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I just got word, after developing a routine for quite some time, that the next show I'll be doing will involve small children. Now it's a mentalism routine so I don't believe that they'll take interest in it but, I need to suggest people die without them dying.


It may sound a bit confusing but I need that to happen. Now it would be exteremely tactless to ask them to leave as I think all the families there are bringing little kids. So If anyone knows how to say they died without coming right out and saying so. Please help!

visited the angels perhaps?

What age roughly and a bit more detail on the effect may help. Passed on seems to be what most of the teachers use with the really young kids, but really by about the age of 7 they have an understanding of death.

yeah you really need more detail on the effect to get any more detailed help than gone to visit the angel, gone to another place, gone to heaven etc.. I'm guessing saying gone to heaven may make it seem a bit to upbeat when you probably want it a bit spooky? You could try and explain to the adults and say gone to the next town or something, the adults know but the children think thats just what you mean.

As a parent to three and four yr olds, they both know about death and the facts of it.
They believe (their own personal belief) when you die you go to the starts. Which if anyone has ever watched the lion king - that is what is implied there.

HTH

F x

go to the starts? so death is the beginning? ha ha

I believe passed away is good. As for more detail on the routine, It's actually a rather long routine on several tricks and it would be to long to go into detail here. But in short it's a murder mystery.

Do you really think a murder-themed effect is a good one for 'small children'? You haven't said the exact age, but while children can be familiar with the idea of death quite young (I first encountered it when I was five, and our dog had to be out to sleep), I am not sure it's murder and mayhem are good themes. How old are they children and, if there's quite a range, how old are the youngest ones?

Couldn't you rework the effect so it's a mystery about who stole the Queen of Hearts' jam tarts? Was it Alice, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter or the Cheshire Cat?

Sometimes, no matter how good the routine is, you need to change your material to suit an audience.

Jordan C wrote:go to the starts? so death is the beginning? ha ha

Whoops ........... Although me thinks there might be a routine in that !

If you're performing specifically for the kids (IE you are being employed to entertain children) then my advice to you would be to just drop the whole idea of using a mentalist based routine with them. Unless they're 12 or something, they just won't understand. You'll lose their attention, which means the parents (and more than likely - you) will have to deal with "itchy bottoms", crying, wandering off, shouting etc.

Trust me, as someone who worked for several years as a children's entertainer and now works as a mentalist, go out and buy some modelling balloons and leave the murder mystery themed routine for grown up bookings.

I say all this in the hope that you don't make the same mistakes that I made.

The oldest young kid there will be 10, the youngest I believe is seven. I guess I'll have to drop it for this show. But I also need it for a convention I'm entering a contest and it says everything needs to be "G" rated, although I don't believe they will be that young.

Depending upon the context "Moved on" can work well. The older kids and adults will understand perfectly, kids that can't grasp the concept yet usually just assume the person moved away.

Not my idea, I read it somewhere that dealt with entertaining or speaking to kids, just can't recall where.

I have no clue how the trick goes or what the story is, and im a beginner so I could be 100% in the wrong direction, but how about altering it to explain that they mysteriously disappeared? Wondering why might add to the whole mystery if you could add in somehow that people searched for a reason but couldn't find one?

Hope it was helpful, probably wasn't

That's actually sort of helpful... OH! I just realized as I type this that is good to the point of why did that never cross my mind. Thank yo. I still have to work out a couple things but...

Glad to be of help. Let me know how it turns out ok?

Elemental