The other day I performed at a birthday party for a forth grader and eleven of her friends. I was really excited and got all my props together and the employer ( My Hockey Coach) picked me up and brought me to his house where the party was being held. He decided to pay me in advance and gave me 100$ for a forty-five minute show. I thought that was a bit much, considering I had told him my flat rate was fifty dollars. I tried to get him to take some of the money back and he wouldn't. So on to the show.
TOTAL DISASTER!!!
My show is suited for the younger generations such as six to eight years old and I was not prepared for these nine, ten, and eleven year olds. Instantly I knew I was in over my head, once I started, but I went on with the show. About fifty percent of my tricks ere figured out. (Only one was my fault). They had seen how to do the silk into fist dissapearance in some movie called "Night at the Museaum". Then my color changing hanky ripped and was unusable. The one I sort of flubbed on, the one thatw as actually MY fault, was a rope trick. I cut the wrong rope. Guess I was just frustrated and wasn't paying attention.
However, many tricks did go over well like My Sponge ball Routine, My Linking Ring Routine, A vanishing Milk Trick, The Magic Coloring Book, and a couple other things.
Well, my dad saw the last have hour of the show and at the end I was dissapointed so I tried to give the money back to my employer because i didn't feel i deserved the cash at all anymore. But he insisted on having me keep it.
On the car ride home my dad gave me the most inspirational talk ever. It went like this.
*********************************************
"You know Dylan, I am proud you did that. Adolescent girls are probablt the toughest kids to put on a show for, but yoy tried it."
ME: "Yeah, but I sucked."
DAD: "Look, some of your tricks fell apart on you. That's bound to happen every now and then. You just will have to tweak your show a bit and keep at it until you get it right."
ME: "Well, I feel bad because he gave me that money and wouldn't take it back. I basically STOLE it! I feel like I shouldn't have the money at all!"
DAD: "Well, you tried to give it back and he refused. It's not your fault. Just keep the money and don't feel bad. It was his choice to let you keep it."
Me: "Whatever. The whole show still sucked."
DAD: "No. Not really. The tricks they caught were meant for younger ages and you knew that. It was unavoidable. And some of the tricks just fell apart, that wasn't your fault. Besides, from what I saw, you did good. Look, only ten percent of a show is the mechanics behind the tricks. The other ninety percent is all showmanship. And from what I saw, you had excellent showmanship. And that's why the kids were still enetertained even after a couple of tricks failed, because you were a good showman."
ME: "I don't want to do any kids shows anymore."
DAD: "Dylan, if this is what you want to do when you get older. I mean, you want to be a magician in Vegas or something, then you have t get your name out there. And this is the best way to do it. Don't give up, I am sure every magician has had a couple of bad shows. You just have to be honest with your employers. Say "I have to be honest my shows are designed for younger kids, the older kids might catch something." Be honest and people wil like you.
ME: "Yeah."
DAD: "Stick with it. I all honesty, your mom and I are happy you have gotten into this and are getting yourself out there. If you keep itup we would have no problem with letting you move away after collge to pursue this job in some city or something. We'd be proud if you did that."
Me: "Thanks..."
So hopefully you might have learned something from that. If yoyu have a bad show: Oh Well. It is bound to happen to us all so suck it up and tweak the show a bit. Just make sure to be honest and fair with all of your employers.
Dylan P.
TOTAL DISASTER!!!
My show is suited for the younger generations such as six to eight years old and I was not prepared for these nine, ten, and eleven year olds. Instantly I knew I was in over my head, once I started, but I went on with the show. About fifty percent of my tricks ere figured out. (Only one was my fault). They had seen how to do the silk into fist dissapearance in some movie called "Night at the Museaum". Then my color changing hanky ripped and was unusable. The one I sort of flubbed on, the one thatw as actually MY fault, was a rope trick. I cut the wrong rope. Guess I was just frustrated and wasn't paying attention.
However, many tricks did go over well like My Sponge ball Routine, My Linking Ring Routine, A vanishing Milk Trick, The Magic Coloring Book, and a couple other things.
Well, my dad saw the last have hour of the show and at the end I was dissapointed so I tried to give the money back to my employer because i didn't feel i deserved the cash at all anymore. But he insisted on having me keep it.
On the car ride home my dad gave me the most inspirational talk ever. It went like this.
*********************************************
"You know Dylan, I am proud you did that. Adolescent girls are probablt the toughest kids to put on a show for, but yoy tried it."
ME: "Yeah, but I sucked."
DAD: "Look, some of your tricks fell apart on you. That's bound to happen every now and then. You just will have to tweak your show a bit and keep at it until you get it right."
ME: "Well, I feel bad because he gave me that money and wouldn't take it back. I basically STOLE it! I feel like I shouldn't have the money at all!"
DAD: "Well, you tried to give it back and he refused. It's not your fault. Just keep the money and don't feel bad. It was his choice to let you keep it."
Me: "Whatever. The whole show still sucked."
DAD: "No. Not really. The tricks they caught were meant for younger ages and you knew that. It was unavoidable. And some of the tricks just fell apart, that wasn't your fault. Besides, from what I saw, you did good. Look, only ten percent of a show is the mechanics behind the tricks. The other ninety percent is all showmanship. And from what I saw, you had excellent showmanship. And that's why the kids were still enetertained even after a couple of tricks failed, because you were a good showman."
ME: "I don't want to do any kids shows anymore."
DAD: "Dylan, if this is what you want to do when you get older. I mean, you want to be a magician in Vegas or something, then you have t get your name out there. And this is the best way to do it. Don't give up, I am sure every magician has had a couple of bad shows. You just have to be honest with your employers. Say "I have to be honest my shows are designed for younger kids, the older kids might catch something." Be honest and people wil like you.
ME: "Yeah."
DAD: "Stick with it. I all honesty, your mom and I are happy you have gotten into this and are getting yourself out there. If you keep itup we would have no problem with letting you move away after collge to pursue this job in some city or something. We'd be proud if you did that."
Me: "Thanks..."
So hopefully you might have learned something from that. If yoyu have a bad show: Oh Well. It is bound to happen to us all so suck it up and tweak the show a bit. Just make sure to be honest and fair with all of your employers.
Dylan P.
There is really no excuse for you messing up because you weren't "paying attention". PAY ATTENTION! You should had also specifically asked what age the kids were going to be and adjusted your show accordingly.
