A bit of help please :-)

Discuss the art of Children's Entertainment with your fellow performers.
magicbymaddux
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A bit of help please :-)

Postby magicbymaddux » January 25th, 2008, 5:11 pm

I was wondering what are some good trick to perform at a Children's show? Currently I am a Close-Up magician but I would really like to start heading towards being a Children's magician. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Brandon
Magic by Maddux
"Better Parties are No Illusion"

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Dustin Stinett
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Re: A bit of help please :-)

Postby Dustin Stinett » January 25th, 2008, 5:38 pm

Brandon,

Start by going to David Kayes site: http://sillymagic.com/

Invest in his book, Seriously Silly. It will be the best $50 youll spend.

Dustin

Jim Martin
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Re: A bit of help please :-)

Postby Jim Martin » January 25th, 2008, 9:31 pm

Dustin speaks the truth - the book is an amazing distillation of years of experience as well as delving into the psychology of the perception of magic by different age groups.

I can't think of a better book for Children's Shows.
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Spellbinder
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Re: A bit of help please :-)

Postby Spellbinder » January 27th, 2008, 7:20 am

You can look through any magic catalog or any on-line store listing and see all of the effects that are available for performing children's shows. So that question about tricks is one you can easily answer by yourself. Every magician in the forum has a favorite trick or book and will happily share that information with you. But the title of your thread is "A bit of help, please" and I don't think compiling a list of my favorite tricks or books is going to be any help to you at all.

If you want to find out whether or not performing children's magic is a good career choice for YOU, some questions need to be answered first. Do you like children? Not in ones and twos, but in large groups? Are you comfortable talking with children? Notice I asked "with" and not "to" or "at." Talking WITH children implies that you listen to their responses and that there is a back and forth dialogue going on so the conversation is as much about THEM as it is about YOU.

We haven't even gotten into the subject of doing magic tricks for children and there are lots of questions still to ask, and things you should be asking yourself before you start.

So the BEST way would be for you to find a magic mentor in your area, someone who actually performs magic for children. Watch this person at work, talk to this person and explore with him or her the possibility of transforming yourself from a close-up magician to a children's magician.
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magicbymaddux
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Re: A bit of help please :-)

Postby magicbymaddux » January 27th, 2008, 6:21 pm

thanks for the help guys. :-)

Is there any well know kids tricks that you would suggest me not buying. I don't have much money so I don't want to take a chance of wasting it.

Brandon
Magic by Maddux
"Better Parties are No Illusion"

Bob Postelnik
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Re: A bit of help please :-)

Postby Bob Postelnik » January 27th, 2008, 8:25 pm

There is a local organization in LA called KiDabra that is comprised of magicians who perform magic shows for kids. I'm sure they would be willing to have you as a guest at one of their regular meetings where you can discuss your interests and they will share with you their experiences and offer advice.

I have their contact information on another computer so I cannot provide it to you now, but if you email me a reminder I will send it to you.
Life is a journey, so do not arrive at your grave safe and in a well preserved body. Enjoy the Ride!

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Re: A bit of help please :-)

Postby The Magic Apple » January 27th, 2008, 8:36 pm

bob is right, you can learn some great things from that group.

Also -the Silly Billy book is one of the BEST magic books on the market...in any catagory
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Ryan Matney
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Re: A bit of help please :-)

Postby Ryan Matney » January 27th, 2008, 8:56 pm

I suggest Silly Billy's Companion DVD as well. It helps to see what a successful performance looks like.

Chris Capehart's DVD "kiddin' Around" is pretty good and I think David Ginn's "Professional magic for Children" is a classic.
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Spellbinder
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Re: A bit of help please :-)

Postby Spellbinder » January 27th, 2008, 9:36 pm

There is no need for you to spend any money at all for props right now. Most of what you need prop-wise can be made yourself. For example, a couple of lengths of clothesline (or magician's rope if you already have it- but it's not necessary- jumpropes from the Dollar Store will do just as well)- a magic wand made from a dowel, and some silk handkerchiefs from the Dollar Store and you have the "Magic Clothesline" trick, a classic kid's show routine. Combine it with a home-made "soft soap" made from a cardboard soapbox and some more dollar store silks, and you can have the whole laundry going in no time.

An "Afghan Band" race made from strips of newspaper with some child-proof scissors from the Dollar Store gives you another exciting few minutes for your show with almost no expense.

Your local public library may not have the books being recommended by others in this forum, but they will surely have magic books from an earlier age that gave the exact same advice to those of us in the older generation as we were honing our skills. Kids haven't changed that much over those years.
Phineas Spellbinder
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magicbymaddux
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Re: A bit of help please :-)

Postby magicbymaddux » January 31st, 2008, 4:27 pm

Thanks guys so much for the help!
I will definitely check my library for some books. I have already read a lot of there books on card magic but now that I am trying to learn children's magic they will be some other books they will have for me to read.

Thanks,
Brandon
Magic by Maddux
"Better Parties are No Illusion"


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