Hey fellas,
So last night I had a gig for a 6 year old birthday party. They hired me to perform a 1/2 hr. birthday party show and follow up with balloon sculptures for $125.00 Show time was 5:30 p.m. I arrived at 4:45 to meet the client and scope out "where" I would be setting up only to find out that it was in a little little rental cabin and I was crammed into a little corner. The 15 kids were literally going to be on top of me with no workspace due to table and chairs.
When I say on top of me...I mean the kids were going to be seated 3 feet in front of my gig case and table.
I knew immediately I would have to move some tables and chair around and nicely explained I would need a little more room and they understood. We move a few tables and I was able to back them up to about 10 feet so this was much more feasible. This is about the 3rd time this has happened to me where the room needed rearrange just a tad and I was glad that I had arrived plenty early. Always give yourself a half hour or more of pre show time.
I was set up and ready to roll by 5:15 which gave me a few minutes to recheck any gimmicks and drink a nice big glass of ice water.
The kids came in and were VERY young. Birthday boy was 6, two kids were over 10, but the rest were around 4 and 5. This was a TOUGH crowd. I did my typical birthday party show and I could tell this was going to be a struggle. There was an obvious disconnect between me and the younger kids. They just didn't seem interested and attention wandered numerous times. My effects were spot on except my needle through balloon popped twice for some reason. Not sure if there was enough lubricant or if the batch of balloons were bad. Everything else went great.
There was not a lot of clapping or cheering which seemed odd compared to some of my other bday party shows. It kind of gave me an "uneasy" feeling but there wasn't much I could do.
The balloons were a huge hit but some of the boys were a little rude and kept popping their swords out on the grass then running back for another. I tried telling them that they would need to wait there turn because other kids had not received their first one yet. The one kid seemed a little ticked but he got over it.
I made my 3 foot tall twisted balloon hat for the birthday party child which he loved. Afterwards I packed up and handed out my business cards.
This was definitely not an enjoyable show for me because it just seemed like over half of the kids just were NOT "getting" and understanding the magic.
Just thought I'd share.
Set:
1.) Mismade Bill
2.) Spongeballs
3.) Shoot a Card Trick
4.) Rope Routine
5.) Cups and Balls
6.) Needle Through Balloon
7.) Coloring Book
8.) David Ginn's You're the Star
9.) Stratosphere
So last night I had a gig for a 6 year old birthday party. They hired me to perform a 1/2 hr. birthday party show and follow up with balloon sculptures for $125.00 Show time was 5:30 p.m. I arrived at 4:45 to meet the client and scope out "where" I would be setting up only to find out that it was in a little little rental cabin and I was crammed into a little corner. The 15 kids were literally going to be on top of me with no workspace due to table and chairs.
When I say on top of me...I mean the kids were going to be seated 3 feet in front of my gig case and table.
I knew immediately I would have to move some tables and chair around and nicely explained I would need a little more room and they understood. We move a few tables and I was able to back them up to about 10 feet so this was much more feasible. This is about the 3rd time this has happened to me where the room needed rearrange just a tad and I was glad that I had arrived plenty early. Always give yourself a half hour or more of pre show time.
I was set up and ready to roll by 5:15 which gave me a few minutes to recheck any gimmicks and drink a nice big glass of ice water.
The kids came in and were VERY young. Birthday boy was 6, two kids were over 10, but the rest were around 4 and 5. This was a TOUGH crowd. I did my typical birthday party show and I could tell this was going to be a struggle. There was an obvious disconnect between me and the younger kids. They just didn't seem interested and attention wandered numerous times. My effects were spot on except my needle through balloon popped twice for some reason. Not sure if there was enough lubricant or if the batch of balloons were bad. Everything else went great.
There was not a lot of clapping or cheering which seemed odd compared to some of my other bday party shows. It kind of gave me an "uneasy" feeling but there wasn't much I could do.
The balloons were a huge hit but some of the boys were a little rude and kept popping their swords out on the grass then running back for another. I tried telling them that they would need to wait there turn because other kids had not received their first one yet. The one kid seemed a little ticked but he got over it.
I made my 3 foot tall twisted balloon hat for the birthday party child which he loved. Afterwards I packed up and handed out my business cards.
This was definitely not an enjoyable show for me because it just seemed like over half of the kids just were NOT "getting" and understanding the magic.
Just thought I'd share.
Set:
1.) Mismade Bill
2.) Spongeballs
3.) Shoot a Card Trick
4.) Rope Routine
5.) Cups and Balls
6.) Needle Through Balloon
7.) Coloring Book
8.) David Ginn's You're the Star
9.) Stratosphere
