talkmagic.co.uk

Ive got a series of bookings for Old people, any advice, eg how to cope, what type of magic to do etc etc


Thankyou

Magic mark

Well I wouldn't recommend doing Jim Pace's "the Web".

ring ring...magic disco services help line......

treet the old folk just the same way you would if you were doing a kids show, one eye on them the other on your wallet....seriously though visual is good for our aged patrons, you have to asume not all of them will be able to hear your wonderously constructed patter lines.
never ever asume there as daft as they look.
ask the staff about the people you are going to work for, they can be agoldmine of imformation for tailoring your act as well as letting you know who to avoid useing.
if your doing any type of one in the hand and one in my pocket routines, make sure you demonstrate the action's you wish them to do.
remember adults can be grabby as well so whatch out.

relax and have fun keep it light and in a conversational style, give time for things to sink in, never be patroniseing remeber they are legaly allowed to carry sticks .

regards tricks keep them simple and were possible self working, keep the patter short and to the point and keep your plots straight forward and you should do fine.

oh and dont try to grouse them out you will loose big time

What about if they try to gross me out, think back to earlier MagicDiscoMan!

Cheers so far fellas!

Ok...think magicdiscoman missed the most important part......NO PK MAGNETS!!!! they may be concealing pace makers!
that could be embarresing:oops:

ot as embarrassing as one i did last year.

I had finished my act for a bunch of old folks, and this guy from the back said "do you want to see MY magic trick?"

So i agreed and...............................he took off his leg!


No joke, this is dead serious!

hey how many silks could you fit in that then wehey

about grouse out thats what the plastic bags for .

dont use pk stuff so didn't mention it but its a realy good point.

How about linking zimmer frames? Or signed card from mushed food? Even if you are no good try a fun pickpocket routine, although getting the false teeth out might require a little misdirection.

And what ever you do don't them over excited it could be chaos.

Sorry dude I know not helpful at all.

never ever asume there as daft as they look
ask the staff about the people you are going to work for
never be patroniseing

Couldn't agree more! Treat them with respect and they should be friendly towards you. Remember that some of them may have bad arthritis and not be able to assist you well in your act. You could make it very visual but if they have bad eyesight then that causes problems. Some of them may also have really bad memories so that could cause problems too depending on what you are planning on doing. You really have to find out what kind of audiance you are dealing with so you can decide what is best to do for them. I'm doing table hopping for an over 50's club tomorrow (actually it's today, 12.23 already? When did that happen?) so I'll maybe have some more advice later i.e I'll have a giant list of mistakes I've made and you can just do the opposite.
Basically be polite, show them respect and always remeber -K.I.S.S!

MOM WE AWAIT EAGERLY WITH BATED BREATH AND INQUIRING MINDS FOR YOUR RESPONSE.

i have found sponge balls to be a good thing to do as you dont have to actualy talk to someone to get them to follow our lead and the tactile sensation's are great for the old folk and special needs.

doing table hopping for an over 50's club

As someone who is well over 50 (!) can I assure one and all that I, and my fellow oldies, still have most of their marbles, hair, teeth etc. and enjoy good entertainment. I sincerely hope MOM gets a standing ovation for the event today as I'm sure she'll do well. The point of all these threads is that the performer must consider the type of audience and tailor their act to suit - or don't take on the booking in the first place.

It's good to hear suggestions regarding making things more visual for those who may have declining eyesight (such as me!) so anything involving reading fine print is right out and things involving larger props are probably going to be better seen and appreciated. Card tricks/table hopping sessions are fine if done right under the spec's noses so they have to be good and 'foolproof' in performance.

I've been involved with some groups of retired folks (as in way over 70!) on non-magical things and the one thing which seems to crop up time and time again is that they all remember the good old days with crystal clarity but can't be all that sure about what happened yesterday. On this basis they will undoubtedly compare today's idea of entertainment with their youthful memories so you need to be sure what's on offer is as varied and professional as possible. The 'Gothick' style of magic probably wouldn't go over all that well but the sort of routines and presentation done by Paul Daniels, David Nixon, Robert Harbin and so on would be ideal. (PS Happy Birthday for yesterday Paul!)

Did the show yesterday and it went well!

They were mentally disabled so i made a load of balloon dogs and parots etc and they were equally as pleased with them as the magic!

Cheers for all the advice