talkmagic.co.uk

There's a fantastic Doc Hilford video where he basically entertains kids for 20 minutes with a few modelling balloons, just goes to show how much mileage you can get out of the most simple things if you put some thought into it.

I've been asked to do some magic at a friends BBQ, mostly adults but there will be some kids there. For the kids, I'm literally taking a few balloons, a hanky to do the whole mouse thing with, and I might splash out on a £2 breakaway wand and some mouth coils. But it's mostly about handling.

Good luck! And don't be afraid to be a bit "forceful", if you're a little stern at the beginning they will hopefully learn that they can't push you too far and settle down to enjoy the show. I'll always remember the best English teacher I had, a real dead poets type inspiration. Still, on his first lesson, he said "now, I'm a fair man. If you're naughty, I'll give you a warning, and then a punishment."

The first child to talk out of line, he slammed his fist on the desk and said in a loud voice, "You. After school detention for the next week. That's your warning."

Funnily enough, we were perfectly behaved for the rest of the lesson!

wow, thanks everyone for the help. i feel a lot more confident now. i really do appreciate the time spent by everyone giving me this very useful help. now just to practice being a jolly clumsy fun magician.

the day must be nearly upon you, good luck. And let us know how you got on

Dun dun du dur dur dur dun du du dur...

Did that sound even remotely like the funeral march?

If we don't hear from him by this time tomorrow, call the cops. They've probably eaten him.

It's 5:30 tonight, will let you know how it goes.

Well it went alright, I was going a little faster than i wanted to but I think that was just the adrenalin going. I definitely need to work on the introduction of the spelling test, because as soon as they heard they were going to have a test they lost interest and took a bit of getting back in control. They decided talking amongst themselves about how the egg bag trick worked was more interesting than doing a test but i got them back in line quickly and actually surprised myself by doing so. Main point I think is that everyone had fun, even the grown-ups and even the one who said "No" after the "You all like magic don't you?" part of the intro. Incedently she was the first one with her hand up when asking for volunteers, so after the first two tricks I think she did like magic after all. Using the blendo silks worked well as an opener with the hankie patter, failing first time, "not loud enough", and finishing with "now I won't get told off and I've got somewhere to keep my bogies."
More of a success than I expected for a first time outing. Thanks for all the great advice from everyone, it really helped.

The only real way to get good at kids shows is to do them. Telling them that they are going to have a test isn't a good idea!

Congratulations on your baptism in fire. Kids shows are a great challenge, but when you've got them down and do them well, they can be quite rewarding.

Well done!

Mike.

well done that man, keep up the good work and if i can be of any help, I'm avalable.

Fantastic. Looks like you've nailed your first kids show.

Plus you did not open with the colouring book. How refreshing

Well done chryles.

congratulations! I couldn't think of anything scarier myself, so muchos kudos to you