Do not cancel the performance! You already made a commitement. You are also helping your family. All you need to do for a kids show is too be silly, silly, silly. Parents could care less about your act; all parents care about is if their child has fun. And if you are silly, all of the children will have a blast! Good luck!
(This message is to everyone else) By the way, if someone asks for help for a show they are streesed out about, do not tell the person to cancel it because there is "no way" he can be successful. If it was SO stressful, he would just cancel. But instead, he came for help. So please, only comment if it will make the performer more confindent and it will help him. Thanks for understanding.
- Ben
Ben:
First off, from the initial post it appeared that he accepted a paid gig he was unprepared for. By doing a paid show that he was unprepared would have been really bad for him and for other magicians. If it was a paid gig, canceling was the best advice. Also, if we post that advice enough, others on the forums will realize that they shouldn't accept a paid gig unless they have the show already prepared, practiced and rehearsed.
Second, there is this thinking about kids shows that it is somehow easier than performing for adults and all you have to do is be silly. That couldn't be further than the truth. As I've said before, there is a big difference in performing for a 5 year old and and 8 year old and a 13 year old. They view magic and entertainment differently. If simply being silly was enough, we could all be clowns. Good magic for children (like good magic for adults) integrates the magic and the patter so that it isn't merely a trick or merely a story or merely a gag, but true entertainment. Good magic also needs to be powerful, even for children... Mere gags aren't enough.
Third, as Luis said, it takes time to develop a good kids show or any show. I've been working on developing an entirely new "all ages" show for months and it won't be ready until the fall. Part of that is selecting and testing new material, part of that is developing the patter and presentation, part of that is tying all the routines together with a common theme (so they represent a coherent "show" rather than presenting a series of tricks) and part of that is making the show modular so that it can be changed depending on the amount of time and the ages of the audience.
Fourth, confidence comes from practicing and rehearsing the material you are going to perform, not from what people say on a magic forum.
All that being said, I did send ProfKiwi a couple of routines with patter and some suggestions of how to tie them together (opener, middlers and closer) to make it a mini show. The routines required little sleight of hand (any methods were public domain) and the script for the patter was what I use in shows.
After his second post and some PMs with ProfKiwi, I understand where he is coming from. He was trying to do a favor for family and just got down to the last minute and realized he needed help. I hope his show went well and that he will let us know how it went.
