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Mindpro Eternal Order 10587 Posts |
So do they see you as a magician or something else/more?
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danfreed Inner circle West Chester PA 1354 Posts |
Depends what I'm doing and what the clients tell their guests in advance. If I'm hired just for caricatures, then I'm a caricaturist. If I do a show plus balloons, then I'm a magician who also does balloons, etc. Half my show for the past 10 years or so is ventriloquism! If I do a show strictly for kids 9 or 10 then I usually skip the puppets. But the clients tend to call me a magician (rather than a magician AND ventriloquist) anyway cause it's easier to explain I guess. It's not really a problem for me. I have a separate website for caricatures for SEO reasons and cause people will take me more seriously as a caricaturist that way, I do caricatures for a lot of adult events. I'm cutting back on balloons because it causes ongoing hand pain, so I'm pushing caricatures more, which I prefer doing anyway.
Dan Freed
AKA The Amazing Spaghetti https://www.magiciandanfreed.com/birthday-party-magician-for-kids http://thecaricatureartist.com http://danieljayfreed.com |
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Jolly Roger V.I.P. Sedona, Arizona 1667 Posts |
Still here......patience ladies and gentlemen! Great input so far on this thread. JR
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Al Kazam the Magic Man Inner circle Living in Perth Western Australia 1042 Posts |
I had a gig today that I got booked for just 2 days ago. A quite large internet gaming company was having a kids in the office day with ages ranging from 2 to 12. They only expected me to entertain the 4 and up kids, and had a 2 hour time slot. It was in the middle of the city, so I pitched that I could do my magic show with a mix of younger kids and older kids tricks, balloon twisting, and maybe some games if there is time left at the end.
They were more than happy to have me do everything and paid me quite well for it. I often get booked for 2 hour stints of magic at a very large companies special events nights through out the years, so I've been able to put together a very solid 90 minutes of effects I can do, and mix the other 30 minutes with interactive music based games and or balloon twisting. I size up each audience when I get to any event or party and select the ones I feel will best fit that audience. I could have said that I'm strictly a magician and don't do anything else, and I would have probably lost the gig. The girl from the office that called me didn't really want to be ringing all over the place trying to find a bunch of different people to do all the things that they wanted to for the kids. I've been doing 2 hour parties (British style) for over 15 years now and I find it pretty easy to do. At the end I got the very elderly mother of the owner of the company to be the dance judge of the game I played, and she loved it, and the boss loved it and hopefully I'll get re-booked for their future events. On the question of the future of kids entertaining I see a few things coming up in recent times. One is some kids are more interested in phones/tablets etc, and some of the older kids in the crowd seem to spend quite a bit of time on youtube, and are more than keen to try and tell those around them what they "think" is going on. It sometimes is an issue that I've addressed with them during the show. In saying all of that I've been inspired to work even harder to be a better "entertainer" with magic and to work hard at the craft. My main market is the 4 to 8 year olds, but in recent times I've put a different show that plays well to the 9 and ups and even adults with a change of patter. Another local magician here who has been at it for a long time recently invested a lot of time and money in a touring dinosaur show that he's been travelling around the country with for a couple of years now and is quite successful with it.
Magic guy in Perth Australia
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axtell V.I.P. Steve Axtell 2126 Posts |
Good stuff. As you know I am an inventor and our company is deeply involved in research and development. Others do a great job of holding to the traditions. Here are some of our recent experiments and contributions that are pushing us forward to developing new props and concepts for you entertainers:
As Dan mentioned our LIVE VIRTUAL SETS (projected backgrounds for performers) http://www.axtell.com/lvs.html Our animatronics are continuing to develop and improve, and expand around the globe http://www.axtell.com/remote.html We have recently developed a form of AI (Axtell Intelligence)to allow the animatronics to be able to autonomously communicate with your audience. great for before / after a show. Or installations are great. http://www.axtell.ai Recently we are designing & sculpting some puppets for big projects digitally. Then we are 3D printing components for mechs, skulls & skins. Here's a video of a new character we call QUIMBY that is a fantasy character... if the display doesn't work its here... https://youtu.be/60inY5a4faI
Axtell Expressions, Inc.
