosphy is not to go to the kids but let them come to you.

Oh and if the sponge ball isn't coming out of their ear or multiplying in their hand they don't care about it. Ok that is an exageration but not by much. I can get them interested in two in the hand one in the pocket if I make really funny faces and act frustrated (Magician in trouble syndrome)

It helps to have test audiences to try things out on. I have plenty of nieces and two nephews, who I can test material on. I also test out new concepts, before some paid shows. I was able to get quite a reaction to a sponge ball vanish, from a toddler - it's a delayed reaction, but was quite surprising. Thank goodness for woofledust shakers! Add some goofy sounds or singing and you may have a winner, when performing for preschool kids. Keep the plot direct - a single effect, with few twists and turns, if any.

Performing for children isn't easy, so it requires study and a great deal of thought.

This is sound advice. Studies have shown that performing mentalism for dogs, horses, iguanas, rutabagas, and drywall is singularly unsatisfying (for both the performer and the audience).

;)

Some kids are shy, and that has nothing to do with you.

Shy kids usually need a little more time to get comfortable with you.

If you respect their space, and give them some time to warm up to you,
you can often have them giggling their heads off in a short amount of time.

A good way to do this is to have Mom or Dad help with a trick.

If the kid does not want to say the magic words, or participate,
I think it's very important to respect that instead of trying to talk them into it.

Because you instantly respected their wishes, you will gain their trust quicker.

Kids are a LOT of fun to perform for.

Some younger kids cannot follow complex plots.
They LOVE repetition.

A good structure for a little kid would be:
Something disappears, and you are comically surprised.
It happens again and you are more comically surprised.
and again,
and again.

It's good to mix in some high impact magic for the adults too.

Winning over a shy kid and entertaining them can be a very rewarding experience.

I'm sure everything will work out for you.

Good luck!

I like to open for kids with a sponge ball routine in a walk around setting....if the child is shy use there mother or older siblings first so that they can feel safe to get involved. actually I gotta get the heck off here and head to my sunday night restaurant right now! its kids night! yay