Hello!
Im 17 and I've been doing kidz magic for a while now. I love it, every kid reacts his own way to everything, I never get bored, and they're so expressive!
Anyway, my big problem is "silence". I'm a noisy kind of person, I love when kids laugh shout and scream, and I love get to get noisy with them. Only thing is, noise can't last for ever, gotta make the show with different intensities otherwise kids start moving way too much, don't pay attention to me any more, and eventually get bored.
What do you do when you finish this particulary fun routine where kids get to shout then encourage an assistant, and you want them to listen to a story afterwards? It's just not in my natural to start speaking in a deep and calm voice - I haven't got one-. How do you do it?
Thanks,
Elisabeth.

Setting up guidelines at the beginning of the show for the children is always a good idea. In my shows, I stress the point of listening. I set out the ground rules. I do so by making it a game with the children. The better they listen, the more fun it is.

I follow Capehart's idea. I encourage the kids to be loud!! It shows the parents that they are haveing fun. There are times in my show when I want quiet so I tell the kids at the beginning That yelling and laughing are OK at the END of a trick. But DURING the trick I need quiet.

This works for me. I finish a trick, the kids go nuts for a few seconds, then I raise my hand to signal it's time for quiet and BAM no more noise.

I keep getting comments from parents like "the kids REALLY loved your show. We heard them in the other room." Gets me more parties when the kids do that.

Here's an idea: at the beginning of the show, you try to get your audience involved, right? Do a cheering exercise.
Get them to cheer and clap as loud as you can when you spread your arms out wide, then get them to be silent when you put one hand up, and look at them. Once they associate cheering with your "I'm finished" gesture, and silence with the other, you should have perfect crowd control.

Everyone has given you great ideas on crowd control-- but I want to go a little further than that if you want them to listen to a story. This goes back to rehearsal. If you want to do storytelling magic, you have to become a master first at storytelling. What I mean by that is that you have to learn to control your voice--- the highs, the lows, the pitch--- so that the children hang on your every word. If you do it right, you can have an entire theatre hushed while you engage them.

My advice is to first learn your story inside and out, then practice in front of a mirror. Learn which parts of the story you need to make "high", and which parts of the story are almost a whisper. Trust me, master this, and you'll have no problem keeping the kids quiet during your storytelling.

Nice to see you posting again, kristenl.

If you really want kids to hear you, start whispering. In no time at all you'll have complete silence!! Sounds counter intuitive but it totally works.

Try it......... you'll be suprised.

Ted

I'll give it a shot.

Yay Kirsten, I do perform one story in my act (dissapearing necklace), that's the one where all small kidz stay silent.
Thanks for all advice! Don't be afraid tu post more.
Yesterday I did a kids show, where the kids were sitting in a sort of U, and I was just in front of all of them (next to the ends of the U branches). Very bad: they weren't together so they could react less as a group, kids in front of each other are fascinated by the opposite and distracted by my show, and I'm too far away from the kids at the back of the U, they feel left over. Now that was a distraction. Lucky my tricks were captivating, thanks to all the advice I get here . Now I know: the more together, the better.
Have a nice day!