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My gf's mother has asked me to put on a quick show of tricks for some kids she takes care of.

So I have been trying to think of things to put together. I am most familiar with card tricks.. but I would like to have some variety.

I am going to start of with the Vanishing Bandana, but what are some suggestions for visual, relatively easy things to do.

The format of the show is going to be like, 10-15 people around me in like a semi-circle I imagine, so I am trying to think of card tricks that would apply to that.

Audience participation is really good too.

Thanks a lot

Do you have a dove pan ? Sweet production always is popular and i know it is old but cut and restored rope is fun

No I don't have a dove pan. I bought some rope though so I plan on trying a few rope tricks.

foam balls are great with younger kids, cups and balls can be fun, love the rope tricks.....I am not a big fan of cards with kids (especially if younger kids) as they don't usually respond to them as well as adults....some effects with cards work for any age though. I like "in a flash" or "Voodoo Card" by Jay sankey, easy and fun, both including fire - very visual. Kids love gag style effects to....use a TT and a set of Thumb cuffs to do a fun escape routine!

not sure how long you have to the performance so i'll give you a couple of easy ideas.

a flaper board with a picture of a horse on it that changes to a duck when you turn it around is great fun.
say i have a prediction here.... oops your not suposed to see it yet,turn around and change it.
now i wan't you all to think of an animal that has a bill....... webbed feet and goes quack, everyone say quack quack quack, louder, thats better.
erm thats not going to work either, your suposed to be thinking of a horse... oh well everyone say after me quack, quack quack.... yeah you diod the magic and now we have a paicture of a duck.

take a cardboard box the small square type and devide it in the middle... make a flap on each oposing side, fill one side with sweets.
open empty side and show empty, rotate three times to show other side with sweets in and pour into bowl.

Any kind of vanish, silk to TT for example. Anything out of a change bag. Foo Can, make liquid disappear and reappear a different colour. There is a neat little bottle mand Rope trick in Mark Wilsons Complet Course which you make yourself.

Depending on the age group the Magic Colouring book goes down really well.

From my experience with children, keep it simple, keep it verry visible and don't treat them as children!

Anything nice and visual is always great for kids. Sponge balls, silks, ropes are all great places to start. As said, a sweet production is a nice for little ones, there're a couple in Mark Wilson's book that are nice and easy. Actually it might be worth having a look through that book, some of his make at home tricks are brilliant fopr children.

KingJeux. wrote: Audience participation is really good too.

depending on the age of the kids mark wilson's book also has the afghan bands trick which will cost you the price of some crepe or tissue paper and some safety scissors (about a fiver altogether) and uses three volunteers.

Well I just got back. I started with Vanishing Bandana which was a hit. Then in a flash followed by superman coin bend of the signed coin. I then did the bill switch idea using their signed name switching places in my pocket with my signed name. Then a custom sponge ball routine I made today (combination of David Stone, Oz Pearlman and Daryl). The ID trick, and then the Anything Deck trick. Closed by Rocky Raccon catching their card with a missing corner (a la Bottled Up) as the deck was thrown into the air.

All in all a good show. I just need to work on rapport and keeping up good patter.

I'd just like to say that for all those people who IMMEDIATELY shoot down people who say they have a show in < Month/ 2 weeks etc, by saying that there is not enough sufficient time to create a good show/ give a bad name to magicians/ ruin a kids magic experience and so forth; it can be done

It may not be suggested, but I like impromptu and improv, so with just a list of tricks I pulled a show out of the hat.

Thanks for all your support/ ideas/ suggestions guys. This is afantastic forum!!

There's two things I do which are always an instant hit with the kids... (magic tricks, of course)

Firstly, get some nice bright 1.5inch sponge balls—orange is good—and do the 'unlimited balls from mouth' trick. Add some comedy, such as raised eyebrows when the balls are 'materialising' and the kids love it.

Second on the list, any kind of comedy stuff. Subtle stuff which the kids digest easily.

Being as you are into cards, I find that every now and then, adding a Bill Malone-stylee 'card waterfall from mouth whilst coughing' gag really gets the kids going.

THEN... I would suggest something TOTALLY OUTRAGEOUS but funny, which I saw done by Tom Mullica, and is pretty simple...

The effect appears that you 'make appear' two white silks. Put one in your left trouser pocket, hanging out, and the other in the right trouser pocket, hanging out.

Leave them there for a few effects, and at an appropriate moment—such as after finishing your spongeballs-from-mouth routine, you take one of the silks to wipe your mouth.... only now, the silks are 'linked' in the middle by your underwear—which comes out along with the silk from the other pocket. Strained facial expressions will help this one along!

Don't forget too that kids love 'sucker' type tricks which make the magician appear to have failed... think Lance Burton etc.