Pro Puppets, Magic & Animatronics |
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Mindpro Eternal Order 10587 Posts |
Well all that is fine and I know you are known for quality products and a great reputation, but the future and success of any kind of performing or performance art should be about much more than the tricks, effects, props, and accessories.
That is actually the problem with much kids magic, is many aren't entertainers, they aren't performers, they are simply just executors of a string of magic tricks performed as learned right out of the package, yet they believe they are magicians or entertainers. |
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Goldfield Veteran user Traveller 388 Posts |
I agree that there are many who just perform "right out of the package". There are also many artists creating.
I'm curious to know how long you've been performing magic for kids Mindpro?
The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love & be loved in return.
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Mindpro Eternal Order 10587 Posts |
No, I am not a magician, I am an entertainer and have done between 160 and 250 school shows per year for over 40 years. However, more importantly, I own two entertainment agencies and am a national talent broker and have booked over 6,500 kids shows and performers and know kids performers and magicians quite well. Also as an entertainment and entertainment business coach, trainer, and consultant I educate, train, and mentor many kids performers and magicians and have for over 30 years now.
Why do you ask? |
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Goldfield Veteran user Traveller 388 Posts |
That’s quite a resume and one worthy of respect.
I think what can be an obstacle to connecting a message over the internet with people is tone. You are clearly passionate about preserving the art form(s) on here and are disappointed by the trivialisation (by some). I truly believe that we will all have more success at communicating with one another if we employ compassion and kindness in the way we structure our sentences. It makes for healthier performers and, in the grander scheme, a better world. Goldfield
The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love & be loved in return.
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Mindpro Eternal Order 10587 Posts |
Quote:
On Jan 23, 2020, Jolly Roger wrote: Since we are all still more than patiently waiting for Jolly Roger's thoughts on this topic he himself presented, it would be interesting to hear thoughts now, in light of recent developments. Certainly, you have some time now to reply JR? I hope everyone is staying safe. |
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Al Kazam the Magic Man Inner circle Living in Perth Western Australia 1042 Posts |
It's not the first time JR has come along and started something and never returned to add more to the conversation.
I did read on another social media platform that he'll more than likely use this time to finish writing his poetry book, and publishing it. You'll hear back from him then I'm sure. I'm not trying to come across as having a crack at JR, but just being honest and saying how it is.
Magic guy in Perth Australia
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Mindpro Eternal Order 10587 Posts |
Thanks, for the thoughts. I don't know much about JR and his posting habits, but just thought it was such a shame that there is finally some decent discussion about something other than tricks, only to see it cease because some were waiting for him to return and continue the topic. I'm sure he'll return at some point.
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RNK Inner circle 7493 Posts |
Here in America, I still do kids events, I have annual shows for "end of the year" parties for daycares and schools, block parties, light-up nights for boro's and townships. I use the word "events" because for some reason in the past 4 years the birthday parties have been very few to none. Not sure why that is? Though, I always get called back for the annual events for kids. Very strange. I will say my bookings for weddings, graduation parties, local small-mid size food establishments that have weekly entertainment (bands, comedians, and now a magician), and lastly corporate gigs have increases a good bit. Much more so than the kid's birthday parties. I am not complaining as my honest opinion, for me, is performing a successful entertaining super fun show with lots of laughs for kids is more mentally draining and tougher than performing for adults. Maybe that's because my show is a very high energy show. My kid/family shows are all structured to keep the kids heavily involved using dancing, re-peat gags, and using a lot of volunteers. Put it this way, my legs are usually soar the next day after a show, lol! A good bit during my show I am moving and grooving with the kids. But boy is it tiring, lol, and I am only 47 years old!
So in relation to this thread, I am finding kids birthday parties less prevalent as time goes on. Of coarse, it would probably help if I got my website up and running along with FB and other social media. But honestly, I stay busy enough right now without it. Performing is my second job so doing on average 2 shows a month is fine for me right now. I did just buy the book called "The Rocket" by Sidney Friedman and am finding it to be very helpful. First thing if I do want to get more bookings is get the website and social media stuff running, obviously. Hope you all are healthy! Bob
Check out Bafflingbob.com
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Russo Inner circle So.California / Centl.Florida / retired Florida 1165 Posts |
With the isolation - I feel sorry for less, if any Parties, also sorry- for the Parents - BUT, with Patience + Positive = Peace.
