Yeah I'm going to retract my statement and say that while it may not be an absolute RULE that young people shouldn't do children's shows, it is a good guideline. There are only a few (from the sounds of it, like kristenl's daughter) kids who have the maturity and poise to perform in front of people.

So, my suggestion is to wait and perfect your magic, then when you do put yourself on the performing scene you'll have a large and polished repertoire.

Once again perfecting the magic portion is the easy part it's the entertainment factor that makes the show, not the magic. Pretty much anyone with basic common sense can do magic but not everyone can be a performer and that's the hard part of this job.
Perfect the WOW factor and then you will be successful in Kid shows.

Here is a strong suggestion -- and I can already hear the groans before I even say it -- BUT, I'm gonna say it anyways!

My suggestion to the young performers is to take a speech class or enter a speech competition. Something that is going to force you to stand in front of a crowd and express yourself verbally. Back when my daughter was in 7th grade she entered a speech contest. 16 schools participated and the contest was comprised of 7th and 8th grade students. My daughter took home 1st place --- and unknown to us at the time -- is that the winner of the competition went on "tour" giving their speech at different events. I cannot begin to tell you how much that has influenced our daughter and has benefited her magic. She is not afraid to get up on stage or take the podium in front of hundreds of people. She is comfortable and at ease. She has applied that same knowledge and experience to her magic.

If anything, she gets more shy on the one-to-one walkaround -- crowds, she is in her element.

Just waiting for the groaning to begin --- but it is a serious suggestion that I think would really benefit everyone as a performer, and perfecting the art is what we are all after.

Funny story about this actually (well its not too funny). I am one of the shyest people that you will ever meet. However, as soon as I am on stage, all of that shyness goes away. I don't know why but if people are forced to listen to me then I am no longer shy. If I meet you on the street then you are not really forced to listen to me, you can walk away at any second, so I become shy.

The same thing happens to my sister. She is a very shy person, but when she gets on stage (she is an actress not a magician) she is fine.

Ben Winter

No groaning from me, I couldn't agree more. I've taken both an acting course and a speech course, and if anything's helped my magic, its those two classes.

I went ahead with the show, friend and all, and it went pretty well. I got together with my friend the day before the show for an hour and a half and worked out how to do it. The problems came not with the tricks and the routine, they came with the crowd control. The kids were out of their chairs every five seconds. I think my friend and I need to re-think our crowd control element. The problems also might have been caused by having slower transitions between tricks than we should have. At one point my friend did the pb&j illusion and they paid attention perfectly, staying in their seats and only talking during specific cues by my friend. I think the key in this is getting their attention and keeping it so that every trick will have the response this one did. It worked out and the kids seemed to have fun, but I will need to work on a lot before any more shows.

I am proud of you for realizing this!

I know that it gets repetitive hearing this, but doing a show IS more about entertaining than the magic. Magic is secondary. As magicians, we may want to make it all about the magic, but it is not. We can be the best magician, but if we can't keep the attention of the crowds, what is the point? They must be engaged by us being entertaning!

You will find that as you improve on your entertaining skills that crowd control will be less of an issue. They will be too busy paying attention!

Good luck, and again, I'm proud of you realizing that you need to work on your routine more before accepting any more job offers!