kids-birthday-party-magicians

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

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:36:35 +0100

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!

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:55:40 +0100

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 wanted to know if I knew his magic teacher. As a matter of fact I did. It was one of my teachers using my magic class materials. I asked him what were some of the tricks he learned and what he liked. He said he really liked his teacher and loved his class.
The woman teaching the class never knew any magic before teaching this class. She has taken to it like a cat to catnip. She has fun with it, plays with the kids and they laugh together when something goes wrong. A perfect magic teacher/coach.
So I thought he is my students student. Like a grandchild I was so proud of. I never mentioned how I knew his teacher. I just appreciated he wanted to share with a magician he was one too!

Birthday Party Magic Show for Twelve Year Olds with a Surprise

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:00:17 +0100

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 and optical illusions that I know kids love and can learn to show off to their friends and families. The trouble with most magic kits is that the tricks they contain are not designed for beginners. The instructions read like gibberish. If you ever bought a magic kit you know what I’m talking about!
So for the hour I was with these twelve year olds, I performed some flashy magic tricks that caught their attention and some situational comedy with a couple of their peers. That they liked. Then I showed some optical illusions that surprised them, some tricks that they could do and would want to show off to the next kid they met.
Now the whole point of this story is to relate what happened at the end of the show. After I thanked them and took my last bow I asked what they liked best in both the show and what they learned to do. I like to get feedback from the kids as much as possible. As I finished talking with them and treating them like adults, they acted like adults. I am sure once one did this it encouraged others to follow suit but I would say three quarters of the boys came up, shook my hand and said “thank you.” I was surprised and impressed! I enjoy performing magic shows for kids but an unexpected sincere gesture like this says there is hope for the future.

Balloon Swords Drive Mom Crazy

Fri, 21 May 2010 15:35:26 +0100

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 Michael York. (Actually the Three and Four Musketeer movies since they are one movie split in two.) But most moms do not love the Balloon Sword.
Boys get wound up with them. Running, chasing, bashing and having a great time. But having roving bands of boys bashing each other is not a good time for moms. So I ask if she would like me to not make them at the party. You might think this is a problem since kids will ask for them and be disappointed if they don’t get one.
After all, they have seen them made plenty of times and know they are not hard to make. So why can’t I make one for them? I never really let it get that far. I announce when I start making balloons that I can’t make everything but here is what I can make: I then list off quickly all the animals, flower and hats I can create. Swords are not mentioned. When each child comes up and tells me what they would like me to make and ask for a sword I’ll say I am out of swords but can make a Ray Gun. That surprises the child. They have not seen a Ray Gun before so that is usually a quick decision for them and they forget about the sword.
Is a Gun better than a Sword? Well, this gets them pretending to zap each other instead of hitting each other. They get much less wound up and moms everywhere are less stressed during the party and thank me for that! And by the way, Ray Guns can be set to stun.

Party of Five

Mon, 10 May 2010 15:49:50 +0100

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 matter. But my shows are very interactive with the kids. The birthday child gets to come up and help make the magic happen, many of the other kids get to come up also and all are encouraged to yell out the magic words and make magical gestures. They participate. This is what makes it worth going through the expense and trouble of having live entertainment!
Years ago I didn’t bother asking how many kids would be coming to the party. It didn’t matter to me. As long as I had room for my table to set up I could handle any size group. It was true but now I like to be forewarned. Why? Because of the Party of Five.
I was invited to perform at a celebrities house. This will be fun I thought, a big lavish party with lots of kids. But I was wrong. I performed my magic show for the birthday girl, her two brothers and both parents. The energy level was totally different. Being loud and boisterous is not really appropriate which you have to be for a large crowd so they can see and hear you in the back.
I actually did some of the magic I do when walking around doing magic for small groups of people. Card tricks, rope and coin tricks. Things in hands. I taught the older brothers how to do some tricks that I teach in my magic classes. A fun magic show but different.
So now I ask how many kids will be coming even if the parents can only give me a ball park figure. I can do a birthday party show for five, fifty five or more but it becomes a different show. Forewarned is forearmed!

