Put on a magic show for kids?
Lets assume that you are a pretty good magician and have developed a great personality to use when performing a magic act for children's parties. If you haven't yet devolved a personality, stop here and go create one.
Watch some of the great children's magicians and learn from them what kind of personality you need to create.
The old second hand tux and a top hat no longer will work. Children are pretty savvy these days... even the little ones.
Children don't understand the cues in a live performance that are so common. Today's kids have been raised in the age of television. Not a bad thing, except the laugh tracks tell the children when to laugh.
No laugh tracks and the children are left out in the cold. They are quick and will get up to speed in no time. But they need your help.
The same problem exists with applause. Children are not used to clapping. They don't understand applause cues. Those wonderfully timed applause cues will leave you and your audience with a lot of uncomfortable silence.
What can be done?
Everything.
One of your most important tasks as a children's magician is your opening. The beginning of your show must do these things:
1.Establish audience control..... Even in school children are taught to obey those in authority. For some reason, many magicians forget to establish authority early in the show. The result resembles a saloon brawl in the wild west.
2.Teach the children to react to applause cues. After you welcome everyone to the show, look out over the audience and say, "This looks like a really great crowd. Let's see how loud you can clap. On the count of three ONE. . . TWO . . THREE . .Not bad!
Let's try it again. On three . . ." After some byplay conclude by saying, "What do we do when we like the magic? (pause) What do we do when we LOVE the magic?" (pause and react strongly to the crowd).
If you want to start your career in magic as a children's magician, think about it seriously. Kids are brutally honest. There is nothing tougher or more satisfying than have a great children's magic show.
Being a children's magician may not be the easiest way to become a part-time professional magician but it sure is a lot of fun.
