Hi!
I just came home from a kids show, my first. The children were 10 years old. Now, it felt quite good when performing, but not excellent. How do children respond when they like it? Some were screaming and saying they knew how I did it. Someone put her hand up and asked me to explain the secret.

After the show they stormed my table and asked to see all my stuff... Is this normal behavior? Because if it is, I'll stick to adult shows. It was the worst audience I have ever had, you could call all of them hacklers.

Also, when I arrived the parents asked if the children could sit on the floor, now some effect required them to see the table. Therefor I asked them to stand up at times and when they did, they came too close...

Are children always this annoying?

Ten year olds are a pain in the a$$ to work with, however, this sounds like you lost control totally. Next time one of the things you can do is explain at the beginning that you will need a helper for some tricks and you only pick kids that remain seated and are quiet.

When I have had a 10 yr old yell out "I know how to do that" I ask him up with me, hand him the tick (minus any "secret" part and say "you do it." I love it when I doi a colour changing silk and they come up and I hand them two silks and have them try it. They never know how and they don't even realize that you need a "palmo." I am not going tom tell them about it either. (If you don't know about a "palmo" don't ask me because if you ask you don't know and I am not your teacher.)

That sounds like an average response for a group of 10 year olds.
Work on audience management. Begin your show by explaining your rules (in a nice sort of way). Explain how you'll need helpers from time to time and you'll only choose those kids that sit up straight and raise their hand (and you certainly won't pick those 'old professionals' in the back who are jumping around like their shoes are on fire). Explain that for the magic to work and for everyone to have a good time, they should stay in their seats so everyone can see.
As far as the "I know how you did that!!!" line, you'll eventually tune it out. Ha! Just kidding. Just have a clever, FUN comeback (nothing mean!). I usually say something (with a smile) like "Ok, close your eyes and I'll tell you when it's over!" or "Let's keep the secret just between us magicians, ok?"

I once had a kid repeat "I can do that! I can do that! I can do that!" about twenty times during a card routine. I finally stopped, looked at him and said "Kid, I think your record is stuck!" and his parents were laughing so hard they were nearly in tears! The boy didn't get it, of course, but being the butt of a friendly joke quieted him right down.

Good luck

I learned a lot in my first couple kid performances for balloons and magic. In my first magic show, the kids were crowding me terribly and almost pushed me through a patio window. Also, for my first balloon performance, I had kids swiping my stuff and trying to do their own balloons.

I think you'll quickly learn that you have to actually have just a little bit of control over the crowd. I thought just doing the tricks would be all I had to worry about, but I learned rather quickly that you have to set some boundaries and keep one step ahead of the rascals. There are many creative ideas, like having the kids sit behind a magic stick that you laid across the floor, or sit on a magic mat. That will eliminate 50% of the problem that you mentioned in your post. You also have to be able to kindly tell a kid to not touch certain things. I think it really comes down to boundaries and keeping stuff put away. Keeping props put away (in a chest or zippable bag) when you're not using them will save you some sorrows.

No children are not always this annoying. There is one BIG thing you must learn in the busienss of entertaining children and that thing is crowd control. You must learn how to control your audience or they will be all over you and everything you have! Learn to control the kids, and you will go further.

Asking the children to stand up was a big mistake. You want the kids sto stay seated the whole time. Sometimes, it is necessary to ask the parents for a little help. But you should learn to handle most of the problems yourself. Never argue with a kid, or "call him out" you will never win. Also, never choose a helper that is loud and annoying...if you do, you will regret it. There is no use in rewarding a heckler.

Remeber...kids like to do the opposite of what you say, so don't get bossy or you will go nowhere.

are there any sites or books about crowd control, or performance?

for kid crowd control i would look into David Ginn's stuff. He has a ton of material on the subject.

ben winter

ps. i do not know his website. Just google it and you will be able to find it easily.

Sounds like a typical kids show to me for that age group.....but the more you do them, the more you will learn how to control them. I get them controlled from the start with a few simple rules. if they don't follow the rules, then they don't participate....works every time....by the end of the show, i ask them to stand for the last trick, that way not only do you get a standing ovation (since they are standing), but then they are ready to disperse, and when they are standing, they are ready to exit. AS for kids running up and grabbing your things....place Management works great. When you are done with an effect, place it someplace out of sight....as the term goes, "out of sight, out of mind"...I learned this over the period of years of shows.....just need to learn how to place things out of reach from curious hands......as for the outburst of " I know how you did that...." not much you can do about that. 10 years old is the age of "know it alls...." when they shout out like that, you just kindly ignore them. If they all get out of hand, just politely ask to quiet down or the show will end early.....that is when the parents will usually step in a quiet the child...no parent wants to look like their own child spoiled it for everyone else.....on that note....WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF CHILDREN SHOWS!! *smile*

With practice, kids should hardly ever try to ruin your show. I havn't even perfrmed that long as I am 16, and I rarely have any minimal problems.