My last gig on Sunday was for one child. It's his uncle's birthday, but his 4 year-old grandson wanted Tricky Ricky to come and do his show.
This 4 year-old was quite bright and was into magic. He showed me all his props his mother had bought from Morrissey Magic and Browsers Den of Magic--Toronto.
This was not the first time I had bookings for 1 or 2 children sitting watching. My years of experience allowed me to have a very successful performance.
I wonder how many of our members ever had this situation, and what was the outcome?
Tricky Ricky

Three British children of Indian origin at a party last August. Highly successful. Kept constant eye contact with them, allowed them to work puppets, individually tutored them in simple balloon modelling skills, rotated magic routines between them, encouraged each to express themselves as much as possible.

Clients very satisfied, invited to dine with them afterwards. Did so, but very briefly, - after all, what do late middle aged entertainers have to converse about with young medical professionals over dinner? Just politely answered their questions about "how long we had been doing this / did we have children of our own / how did we get into this / where did we live" etc. Packed everything away and left absolutely exhausted Without wishing to sound ungrateful not our idea of fun, but our decades of experience just kicked in I guess Client's "nanny" (child minder) had booked on their behalf and spun us a story about a dozen children being present. How ever much you try and have "control" over what you do in this business, something always comes along, - a lesson to newcomers here.

We sometimes get the strangest things said to us, like "we booked a lady and a gent to come as we didn't want a gent on his own entertaining young children" (I just gave a silent, broad smile to this person and made no comment!) or a West Indian father who asked us how long we'd been married. When I said 30 years he asked how it was possible for this to endure (not a good omen for his charming wife and 2 kids I would say!!).

Our average numbers at parties range from 15 to 30 kids plus parents staying behind, in large hired venues. Really, really easy. Great atmospheres can be achieved. We just set-up - perform - pack up and leave. Little time for conversation with the bookers. Just a simple pleasant business transaction whereby we provide a Service, we get paid, and everyone is happy.

T.

Once I was hired to entertain at a little boy's birthday. As it turned out, it was just him (age 5), his sister (age 16), and about three adults. All things considered, it turned out to be a very good show with the birthday boy laughing from start to finish.

Another time I was hired to entertain a boy age 5 or 6 in his hospital room. It was his birthday, but unfortuantely he was in the hospital for some minor surgery.

Ricky, you'll like this next one. Several weeks ago I was performing my kid show act at a library. The next thing I know I get a call from a Professor who wants to hire me to entertain a group of teachers. At first I told him I really don't perform for adults. Then he told me he wanted me to perform the exact act he saw because he thought it was so funny. The show is next week and it's a year-end blow off party just for the teachers.

Gerry

Tricky Ricky,
That's impressive you were able to do such a great job. I've had similar experiences in the past, although I'm not sure they were that good!

I usually don't enjoy smaller groups of kids, especially when it's unexpected. For example, last year, I did a magic class for three kids. The grandparents and mother were there watching, but it was so hard to keep things interesting with just the boy, his sister, and a cousin. To top it off, they were very quiet kids so it a challenge to get any feedback from them. (I don't think there was any applause!) They called me back for his 9th birthday this year...go figure.

About two years ago I had a similar experience where the mother asked if I could come give her son a private magic class. He didn't want a party for his birthday, just magic. I enjoyed that very much. He had a great time showing me his magic stuff (I think he was seven), and I brought lots of stuff to give him. I think I had prepared mentally for just having one kid, so I was looking forward to things being less formal than most of my shows. They ended up moving shortly after the show, but I still remember him, he was a good kid.

I guess the variety is nice. It's nice to have a show once in a while that isn't typical and so noisy. I think it can be hard for people who do lots of the same show (ie., birthday parties) because it throws off our groove when it comes to things like applause, playing off of reactions, etc.

Thanks for sharing. - Kevin

Kids in the Hospital!

Bob

I had this unexpectedly come up at a library gig a few years ago.

The day was a wash out, weather wise that is. Not a tornado or severe weather watch day, but heavy rain. (He's not heavy he's my rain brother)

I showed up and so did one family.

We had a blast. The librarian was very pleased. She noted that some performers blame libraries when the turn out is not standing room only.

Though that is nice, it is also great to be flexible.

The willow bends, while the mighty oak comes down in a wind storm.

Harris
still too old to know everything

It is you the customer want and not your tricks. He is quick to noticed that you are such a fabulous entertainer.
Last Saturday at a banquet performance, I did my egg bag kids routine for the adults, I had them behaving just like the children.They were ripping with laughter.
Keep up the good work guys.
Tricky Ricky

How long was your act?
Were adults watching you show too?

Hi Dynamike.
Glad you came on board.
There were 3 adults watching, I had to use the kid in 3 of the routines, nevertheless, it was quite a lot of fun.
The child was a fan of mime, he'd seem me quite a few times at other parties, and asked for me to come to his uncle's 60th birthday.
His mother asked that I do a my kid show. As I said, it's not the first time for me, I've done a few like this one.
The performance duration was 40 minutes.
Tricky Ricky

I am happy to read everything came out well. Keep up the good work.

Going through some of the past postings, I realized that I never did a folllow up on this one.
Well, the following year 2013, that same kid wanted me back, Only this time there were 2 kids, the birthday girl and a friend who had just came from Russia and only spoke Russian.
Never the less he laughed his head off with the visual comedy.
Tricky Ricky

I did a birthday for a 4 year old and none of the invited kids showed up. There was some kind of mix-up. It was sad, but the kid was young enough not to really realize what went wrong it seemed. I did a casual short show for the kid and the adult relatives, and did caricatures for the adults. They were happy, but those situations are tough. I had a company picnic like that also, hired for the kids but only 1 2yr old was there so I did close-up magic and caricatures for the adults. It's good to be prepared for stuff like that.

This has happened to me several times. I reassured the parents that it happens sometimes and give them the option of doing the show just for the family or rescheduling. They've always had me do the show and it has always gone just fine. I do a hybrid show of a couple of my bigger kid's show tricks and a few more intimate close-up items.