When you give out a goody bag to this kids do you 1. tell the birthday kids parents you will do this before the show 2. if you tell them, is that the only goody bag they get? (not 1 from you and 1 from the birthday childs family) 3. just show up with them and hand them out at the end 4. charge extra for this? Thanks a lot

Ben

We always tell the parents ahead of time that their child will be receiving a gift. We don't tell them about the handouts during the show unless they specifically ask for the helpers. We absolutely do not charge for this. However, my daughter has always received some nice tips, which are appreciated.

In regards to the tipping, parents are appreciative when you are willing to go the extra mile and not expect anything in return-- which reflects in the tips!

Sell goodie bags don’t give them out. Some parents will want them well others wont. If you just give them to the children you are taking on a big financial burden that you probably shouldn’t. If your just trying to get your name out then give the kids items that are promotional such as magic certificates or colouring sheets.
I don’t charge as much as I could for my goodie bags. I make about $.75 a bag. Its not a lot but parents like the idea that I have taken the time to make them. If you look at this weekend as an example of an average weekend. Of my three shows, two purchased the goodie bags.

Glamour, we do the handouts, not the goodie bags. At this point, I just don't want to deal with it. Although, I do love party planning. Always had a blast doing them for my daughter's birthdays.

You may want to check out the goodie boxes at Birthday Express. They are really nice when packaging up items and look great for presentation. If we were ever to do goodie bags, I would definitely utilize these boxes.

We don't do the magic certificates, but we do promotional material. The more often you get your name out, the better. We just recently commissioned an artist to do a caricature of our daughter for a coloring page. His artwork that I reviewed prior to making my final decision was great. I can't wait to see the final result. Unfortunately, it takes about a month before getting the final project as his calendar is pretty backlogged. The good news is that it will be in a digital PSD format that I can alter at random with text to fit different events and situations.

I give a goody bag to the BD child only. You can make out one for each child at the party but you would charge for each bag and let the parents know if they want to pay for it.
It's a huge hassle though!
For the Bd child I give them a Bd hat, a bag of stuff, magic wand, Magigican asst. certificate and a autographed color photo of your's truly.
I get my stuff from oriental trading, the birthday express has nice things too. I'd stick with giving just the Bd child the stuff...a lot easier.

i use to give out goody bags for all the kids... it was like an additional 15 bucks and we included some simple 'cereal box' magic tricks in them. Just wasn't worth dealing with. Then we use to give the birthday child a magic kit. The magic kit was a nice kit that you couldnt find at local stores, but was about 10 bucks wholesale. Once again, became too much of a hassle.
Now I don't do any kind of handouts in that manner. Rather I make balloon creations. It is a wayyyyyy bigger hit with the kids and I have found myself getting more gigs because of the balloons. I entertain at two resteraunts only making balloons and do many shows where all i do is balloons. However I am not talking about a simple dog or sword. (www.myspace.com/itmustbemagic) u can see some of the balloons that I make. I think the balloons are the best way to go as far as handouts. A balloon and business card.... or coloring sheet or w/e/.....