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I am doing a show on sunday for about 40 kids. They range from 4 to 12. Most of my shows have been geared at the 4-6 age group. I have a reasonable idea of what I'm going to do - as in routine, but from the point of view of relating to such a wide age group - I must admit to being a tad nervous. Any advice?

treat them all as if they are young adults and play to them not down to them.
i find that if you plan your routines as if you were doing a show for all 6 year olds then you will cover everyone enough.

die boxes work well and cut and restored rope / skipping rope this should give you some idea of the leval i usualy work at with mixed groupes, hope it helps.

Thanks - that's helpful.
I'm thinking of starting with Healed & Sealed - pretend to pour myself some cooldrink and not notice that nothing is coming out. Then when I realise it ask who drank my cooldrink. I'll then say it's ok - let's see what we can do - and then fix it etc. That way I'm playing to the kiddies with the humour, but also establishing that I can do something with the older kids. I'm also looking forward to using one or two more rope tricks - they're my favourites, but i find that some of them get lost on the 4 yr olds

if you can do a pretsle knot and a throw knot then you can start with a rope with a tangled knot in it as if by mistake, vanish it then throw tie the knot back on.

Taneous - I think Healed and Sealed is a neat effect but wouldn't you be better off with a bigger / flashier opener?
With such a big range of ages you need to catch their attention quickly and make sure they are hooked from the start.

Just a thought...

Good luck with the show!

Cliff

true i use a silver apearing cane and some flash string that gets there attention.

you could also try silk in a flash or a flameing dove pan or simply go for a balloon to bottle / flower production.

sometimes i will just come on doing the zombie routine then tip the gaf then when they think they have caught me out go on to do the no cloth zombie routine, depends on the venue.

Thanks for the advice. I was sick with flu for 3 days - so i missed the last few replies to the thread. I went with the healed and sealed opening and it seemed to worked well. I didn't have the time to really add anything new to my routine so i wanted to do something i was comfortable with. I think healed & sealed caught them by surprise cos I did it very casually - Somehow the can was empty - so no problem, I fixed it. I played it as if it wasn't really part of my show - just something that happened as I was chatting to them while introducing the show. It really hooked the older kids, which made them a bit more tolerant of the next two items in the show which were geared for little kids.

The show overall went really well, but I did find it really difficult performing for such a wide range of ages. I definitely prefer performing for the small kiddies. I guess I just need more experience - and I suppose that comes from performing more.
The room had a strong echo - and I don't have a PA system so I really had to project my voice - and any noise just seemed so much more maginified. I also didn't give myself enough time to set up - so that was too rushed for my liking. But overall I think I'm learning. I guess the more shows I do the better. (and I'm slowly starting to make some money out of all the money i spent on magic.)

well played and i hope this sets you on the road to more paid gigs, nows the time to decide on your core magic tricks.
the one's you can do in your sleep, mix thease into a set and sprinkle any new ones in on a show by show basis.

you will be tempted to go out and buy loads of magic and a truck to keep it in, but bear this in mind a few tricks done well is far better than a five hour show done poorly and yes you will be bored ridged performing you core stuff but thease are your bread and butter tricks just like your office stapler essential to keep you functionong and getting bookings.

concentrate on your performance of your core tricks and you will go far.