How do I introduce myself to the kids? Do I say "Hi, my name is Andrew, would you like to see some magic?" r "Who would like to see some magic?" What is the best way to make a good introduction?

Well, it all depends on your pre-warm up, how you get the kids settled, etc., but after all that this is what my daughter does:

"Hello and good afternoon. Welcome to [event name]. I am [name] and I will be performing a magic show for you today....so let's get started!

Immediately her music starts and with a big smile she goes into her first act.

What kind of warm up does your daughter do?

How old is your daughter? BTW it is entirely cool that you encourage her. A lot of parents from what I read, do not bother.

I believe her daughter is fairly young, but also very good. I think she may be around 13? Correct me if i am wrong. But remember she is the exception to the age rule, not the rule itself. Also, do not expect the warm up to be posted, im sure she worked long and hard to develop it and does not want other magicians using it, or "getting ideas from it".

If you have not developed a warm up for your show, or had not heard of a warm up, or dont know what a warm up is or consists of, you should really be doing some real research into kids shows.

Ukcop is right Andrew, I don't share her actual routines (well, sometimes I do when I get into magic talks with my magician friends, like Paddy here on the boards, he is one of the few that I actual share videos with as well). We spend an exorbinate amount of time trying to come up with something original and unique. Every once in awhile I will come across a great "find" that I think is so cool and awesome I will recommend them to a magician friend because I know even if they decide to use it in their show as well they will present it in a whole new way that fits their own persona.

Ukcop, thanks for the compliment.

Clarissa, my daughter is currently 14, and will be 15 this summer and is a freshman in high school. Our whole family belongs to the SAM and she also belongs to the IBM. We are all into magic and each play our own roles. I love performing for children casually, but I am working hard to overcome my "stage fright" so I can begin actually performing. I do most of the research as far as the magic and putting together a show. My daughter and I closely do the routining together. My husband is the master builder! Last summer he built The Dollhouse for our daughter and it was such a hit! He is currently making her Mark Wilson's Alakazam Hat, except he is building a larger version than the model he is currently marketing. (She was able to meet Mark Wilson in January and just loved him and Nani. They had such fun talking about the Dollhouse Illusion, which he premiered on his first television debut). I also enjoy designing and coming up with new props, but on a smaller and less complicated scale than my husband. I am also the one that maintains her website, designs her promotional material etc. Obviously, our daughter is the performer in the family. She has a natural grace and is very charming on stage.

It was her own love of magic that re-sparked both my husband and my own love of magic. Dana Daniels called her on stage when she was just 4 at Disneyland. After that she would play with all of the little magic sets. It was a return trip when she was 10 that she found the "magic shop" at Disneyland. It was all said and done at that point! We came home, found a wonderful magic venue in a neighboring city, and she has been going strong ever since. Some kids play soccer, get into sports-- for her, it was all about the magic.

My daughter is so excited, she just confirmed three public shows this week! One is just a short guest appearance, another one is for our city for a Celebrate Youth Day, and the last she will be performing at a Regional Arts Theatre with other professional magicians.

She is really dedicated. She practices daily. Most days she will go through her whole show, other days she will be bombarded with homework so she will only concentrate on one aspect of it. She used to only do a 15 minute show, but she has now progressed to doing a 30 minute show.

The greatest aspect that has helped her has been the fact that there are so many wonderful magicians that have tried to support and help her, some are even magicians we have never met! It has been amazing! We have been so fortunate to have made so many friends and the kindness they have shown to our daughter.

Here is a cute, but true story, and it really helps to understand how she feels about it. She has this story on her website:

Why I Love Magic:

Magic helps us all to find the child within. Remember when you were little and everything seemed magical? Christmas, Easter, your first to trip Disneyland and meeting Mickey Mouse? Disneyland is where magic first touched my life.

Magic helps me to reach out to others; to touch the lives of other children and adults and take them somewhere else— to a world of mystery and wonder.

My Auntie recently told my family a story about my 6 six year old cousin. Apparently she wanted to know how the Easter Bunny managed to go to everyone’s homes, hide the eggs and baskets, and do this all over the world before the children woke up in the morning. Now apparently she knew how Santa did it— he does have reindeer after all, but bunnies have to rely on hopping from place to place. After her mom told her she really didn’t know how the Easter bunny managed it, my little cousin said, “That’s okay Mommie I’ll just ask [name removed]. She’s magic just like Santa and the Easter bunny so she’ll know!”

