Educational Shows for Children

[Guest]

http://www.comicmagician.com/page_child ... hools.html

Here are some suggestions for those who are looking for themed educational magic shows. If you have other ideas, maybe you could add to the list. I think, if you have enough material, it is an excellent idea if you visit a center every month with a different show. There is masses of work out there, regardless of where you live. Just send mailers to the centers, and you will be overwhelmed. I hope some of the adult entertainers on here who may be finding work a little thin on the ground, will consider this. Your lives will never be the same, and you will be taking your misses on a world cruise before long!! JR

[Andrew Martin Portala]

I think you should have one very good educational show. Something that dear to your heart.

[Guest]

Roger,

Thank you for the topics/messages listing on your web page. I would love to see the performances of all those lessons. You have obviously given a lot of thought to educating the kids.

opie

[Guest]

"I think you should have one very good educational show. Something that dear to your heart."

Hello Andrew! I am a little unclear why you "should" only have one very good educational show. Why, like myself, should you not have 12 very good educational shows? JR

[Andrew Martin Portala]

How can you be good with 12 shows ?
I understand you're like me a home based magician.
So in your area you do birthdays ,close-up and other things to make a living.
For me I like to have a few acts or shows that I can work on .
For school and libraries I do two shows, Fun and fantasy and my reading show.That's it.
I do the reading show because I love to read. It was hard for me in school to learn how to read.Then I found magic and read like crazy.I tell the kids that there might be something that they enjoy doing that they can read about.



A show to me is like a garden. You work at it. You plant you grow and take out the weeds.
How can you have so many gardens?
I tape my shows ,make notes and my wife makes notes too ( I got the best director). So I'm trying to make my act better.

One time I did a drug show. I thought this is crazy having this show and that show. So I focus on one educational show. A subject that I can connect with the kids.

So that's why.

[Guest]

Roger,

I too am curious about you having 12 different shows.

I suspect that, like most of us who have worked, you have a basic-core show, which has some spots where patter and presentation are flexible, with perhaps one or two routines specifically geared toward a particular topic.

Tell me that is right.....opie

[Guest]

How can you be good with 12 shows ?

I don't want to sound conceited, but for daycares I have 12 30 minute shows. I do not have a problem with it, and by having more shows I do not think it makes me less good. I never do the same tricks in any of the shows. I walk into the center, put my case on my jumping stool(no set up), do the show, get my check, walk out, and say "see you next month!" Some of these centers have been booking me for over 10 years, so I must be doing something right! Each year I add new tricks and routines to these shows......so I actually probably have a lot more than 12 shows. Remember, I have been entertaining children for over 40 years!!

I do not have one core show. My show changes with every show I do. Seriously! I know I am unusual in my approach, but it works for me and keeps me young and fresh! JR

[Guest]

Wow! I am impressed and am a big fan....opie

[Guest]

"Wow! I am impressed and am a big fan....opie "

Thanks Opie! You make me blush! What kind of shows do you do? Mainly kids or adults? Come to think of it, I think now that this area of the Genii Forum is over a month old, it would be interesting to find out whether most of the children's entertainers posting on here are professionals, semi-professionals or amateurs. I would also be interested to know whether there are any children's entertainers who are only working part time, and are considering making the plunge into full time professional. If anyone is making less than a six figure income at the job they are doing, are not happy with their job, and consider themselves a first rate children's entertainer, my advice to them would be to take the plunge to full time. You will never look back!! Seriously!! JR

[Guest]

Roger....you are preaching to the Choir...You obviously do not know that this forum probably has more full-time pros than any other forum on the internet...

Most of the members are not into the "what's your favorite card trick" type questions...but that's just my take on the subject.

Read everything and you will probably find answers to your questions...

I am essentially retired, except for a few old regulars who want me for an occasional party, and I fill in for restaurant guys who need me. Other than those "pro" gigs, I mostly do things at our IBM and SAM functions and some community work in conjunction with the clubs...

Seriously, enjoy a long read here....The effort will be worth it...

opie

[Guest]

"Roger....you are preaching to the Choir...You obviously do not know that this forum probably has more full-time pros than any other forum on the internet..."

Actually, I do know that, Opie, and I have read many of the wonderful posts on this forum. However, I am still puzzled why there are not more professional children's entertainers other than myself who are starting new topics in this "Children's Entertainment" area. It is actually quite a mystery, but I am hopeful that this will change as the word gets out!! JR

[Guest]

Most of them are too busy working, Rog....

...Gotta go; the wife needs somebody to shove a shopping cart around a store, and I need the exercise...

opie

[Guest]

Most interesting, Opie! Do you allow your wife to contol you in such a way that she picks ALL the groceries? I bet you are the one who takes out the credit card at the check out!! JR

[Guest]

Actually no, Rog.....Before we were married, we agreed that she would pay for all food and I would take care of other bills, including the bar stock....She has her credit cards and checking accounts and I have mine....I don't go in her bank, and she does not go in mine...

In addition, having been a single parent years ago of three kids for eight and a half years, I am probably a better food shopper and cook than my spouse. She buys what she wants and buys me what I want....In addition, since my three kids were grown, when I married Mary, I became a house husband and raised her three kids while I put her through six years at University of Texas, so she could be a teacher. (She was a secretary with three young kids when she enrolled in one of my Creative Writing Classes)...Yep, I married one of my students....tsk tsk... It all worked out great....

Yesterday's trip was to the Whole Foods store, where she likes to get all the health crap. I go along there, because I won't let her try to figure out what kinds of wines I need. As it was, I needed a very dark red wine to go with Liver and Onions, which Mary won't eat. I selected a very dark Spanish red, which worked out great....

Gotta go...I am preparing a tomato, basil, garlic soup, with which I will have Italian bread, some humus, and a South Australian Chardonnay. I will probably prepare a veggie tray, so Mary will have some to go with her left-over chicken...yuck!

I am having a glass of that Spanish red now...It brings back memories of Franco-era Spain, when I drank good red Spanish wine for about five cents a glass....I acquired my taste for food and wine in fine restaurants and back-alley bars in 21 countries....Mary is a Texas meat and tater gal...

...But to get back on topic, I managed to entertain six kids into productive adults, without killing one of them, so I have a few tips about that too...

...but thanks for asking...It helped me pick the wine for dinner...

opie