Six Year Old Host

Wed, 05 May 2010 19:11:34 +0100

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 different than most six year olds. He came up to help with my comedy funnel routine. He was a great helper, having fun himself while the kids and adults watching are howling at him and the situation. But it was after the main show, making balloon animals for everyone and doing walk-around magic that I saw something different in Frankie. The best way to describe him is he acted like a host at the party. He asked me if I had eaten and when I said yes he replied matter of factly, “ok, good” like he was my mother. And later, he came up with a package Dentyne gum and handed me a piece. Again with a ‘here, eat this, you should have this’ attitude. He seemed fearless and had a take charge attitude but it was about other peoples needs, not himself. Frankie had charisma. An unusual quality in people, especially unusual in a six year old.

Visiting Edwards Air Force Base

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:04:01 +0100

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 our Navy. They are much more imposing in person when you see how large they are. Like the Rose Parade floats, to see them in person and not just on a little TV screen (I don’t care how large your Big Screen TV is,) is much more impressive!
So what does this have to do with magic shows? Nothing. It was just so cool and inspiring to be there and one of the reasons I love performing magic is the places it takes you.

Real Magic

Mon, 03 May 2010 14:52:14 +0100

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 of magic myself. I will go to the Magic Castle to see a great performance but it is not that often. But I did experience it before I left for a show on Easter.
I was loading up my magic gear in the back of my car. Making a few trips since this was a bigger show for a country club. As I came up to the car, sitting on the bumper was a little blue basket with Easter goodies in it. Jelly beans, little chocolate eggs, the green grass sticking out of the sides. I looked around and there was no one in sight. I had just walked into the house, grabbed another case, walked back out and there it was. It really seemed to have appeared like magic. Did the Easter Bunny leave it? I had no idea. So I really felt that magic experience. Surprise, curiosity and happiness. All the things that should be in a magic show.
So that reminded me what is really important in a magic show. Bringing that feeling to each child in my audience. The candy is gone now but I have the little blue basket sitting in my car's cup holder. Every time I get into the car now and see it, it makes me smile and remember that magic moment. Real magic.

You owe me seven bagels!

Mon, 03 May 2010 14:56:30 +0100

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 abalone sandwich, not a baloney sandwich" yells a kid throwing a plate at a server. So we might like to think these kids are pampered pets but I haven't seen it in Southern California. Maybe in other parts of the country, East Coast perhaps?
Anyway, since these members has seen me every year I come up with new routines to have fun with the kids that the adults will enjoy as well. Something interactive is what plays well. So this year I had a helper, a boy about eight, come up and play Three Frog Monte. I had three rubber frogs on a table top, one of which squeaked. As I played leap frog with them the boy was asked to guess where the squeaking frog was. He got it right so he was awarded with a bagel from a bucket filled with bagels. Now the fun starts. I pointed to children sitting in the audience and asked them to follow the frogs. They then guessed where the squeaking one was. They would get it wrong so I turned to my helper and asked where it was. He would always get it right and was rewarded with another bagel! Well, you can see where this is going. Each time the audience would get it wrong and the helper go it right he was loaded up with another bagel from the bucket. Eventually he started having trouble holding so many bagels! This got big laughs from the adults and the kids were going nuts since they could not find the squeaker. Finally a couple of bagels fell to the ground and the boy yells, "five second rule!" as he tries to pick them up and drops a couple more. This resulted in howls from the adults of course. Spontaneous comments like this are what audience participation is all about.
To finish up I said "we need to make something that everyone can enjoy." So I took all the bagels and placed them back into the bucket. Closed the lid and we all yelled the magic word. I opened the bucket and then poured out a rabbit. A nice surprise that got a great hand. Everyone was pleased except my helper who exclaimed, "you owe me seven bagels!" Even more howls of laughter from the adults. What surprised me was he knew how many bagels he had been holding!
(As I write this it occurred to me some of you might be thinking that was a bratty comment. I don't see it that way but you all are welcome to send me your thoughts.)
I received nice compliments after the show, especially from some of the older members who are the ones that have the club manager's ear and keeps bringing me back!

Lucky For Me!

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:21:05 +0100

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 so I thought it would be fun to use him for the rope routine. He comes up and is smiling and having a good time. Well, when it is time to tie the ropes around his middle and I put them around his back, imagine my surprise when I realize under his shirt he has a gun tucked into his pants! I look at him and he looks at me and says under his breath "I'm a police officer." Good. Because I would hate to think I had found the local bank robber. I would have been more worried if he had been a total stranger but because we had talked many times at the restaurant I felt totally comfortable finishing out the routine and laughing with him.
So lucky for me that the guy that came up with a gun in his shorts was someone I had met before!