Hey guys, I've been performing quite a bit of shows lately and I've recently gotten a very great opportunity. This week on Wednesday I performed my 45 minute kids magic show that I have been working on at a daycare for a group of eight (preschoolers) 4-6 year olds and their teacher. This performance was not great for me (also because I had to take care of the music and had trouble with that and crowd control and patter and magic because I am not the best at presentation). At the show the kids were very engaged and interested; however, it was not a great performance. However, the next day at the daycare/summer camp's other location, I performed for a group of 15-20 kinder gardeners(6-8 year olds) and it worked out a lot better also because my brother, who I have been using as an assistant for storytelling and patter and crowd control, was there. I have the last show at the daycare for about 50 kids the upcoming Monday, and I have been active in marketing; I have been handing out business cards in goody bags and have my website and other information. Just Friday I got an email from one of the parents whose child saw the first magic show asking if she could book me and I got my first paid gig arranged for August 6th. It is a 45 minute show for 5-6 (5 year olds-7 year olds) and it is a birthday party. I was wondering should I write a new show and new material for this show because the girl Hanna has already seen my show at the daycare? Or should I change some material but keep other material? I would greatly appreciate advice for this if you guys could.
Kids Magic Show
- Thread starter yourmagicalbrother
- Start date
Kind of hard to tell what suggestions to give you without knowing more about your skills and or current show. Any responses may be a bit of shots in the dark using generalizations that may or may not apply to you due to this lack of knowledge.
But generally....you do not have a lot of time to put together a different show, nor would some people feel comfortable performing an untested act especially for a first paid gig. Some changes to an act are expected to your act as you go, changing some material for other stronger material is normal.. So unless you are pretty experienced and have lots of good material that just needs some arranging I wouldn't scrap an act with so little time to test and work on it.
I would suggest keep honing your current act with minor changes but maybe do something special for the birthday kid and or the host. This doesn't necessarily need to be part of the act but maybe an aside as a thank you.
But generally....you do not have a lot of time to put together a different show, nor would some people feel comfortable performing an untested act especially for a first paid gig. Some changes to an act are expected to your act as you go, changing some material for other stronger material is normal.. So unless you are pretty experienced and have lots of good material that just needs some arranging I wouldn't scrap an act with so little time to test and work on it.
I would suggest keep honing your current act with minor changes but maybe do something special for the birthday kid and or the host. This doesn't necessarily need to be part of the act but maybe an aside as a thank you.
Ok so my act that I have right now as a show is as follows:
1.) appearing cane
2.) chop cup routine
3.) professors nightmare
4.) Aladdin act (hot rod, Buddha money mystery, money machine, ball and vase)
5.) change bag routine
6.)superhero routine
7.) Chicago opener
8.) card to impossible location (back)
9.) dream queens
10.) 52 shades of red
So I was thinking to change some acts and I was also really unsure about keeping or not keeping 52 shades of red. I also did want to customize some parts of the show as I was told she likes my little pony and Peppa Pig.
New ideas
1.) appearing cane
2.) cups and balls routine
3.) sponge ball routine
4.) Misers dream
5.) professors nightmare
6.) change bag routine
7.) Aladdin act
8.) Chicago opener
9.) ACR (my little pony story)
10.) card 2 impossible location (appears from nowhere and then disappears to gift box
11.) lead into superhero routine and card found but instead routine with cartoon characters, picks Peppa Pig, surprise reveal
This is what I was thinking; is this too many changes? Should I stick more with the original show or do different stuff? Do you have any suggestions for birthday acts?
1.) appearing cane
2.) chop cup routine
3.) professors nightmare
4.) Aladdin act (hot rod, Buddha money mystery, money machine, ball and vase)
5.) change bag routine
6.)superhero routine
7.) Chicago opener
8.) card to impossible location (back)
9.) dream queens
10.) 52 shades of red
So I was thinking to change some acts and I was also really unsure about keeping or not keeping 52 shades of red. I also did want to customize some parts of the show as I was told she likes my little pony and Peppa Pig.
New ideas
1.) appearing cane
2.) cups and balls routine
3.) sponge ball routine
4.) Misers dream
5.) professors nightmare
6.) change bag routine
7.) Aladdin act
8.) Chicago opener
9.) ACR (my little pony story)
10.) card 2 impossible location (appears from nowhere and then disappears to gift box
11.) lead into superhero routine and card found but instead routine with cartoon characters, picks Peppa Pig, surprise reveal
This is what I was thinking; is this too many changes? Should I stick more with the original show or do different stuff? Do you have any suggestions for birthday acts?
Ok so my act that I have right now as a show is as follows:
1.) appearing cane
2.) chop cup routine
3.) professors nightmare
4.) Aladdin act (hot rod, Buddha money mystery, money machine, ball and vase)
5.) change bag routine
6.)superhero routine
7.) Chicago opener
8.) card to impossible location (back)
9.) dream queens
10.) 52 shades of red
So I was thinking to change some acts and I was also really unsure about keeping or not keeping 52 shades of red. I also did want to customize some parts of the show as I was told she likes my little pony and Peppa Pig.
New ideas
1.) appearing cane
2.) cups and balls routine
3.) sponge ball routine
4.) Misers dream
5.) professors nightmare
6.) change bag routine
7.) Aladdin act
8.) Chicago opener
9.) ACR (my little pony story)
10.) card 2 impossible location (appears from nowhere and then disappears to gift box
11.) lead into superhero routine and card found but instead routine with cartoon characters, picks Peppa Pig, surprise reveal
This is what I was thinking; is this too many changes? Should I stick more with the original show or do different stuff? Do you have any suggestions for birthday acts?
Changes are good, I like the ideas for customization. Every venue is different and so you adapt.
52 Shades it's a tough act for kids to follow. For the same reason, is keep the chop cup rather than a couple and balls routine.
While you're starting out I think you need to experiment with lots of material just to see what works. Take notes and adapt where you can.
Thank you so much for your feedback! So the only reason I switched chop cup for cups and balls is because I feel more comfortable with cups and balls and I kept having trouble with chop cup it doesn’t feel comfortable for me and I wanted to trash it for the shows. But other than that are these changes okay? And I probably won’t do 52 shades of red it was kind of hard to follow for this age group I think the kids should be at least 7 or 8 and up to understand