Yes, to my six year old cousin I rank up there with Santa and the Easter Bunny— and one really wonders why I love magic so much?

She sounds very talented, and sounds like she is doing well in magic, especially for her age. (i do like that story).

Personally the reason i like performing for kids is, well, to adults its a trick, there is no such thing as magic, obviously right? But to kids its an entirely different matter, it really can be, magic!

Personally i perform mostly for adults and if i perform for kids it tends to be in more close-up situations, i rarely perform on stage at all because i personally dont enjoy that type of magic as much.

Aswell as policing and a-levels i really dont have much time to perform stage shows, close-up is easy for me. I know what im doing and i know how to do it well.

Interestingly close-up for kids seems fairly rare, most "adult" magicians cant stand kids and most also dont like the position of having their props grabbed at every opportunity.

If you do close-up for children try letting them keep something that you have actually done magic with, like a sponge ball, works very very well.

No such thing as magic?? What the ? Next thing you'll be telling me there is no such thing as Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny.

Reminds me of a story Piers Anthony told... For those unaware He is a fantasy Author, wrote some sci-fi as well. He wrote a lot of book about a Place called Xanth, where everyone could perform ONE magic Spell... and it was very detailed. So someone once said." You place so much detail into Xanth for a place that doesn't exist. "

To which he replied. " Of course it exists, it not only helped me place 2 kids through college, but got us a couple of Horses and this fancy home... I call my home.. "The House that Xanth built."

That out of the way. I bring it up because while we do coin flurries, the coin does not really appear and dissapear by magic, the results of that coin flurry can be quite magical... Put a smile on a person's face that otherwise felt glum... make a child laugh... lighten someone's burdened heart?

If only for a few seconds you spread a little joy and wonder. if you astonish as you entertain. The method is earthly, the result most magical.

So yes there is magic. You just have to know where to look

I know what you mean about the kids, they are so fun to do magic for! I love their expressions and awe. Both my daughter and I do a lot of volunteering working with children and so they hold a dear place in our hearts.

When it finally comes time for me to perform, it will definitely be for children. She really hasn't had a problem with children being "grabby" and she utilizes a lot of her counselor skills to keep the children behaving without them realizing it. She makes it fun.

Much of her stage show and her birthday shows have the same basis for the routine so it is easy to switch over from one to the other for her. She loves the one-on-one with the kids that birthday parties offer, but she does like the 'spotlight' on stage as well. Plus, when she does her stage show she gets to use her dollhouse.

Close-up has been hard for her. She just hasn't developed that same "love" for it yet, so she has ignored it pretty much. She does know that sooner or later she will have to have a minimum amount in her repertoire.

Now my husband, he loves close-up! He is constantly stopped at work and asked to do something. Before he leaves home he always has to make sure he has something in his pocket!

From your name, I assume that you are in the UK?



Very well said Clarissa!

Yep, with grabbing i was referring specifically to a close-up situation.

I am over in the US this summer doing "camp america" basically being a counsellor on a summer camp. Have got the position of tennis specialist so should be good.

make a joke

Enjoy your time as a counselor and the camp! A couple of years ago my daughter switched roles f a week and was a "camper" instead of a counselor. She and her best friend went away for a week up to the mountains. Most of the staff were from Australia.

Kids are kids though....her best memory? They were white river rafting and they hit a large rock. She was thrown from the raft and bounced off another rock, which cut up her back. Everyone was so focused with trying to get her back into the boat they didn't notice another girl had been knocked from the raft as well. They did get both girls back in the raft, thank goodness for life jackets, but to my daughter that was just the most "awesome" part of camping because it was so exciting riding the river--- and she still has the scar to prove it. Of course, had I known at the time, I would have totally freaked!

She is my little nature girl-- she loves hiking at places like Yosemite. Last visit we went to the top of Nevada Falls and just kicked back and looked out over the views of the Valley-- gorgeous!

While going through my 3 rules i make 2 jokes -1 is awarmup:

1-hi my name is...please stay seated throughout my show...
2-if you know something or seen anthing before by other magicians please dont spoil it for the rest of us. For example i know alot of you didnt brush your teeth this morning but im not gonna say that.
3-(I put up 4 fingers) and say if you see something you like then clap like this and then i produce something. Have fun!

This is the best grammer and most informative post I have seen! Always ask Sailor for quality!