I'm planning on doing a kids show sometime in the summer and it's for a boy that's turning 7 or 8 I think and he's seen me perform at his school and loves seeing me do some of my card effects but I was wondering what are some better things to do other tahn card effects?

I have a good sponge ball routine from SPONGE with Jay Noblezada and most of my other stuff is card magic but I can't find a tt that fits me because I have huge thumbs and I'm absolutely terrified of balloons so balloon animals is not an option for me.

Do you think I should just forget about it and say I can't do it because most of my stuff is card magic? Or should I try and figure out a good show?

I'm also planning on buying a lot of stuff soon and after I buy all this stuff I'm not going to be buying any magic for the next 3-6 years depending on how long it takes me to learn and get good at this stuff. Here's my list:

Ultragaff 3 DVD set + Deck
Hovercard
Autograph
Search & Destroy
Box Monster
Rich Sanders Tagged
Ghost Ace Of Spades and Master Ace Of Spades T-Shirts
Deep 3 by Bro Gilbert
Pentacle by Craig Petty
Catch by Ben Seidman
Magician Table
Presto Pad
Easy To Master Thread Miracles #1-3
Tarantula
Cullfather
Aces In Their Faces by Bob Kohler
Ringtone by Adam Grace
Pass With Care by Peter Cassford
Interlace with an extra pants gimmick
and Ten by Richard Sanders

I think there might be more but I'm too tired to look up everything right now but as you can see I've got a lot of stuff I'm planning on getting and I know what you proffessionals are going to say to me but read the middle of the 4th paragraph again and you'll see why I'm getting all this stuff.

I'm not trying to be rude but after all the bashing I've had since starting magic has got me to a point where I just hate hearing the same thing over and over again and I get the same thing from my parents every single day of the week and I have rarely been praised from my parents for doing a good job with my magic they ALWAYS try and find something wrong with it and when you're looking at magic like a hawk you will always find something wrong with a presentation and they rarely enjoy it.

Sorry about that rant but some of you must know how I feel when you've been underappreciated from your parents or loved ones. The only relatives that actually like my magic are my aunts uncles and cousins (I don't say grandparents because both of my grandparents on my dad's side are both dead).

Anyway I should stop typing because I've been typing for the past 9 hours now and I think I might be close to getting carpal tunnel syndrome soon so yeah any help would be appreciated on if I should just forget about doing the show or work on getting that ITR ring flight looking good and do that plus some other stuff and sorry about the long post and I hope to hear from somebody soon. Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

KingOfNynex2003

hi,

Well bashing can be good, I know I thought of that differently a few weeks ago. But because of this "bashing" I put in the time my show deserves. Your list does not look very kid friendly. Are you really going to perform Tarantula on kids? anyway get some simple illusions like hippity hop rabbits, and some others along with a book or 2, I can recommend Silly Billy, and go ahead and check out David Ginn on youtube, or his website, www.Ginnmagic.com.


hope this helps,

lierke

A Dice Box routine similar to this one is great for Kids Shows
Dice Box
Unfortunately, it is out of stock at Penguin...so you'll have to look elsewhere.

Also:

Hippity Hop Rabbits

Newspaper Tear

Break Away Wand

Hat Tear (Out of Stock)

Mirror Box

These are just a start. Putting together a good Children's show will take quite a number of years...not just a few months. Perhaps your time would be better spent on developing a great presentational routine.

Your parents are just looking out for your best interest. They probably do not want you to spend your well earned money on something you might become disinterested in, over the next few years. Look within yourself and into your future...see if Magic is where you want to be. If so, work hard and practice even harder.

Try not to be too hard on your parents. As Blindside said, parents are always looking out for their children. Also, if your parents aren't enjoying your magic, perhaps focus more on how you are PRESENTING it rather than the actual magic.

