I'm 12 years old and have been doing magic for quite a while, maybe 4 or five years. I have started advertising and making a routine for kid shows. I just got an invitation for me and my good friend to perform in half a week at an 8-year old's party. I have a good routine that I would be fine performing yet my friend does not. I wanted to do something creative with a straight man/silly man gig but time might not allow that. I could just have my friend do tricks at various points in my routine or just have him do some of my tricks. Should I make the push and work out something fancy or just incorporate my friend into my routine?

Don't let your friend do the show with you. For one, you'll have to make a new routine and practice it in half a week...which is impossible if you want to put on a good show. I would cancel the show if I were you, sounds unprepared. Or if I'm mistaken, go out there and do the show, by yourself. Have fun and good luck.

good luck.

well, you did better than flight2 has, and he has AGENTS AND MANAGERS. Make sure you turn up, your friend shouldnt be doing the show if he doesnt have a routine.

It's nice to know that you are now advertising AND getting a routine together in the mean time.
All twelve year olds trying to make money in kid shows should be tied to a tree and tortured.

Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel.

GREAT line Sluggo!!! Wish I had thought of it. ROFLMAO

*whew* I sure am glad my daughter is 13 1/2 !

Cardcupmaster, you are going about it backwards. Before you even "think" about advertising, you need to have a quality show put together that is practiced, tested, and ready for a paying audience. If not, you will not only make yourself look bad, but you will ruin the reputation you are hoping to build.

I'm a mom, and trust me, blow it -- and one mom will innocently talk to another mom. Especially, if you are targeting a specific area. For example: Mom A says to Mom B --- "Hey, my kid is so excited, I just hired this youth magician by the name of Cardcupmasters to perform at Johnny's birthday!" Mom B says, "Really? You'd better re-think that. We hired him and he had no idea what he was doing! Max was so disappointed!" At this point, say goodbye to doing anymore shows in that neighborhood! Mom and Dads spend a lot of money on their children's birthday parties, and they want to be sure they are getting something in return for it -- so it HAS to be your BEST performance each time.

After my daughter performs for someone, whether it is public or private, she always sends an evalutation form. She asks for not only positive feedback about what they like, but also NEGATIVE feedback so that she can see what needs to be worked on. Her latest feedback just came in a couple of days ago and I thought I would share it with you so you can have an idea what you are striving for:

Important Feedback: If you could comment on [name removed] to others interested in having her perform at their events, what would you like to tell them in regards to her professionalism and performance that would help them decide if she was suitable for their next event?

" [Name removed] arrived prior to the event and set up before the children arrived. She paid extra attention to our daughter, the birthday girl, by having her be the assistant. She even gave her a stuffed bunny as a gift, as part of the magic show. We would highly recommend [name removed] for your party or event. She was outstanding!! "

Important Feedback: What do you feel [name removed] could be doing differently to provide your event with a better experience?

Cannot think of anything. She was very good!!



This is the kind of feedback you want everytime. I could give you examples of the other positive feedback she has received, but you get the idea. Honestly, she has never received any negative feedback from a client.

I dont think you should use your friend.Like he said u have to rehearse and after you rehearse you have to reheares

KristenL,
Let me rephrase that. Every twelve year that hasn't done a thing to learn how to do a kid show should be tied to a tree and tortured.
You have to understand that we've been on here for several years and have tried to give advice about kid shows and how to prepare for them. These kids do not care about studying or rehearsing, they just take their nickel and dime stuff and do a show anyway. Meanwhile they are destroying a kid's party and their own reputations.
You can probably tell that some of our patience have been worn thin.
The most aggravating one on here is Flight2 many of us has wrote volumes of info to him and he hasn't followed one thing. AAgGHH!!

Sluggo, I thought your comment was funny. I was trying to be witty in return, sorry if that didn't come across right! That is why I winked!

I understand your frustrations. I used to come on Penguin a lot, but actually stopped because of all the rudeness of some of the members. Couldn't tolerate how disrespectful some of them were. Although, it appears to have changed greatly since then.

I love helping kids. I work with them quite a bit and volunteer a lot of my time at our community center along with my daughter. It is one of the reasons I have tried to offer the best advice I possibly can to the kids to help them out. I want to see them succeed! However, like you, I do get frustrated when they don't put the effort into it that they should and then turn around and expect to collect money for it.

Have a great night!

KrisrenL,
I took your comment as given, I was just trying to emphasis to the wannabie's that they must FIRST gain knowledge BEFORE trying to perform. They all think their years of magical prowness will get them thru and it won't.
It kills me when they say "I'm twelve and I've been doing magic for four or five years and am now ready to do kid shows."
They got a magic starter kit and they come up with some walk around card/coin tricks they do at school and they feel they are now an entertainer. Clueless is what they are. I guess if someone read a book on Dentistry they are now ready to open their own office.

I completely agree My first show was with less then a years experience in doing magic. However saying that I had 10 years of performing behind me. Let me just say it wasn’t the magic at all that made it a success. It was getting the kids to play with me.

Maybe rephrase your sentence....

Sorry if I'm offending anyone (I actually don't care if I'm offending you, I say that to be polite), but 18+ is really the age for children performances. I think any younger, and there really isn't enough of an age gap for the children (or adults) to show proper respect. Trust me, as a young performer, adults scoff at you and really don't give you the proper attention. And unless you're in acting school or have taken classes, I have a feeling your skill as a performer isn't quite up to par yet.

Perform your magic, live it up, but don't always look to make a quick buck right away.

yes maybe i should have not said "play with me" but you get the idea. I agree that most teenagers do not have enough life experience to be a skilled performer but there are the rare exceptions who were born to be in front of people.

That is why these kids must be as skilled magically as possible to even think about going out there. For the most part they dont have the right mind set to think quickly on there feet if something were to happen.