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MagicDUK New user 5 Posts |
Hey all,
I've been doing family shows and kids parties for the last 6 years and I've seen so many changes already I think the next few years what we will offer will change again no doubt. There's a couple of things that I think are driving this. There seems to be a race to the bottom price-wise with a lot of entertainers. And there seems to be a lot of driving forces behind this as well. There's the obvious wage stagnations, increased cost of living, etc, but there's a couple of other things I've noticed. In the last couple of years, I've seen a huge increase in "entertainers" who have bought a few packet tricks and thrown it in between a few party dances. Quite often these entertainers are quite young, very new to the industry and are "cut and paste" the same with no real creativity, but they seem to get the gigs because they undercut everyone else in the area. It makes you look hard at what they are doing because I know full well for the prices they charge they can't be paying tax, insurance, etc, and making a living. Along with this, there is, of course, the princesses/character appearance trend that has really blown up over the last few years. People want the characters that they know and love which is really putting pressure on the traditional entertainers, myself included. And combining this with services such as Bark, addtoevent, etc it will probably just drive the prices down more. Which of course puts a strain on skilled performers which are becoming few and far between. I think I know 2 or 3 skilled children's magicians/entertainers in my area, and considering I know over 50 companies in my county that provide entertainers - it's very telling. So what does this mean for the future? My thoughts: - The referral websites will end up dying - they already are getting less popular with entertainers so I have a sneaking suspicion within the next 3 or 4 years they will become less prominent and no longer a worry. There are already websites like headliners that have gone out of business. You may only get your generic ones still existing as they cover more than one industry. - The princess companies will oversaturate themselves. They seem to be doing so already, there are far too many out there for the demand which is driving their prices to the point where they will become unsustainable. Some of the good ones have already started developing their own intellectual property. Speaking of which, again I have a sneaky feeling that some of the big IP owners will start cracking down more forcefully on some of these entertainers as some of the standards are quite low anyway for some of these companies. You can see the start of this now anyway as there have been stories about companies being forced to send knockoff costumes to the owners to have them shredded. - As for magic specifically, I think one of the biggest changes that I've seen and we will continue to see is that our shows have to get more "professional" to stand out. It's not possible to rock up to a gig with a small table, black cloth and a few tricks anymore, people are expecting backdrops, branding, and a whole more professional look. It's something that I've been experimenting with myself recently, looking into putting a projection screen behind me as an interactive backdrop - it's a huge logistical challenge, but I think people are coming to expect more and more from us as entertainers, not just in the tricks we do, but with the whole set/show. -Tricks wise, I think some of the older tricks will still be doable, and people will expect some of the classics, but we will have to adapt them to make them more marketable to a newer audience. I do a version of vanishing bandana in some shows for example, but I've updated it to work with Alexa - which gives me an "interactive element" which kids and adults love. I think as well puppets and characters have got very popular recently and that will continue to grow. Which leads into... -marketing. Facebook (or its successors) will be more and more prevalent, with your own websites dropping in popularity, and there will be a lot of people producing their own content online to promote their shows. You can see this during the lockdown at the moment. It's even something I'm currently doing, a 20 min live magic show for free every Wednesday and on Fridays, I'm doing a bedtime story with one of my characters. He's an Axtell cheetah which is more popular than me who just sits on my lap and insults me. On a side note I think more independent puppets are definite for most entertainers. Parents are starting to get familiar with traditional puppets and are interested in the animatronic puppets more (probably due to novelty at the moment but as they become more mainstream I think they'd become the standard) I'd love to get my Cheetah animatronic, but at the moment the cost is a bit too much for me right now. But anyway, these are my thoughts. They could happen, could not, but it would be interesting to see what happens!
Dave Dunn
https://www.magic-dave.com |
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MagicDUK New user 5 Posts |
Quote:
On Jan 21, 2020, danfreed wrote: There's a good one of these which is called Trix in the Stix - it's a group for a UK conference, but they generally talk shop on all kids ent stuff
Dave Dunn
https://www.magic-dave.com |
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