I can be one of my daughter's harshest critics--- trust me, she'd tell you this during rehearsels!-- but I am also one of her greatest supporters. Let your parents know how much magic means to you and that you'd really like their support. Perhaps, as Blindside said, they think this is a passing fancy. Let them know this is something of real interest to you and perhaps they'll change their tune.

In the meantime, unless you are really prepared to purchase more kid-friendly magic I'd politely decline the kid show offer until you are better prepared in the future with that kind of material.

Good luck with your magic. I wish you all the best. I really hope you and your parents can work this out. ^_^

~ Kristen

Thanks for the replies everyone and I forgot some other stuff from my list and they are:

The Secret Art Of Money Business 1&2
and Color Blind

and one other thing the birthday boy is actually one of my friends that likes to hang out with me occasionally so do you think that would be kind of harsh for me to say no thanks because I don't have enough material?

Also I have had a little experience with kids shows I did a kids party last June and it was for kids aged from 10-11 and it was pretty easy for me to keep them entertained because of the fact that some of them were my friends but 99% of the stuff I did was card magic the only non-card thing I did was my quarter in soda can effect and it still played well for them.

Also do you guys think that Cups & Balls would be too much for them? That's the main reason I'm buying that Presto Pad because I'm having a tough time loading my final loads and I want something that'll make it a whole lot easier on me.

I also have some rope routines from that Fiber Optics with Richard Sanders I haven't actually tested it out on kids yet but whenever I do it for my relatives and unbelievably my dad they can't stop talking about it.

I've also got a few packet effects like NFW Color Monte Call Of The Wild Re-Set from the AoA books (do you think that I should practice that Hot Chocloate effect if I say yes to them?) For those of you who don't know what that is it's where you take a folded up wad of Hershey bar-like paper from your wallet that's been flattened and doesn't have a chocolate bar in it you give a quick blow into the wrapper to inflate it into a genuine chocolate bar.

Take a look at a book such as seriously silly. Reading that will not only give you an idea of what kids parties are really about, but also whether you should take the job and the type of material you will need.

Well, sounds like the "kid's show" is a few of his friends. Is this stage? None of this stuff is stage, you've chosen close up style magic. So at this point, I'll assume that you'll be doing walk around street style for your friends and other kids about your age in a party atmosphere.

My two cents on your list (many will disagree, but these are my opinions):



You're paying $100 for like 3 tricks you'll actually use off here.



You already do thread work? It's rough times, I'd start out with a simple and cheap thread reel. Tarantula is cool and all, but it's like buying a Ferrari as your first car.



Dude, straight up don't buy this.



You'll be happier with the Roadrunner Cull DVD.



Twisted Sisters or Duplicity by John Bannon are a better choice at that price point. MUCH better.

Hey man,

I pretty much agree with akira right down the line. His trick opinions are usually spot on. Good luck with your show!! I'm sure you'll ROCK!

Ted

I thank you for all your feedback and letting me know about all of it.

Well I've got rid of some of my stuff and here's my new list so far:

Ultragaff 3 DVD set + Deck
Hovercard
Autograph
Search & Destroy
Box Monster
Rich Sanders Tagged
Deep 3 by Bro Gilbert
Pentacle by Craig Petty
Magician Table
Presto Pad
Easy To Master Thread Miracles #1-3
Tarantula
Cullfather
Aces In Their Faces by Bob Kohler
Ringtone by Adam Grace
Pass With Care by Peter Cassford
Interlace with 2 extra pants and shoes gimmick
Ten by Richard Sanders
Twisted Sisters
Duplicity
The Royal Scam
Spin Doctor
Alpha Deck
and Color Blind

I'm trying to get it down to about $885 Canadian Dollars but all of this stuff is in my ESSENTIAL pile because a lot of the stuff on here I have never done it before and I love packet effects but I don't know how I can bring it down a couple hundred dollars more because and I've always like the blank decks they always get good reactions and who could resist levitating an object right? I also love gaff effects.

