Party Happenings

I Went To The Fights And A Magic Show Broke Out!

July 12, 2011
Oh my! A fight nearly broke out a birthday party I was performing at this weekend. The would be combatants were face to face, getting hotter and threatening blows. I was both horrified and transfixed as I watched. It was all unfolding in front of me as they were about 20 feet behind where the kids were sitting.
Now, since this was a two year old’s birthday party and the children watching were mostly three and four year olds you might think two of kids were going to fight over where they were sitting or a toy left in the show’s performing area. But you would be wrong. Sadly, it was two adults getting into it and ready to strike blows. And if you immediately thought it was two male adults ready to rumble you would be wrong again. No, it was two women, one of which I know for sure was a mom of one of the four year old girls in my audience.
I first noticed them as their voices grew louder. I looked out about five yards and couldn’t yet tell that there was a problem. They could have been just old friends enthusiastic about seeing each other. But is soon became clear they were ticked off as they got in each other’s face. Voices grew louder, faces got redder and neck veins giganticized. (I know giganticiced isn't a word. My spell checker told me so and thought I might want to change it “geneticist”)
As I tried to continue on entertaining the little ones my gaze kept getting pulled to the real show going on, the one with human drama. How could I compete with that? Well, the little ones didn’t need to see two grown women going at it. Honestly, that is a traumatic experience for little ones. So I kept going and grabbed glances as I went along.
It was getting worse as one woman, I can’t use the word “lady” here, was threatening to smack the other and the second woman, unafraid, was egging her on with “go ahead!” At that moment I honestly didn’t know what I would do if it came to blows.
My years as a father to my two children and being in charge at play dates with their friends would kick in I am sure and I would protect the kids somehow if need be.
Thinking about it now, pulling a rabbit out of my hat might be a good idea. And being a magician I could do that. Producing a bunny rabbit is the best attention getting device I know of. Even grown women in the back of the crowd scream (Ask me about the story of actress Angela Basset sometime.) I could pull the bunny out and gather the kids around me. They would follow me anywhere with that rabbit leading the way.
But I didn’t have to. Some men stepped in and got between the two flaming females. They stilled yelled at each other a bit like two semi-pro athletes do. But it quieted down and my eyes shrunk back down to normal size.
One of the women came over later and thanked me for the balloons I gave her daughter. I resisted the urge to ask what the kerfuffle was about. Was it about politics? About the pros and cons of the candidate? Asking would not be professional but I had the urge.

So my recommendation is keep the birthday parties and political gatherings separate!
 

So Proud at a Library Magic Show!

August 3, 2010
Had some fun at one of my favorite libraries yesterday, the Quartz Hill Library. I did two shows for them as they are such a popular library. The kid count was 134. More with the parents in the crowd. This library even requires sign ups or you can’t get in! Very different than the library I used to take my kids to.
Anyway, the reason I am so proud, proud like a grandparent, is a boy came up after one of the shows and said he knew some magic. He had taken a magic class at his school and wante...
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Birthday Party Magic Show for Twelve Year Olds with a Surprise

June 4, 2010
Twelve year olds are a tough crowd. Especially twelve year old boys. They know magic is not real, they go on U-Tube and see how just about any trick is done and are not about to be entertained by a magician’s lame jokes. So when I got a call from a dad who wanted a birthday party magic show for his twelve year old son’s party I told him the best way to go was a magic show tied in to a workshop. Having taught After School Enrichment classes for over 15 years I have a collection of tricks a...
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Balloon Swords Drive Mom Crazy

May 21, 2010

Moms have to put up with a lot. I know, I was one myself (a Mr. Mom during the week and performing shows in the evenings and weekends.) So when a mom books me for a birthday party magic show and she wants me to make balloon animals for all the kids I bring up the subject of Balloon Swords.
Kids love them. Mostly boys love them but some girls too ask for them. I love them. I practiced the martial art of fencing for years. One of my favorite movies of all time is the Three Musketeers with Micha...
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Party of Five

May 10, 2010
These days I always ask how many children will be at the party for the magic show. If I am doing balloon animals I need to make sure I have a balloon for the last child at the last party of the day.
It also helps me know what kind of crowd to expect. Will it be a packed house or just a handful of kids. I like a large group of kids. Much more energy comes at me and I bounce it back. It changes the show. I suppose if my show was one where the kids sit and watch it like a TV show it would not ma...
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Six Year Old Host

May 3, 2010
You really get see a variety of children’s personalities performing magic at their birthday parties week after week. And learn how each child reacts in situations. Some are eager to participate, some are cautious at first waiting to get to know you before participating and some just like to sit and watch as if the magician was a television set.
But at one of this weeks birthday party shows, I met a six year old boy, let’s call him Frankie, who was outgoing and eager to help but was differ...
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Visiting Edwards Air Force Base

April 27, 2010
One of my shows this weekend was at Edwards Air Force Base. Very cool visiting the place where air speed records were broken time after time and Chuck Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier. Edwards is also the western landing area of the Space Shuttle. So while I didn’t see any strange shapes in the sky, I did see cool planes on the ground and just visiting the base was cool. My dad was in the Navy and I have been to the Long Beach Navel Base many times seeing the awesome ships of...
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Real Magic

April 23, 2010
No, I am not talking about Harry Potter style magic. I am talking about the feeling of magic we experience. Of wonder. Something inside, a surprised feeling. I tell my magic class students the problem with learning how a trick works is that the the magic disappears for you. When you see a great magic trick you experience the sense of wonder. When you show someone a great trick they experience it and you have to get the enjoyment through them.
So it is rare these days I experience that feeling ...
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You owe me seven bagels!

April 19, 2010
Every year I perform a magic show at the same country club for Easter. It is fun to see the children growing up. Some people ask me if the kids are spoiled or bratty since they are at a country club. They are not. They have manners and their actions are watched by their parents very close. If you are a Simpson's fan, you may remember an episode where Marge gets invited to the local country club and takes her family. The country club kids are portrayed as very snotty to the help. "I said an ab...
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Lucky For Me!

March 17, 2010
I performed my magic show at an outdoor festival in my town. A nice sized crowd was there.
Now, if you have seen my show you probably have seen one of my signature routines where I tie some ropes around a male adult's middle and then all the kids who want to get to help pull the ropes through his body. A real crowd pleaser and fun for both the kids and adults watching.
At this show I spotted a man who has come with his daughter many times to the restaurant I perform at. He has been a great guy ...
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Doug's Funnies


Comedy Kids Magician Doug Hoover Some funny things happen at my shows. I'll post some that might give you a chuckle!