Essential Pile Are you insane? I have been working professionally as a magcian for 1 year now and i still have only just spent under $1000 in a few years, I am working my [edited] off on a shoe string budget, and how you have the money for all that when im working 2 jobs + schooling I have no idea. . .

The only stuff on your "Essential Pile" list I would consider including in a birthday show for 8 to 10 year-olds is the Magician Table and the Presto pad. Maybe Interlaced... but only in the context of a longer routine. There is far more better/appropriate material out there for that demographic and context, and a lot of it can be found in similar threads in this forum. Successfully entertaining kids at a birthday party is a far cry from doing card tricks across the counter at Blockbuster. Seriously.

Some of the other stuff you mentioned has potential... rope work, sponge balls, etc. If you haven't already, you should immediately read this sticky: http://www.penguinmagic.com/discuss/vie ... hp?t=69798

If you set the bar no higher than the kind of stuff you do when you "hang out" with these kids, you can probably get away with amusing them to the same degree that they are amused when you "hang out." Personally, I'd set the bar a lot higher when asked to entertain for a birthday party. I'd want to make the experience memorable and special, not the same old stuff they can get whenever you "hang out."

and I've taken off most of my list now this is my new list:

Hovercard
Autograph
Ultragaff
Search & Destroy
Box Monster + extra gimmick
Ringtone
Rich Sanders Tagged
Rich Sanders Interlace + 2 extra pants and shoes gimmicks
Rich Sanders Alpha Deck
Rich Sanders Ten
Pentacle
Easy To Master Thread Miracles #1-3
Tarantula
Presto Pad
Cullfather
Pass With Care
Aces In Their Faces
Flash Paper
Double Back Deck
and possibly some free cards from my local magic shop where I'll be picking them up.

The reason I can afford all of this is because I convinced my mom to let me have my monthly check next month but with all of this stuff I won't be buying anymore magic for the next 3-5 years so hopefully the stuff in my new list is going to be enough for me to be entertained with because since I've got almost no friends whatsoever I have to do something to pass the time because since I can't get hired ANYWHERE there's not much I can do right now and it's mostly thanks to Bush for making the economy what it is today and how the dollar is getting worse by the day.

But I'm rambling now and anyways back to my reason I don't have any tuition fees I get a disability check from the government every month (but it's a lot less than what I could make in a full time minimum wage job) and the goverment is making sure all disabled people will NEVER be able to make it on their own comfortably and since I can't move out yet because after all the fees you'd pay for your room and every basic necessity I'd have only $10-$20 spending money a month if I'm lucky maybe $30 if I don't eat for a few days.

This is a new message to everybody I just got my rebate check in the mail today and some of the stuff I put on there right before my new list I could get but I also added 2 other effects that might play well for kids let me know what you think of the first 2 which are the ones I wasn't planning on buying but I got them anyway:

Tear Down by Andrew Mayne
Boomerang Cards Across by Chazpro Magic
Twisted Sisters by John Bannon
Duplicity by John Bannon
The Royal Scam by John Bannon
Spin Doctor by John Bannon

I'm still buying everything I listed before but this spending spree was because I got my rebate check in the mail so now I'll be getting most of my stuff I already listed in the beginning minus the:

Ghost and Master Ace Of Spades T-Shirts
Catch! by Ben Seidman (figured out how it's done and also because I don't want to pick up a bunch of cards off of the floor trying to practice it)
Magicians Table (one of my friends said he'd help me build a better portable table for me for a fraction of the cost)
Color Blind
and The Secret Art Of Monkey Business 1 & 2

other than those I'm getting everything on my list and more hopefully those first 2 effects I listed will play well for those kids but a fair number of my stuff I've already got when I was working at the school during their fun day last June a lot of the kids there kept on asking me to do more stuff and every single thing I had that I was willing to do that day was card magic and they kept on asking me to do more stuff but it might be because I started pretty much all of them with A Dream Of Aces and they flipped when they saw that one.