SO I've been hired for a kid show this friday and I have a full show put together that takes about half an hour. I've put alot of money into this show to make it possible....about $50 and so the mother calls me up asking to make sure that I'm going to be there and then she was expecting me to do about an hour and a half of material. From experience I have found that doing tricks off of here and off of E the kids don't really care about so I created a fun show for them but now I have another hour to fill. What should I do what tricks should I do and It can't be something I have to order because it's tomorrow, and how should I get the money I deserve? if I've but hours and weeks of my time creating this???
Major Problem!
- Thread starter jackofclubs002
- Start date
Tell the mother that a 90 minutes kid show would be a mistake. The attention span of a child is far less than that. 20-30 minutes is ideal. 45 if you know what you are doing. Clearly this is something new for you.
Let her know, politely, that the show is 30 minutes long.
If she does not budge, then perhaps it would be best to step back from the show. Find a more experienced magician in your area, and send them the work. This would be far better than showing up and doing a poor job. As to the money you deserve...well, how much to you deserve when selling a show you have never performed before?
The material sold here and on E is not children's magic. If this is something you wish to pursue, buy Seriously Silly by David Kaye and Paths to Enchantment by Michael Yaffe. While I am not a fan of the David Ginn approach to magic, you might want to look at his work as well as that of Samuel Patrick Smith. Lately, Mike Bent has offered some clever material appropriate for this audience.
I think you may have bit off more than you can chew. Either convince the mother to keep it bite sized, or differ to someone who can cover for you.
Good luck,
Brad Henderson
Let her know, politely, that the show is 30 minutes long.
If she does not budge, then perhaps it would be best to step back from the show. Find a more experienced magician in your area, and send them the work. This would be far better than showing up and doing a poor job. As to the money you deserve...well, how much to you deserve when selling a show you have never performed before?
The material sold here and on E is not children's magic. If this is something you wish to pursue, buy Seriously Silly by David Kaye and Paths to Enchantment by Michael Yaffe. While I am not a fan of the David Ginn approach to magic, you might want to look at his work as well as that of Samuel Patrick Smith. Lately, Mike Bent has offered some clever material appropriate for this audience.
I think you may have bit off more than you can chew. Either convince the mother to keep it bite sized, or differ to someone who can cover for you.
Good luck,
Brad Henderson
Agreed, if you want to go pro, then you've gotta learn the hard way. If you don't care and still want to go on with the show, then...I wish you the best of luck, but I'll bet my piggy bank that you'll bomb it (and then feel horrible later).....
Think about it, it took you this long (and you said you've worked hard) on just a 1/2 hour show...and now you want a whole nother hours worth in one day? Cancel it, or tell her you can only do a half hours worth. Those really are your only options for success. If you don't do it then you still have your reputation. If you do do it (and only a half hours worth, mind.) then you still impress everyone and your reputation is still good.
Take our advice if you're wise,
-PTG
If you're any good, you shouldn't have any problem adjusting to this situation. I'm more than sure you have additional material that can cover you for an hour and a half that you can perform. All you need to do is change you're patter to fit this type of audience.
A great quality for a magician/illusionist to have is to be able to adjust to different situations and be able to perform well under pressure in my opinion.
Just think about what tricks you know and how you can change them for your audience and most importantly remember "HAVE FUN"!!!!!!!
A great quality for a magician/illusionist to have is to be able to adjust to different situations and be able to perform well under pressure in my opinion.
Just think about what tricks you know and how you can change them for your audience and most importantly remember "HAVE FUN"!!!!!!!
Don't you agree?
A good performer should be able to adjust his/her act to accommodated any type of situation.
I myself have done this numerous of times. I take the same trick and change the patter to fit my audience and get great reactions from both.
Have you ever performed a childrens show? Not for a brother or sister and their friends, I mean for a bunch of kids hyped up on cake and candy after running around outside? Especially if it's before presents...
Try it, then see how long you can keep their attention.
-ThrallMind
Have you ever performed a childrens show? Not for a brother or sister and their friends, I mean for a bunch of kids hyped up on cake and candy after running around outside?
Try it, then see how long you can keep their attention.
-ThrallMind
Yeah, not in a party setting though. I know it's tough but nonetheless thats when your imagination and creativity should kick in. If you make changes in your routine to fit this age group then believe me you wouldn't have problems with kids losing interest half way through your show.
You could also perform for the group for half an hour and then spend the rest of the time walking around and performing for all in a walk around format adults and children.
I would absolutely love to see you make your show three times as long in this short of a period of time, while still maintaining the quality of the show. Sorry, it can't be done.
Sorry you have such little faith in what you can do.
And it can be done. Look at all the different magicians that specialize in Kids magic.
You just need the work a little harder and have fun with it. By all means no one said it was going to be easy. But com'on, this is what separates us, CARDISTS, MAGICIANS, ILLUSIONIST, FLOURISHERS, YOU, ME, ETC, from the laymen.
If you truly love this art, then you'll do whatever it takes to get that WOW response from your audience regardless of age.
Yo say "Believe me," yet you've never performed in that type of setting. I have on multiple occasions. Don't speak on assumptions as experience. Bad idea.
Walk around at a kids party? That isn't a good idea. With parties, parents pay you to take the kids off their hands for about 45 minutes. Once the kids don't have to sit down and watch you, don't even THINK about getting their attention if they are occupied with something else, such as playing with little Billy's new toys. As far as the parents, very rarely will they care to see what you have to show. It's a kids party, not a "street" environment. You need to act as such. Unless the only thing thats at the party is the magic, the kids will go ADD on you.
No matter how good your act is, kids in that setting have a short attention span. Going out of your way to make the act longer than it should be will make an act which meets the timeline, but lacks the ability to hold their attention.
Yes, but they have been doing it for a while. For your first kids party, a 90 minute show is ludicrous.
Make me a one hour act for three year olds. While the intent of that statement is good, don't speak as if you have experience in a venue when you do not. It'll hurt your authority, and also the people who take your advice.
-ThrallMind
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No one is speaking on assumptions here.
We all have different opinions and I stand strongly on the fact that it can be done from "experience"
Lets just stick to what each one of us knows.
JackofClubs, Just relax and have fun. All in all, it really comes down to what you want to do and how you do it. If you fail, hey let it serve as a learning experience. If you are successful, then more power to you my brother.
Then why don't you do that? I'm not trying to attack you or your beliefs, but giving advice to someone new on the subject without having any actual experience on it yourself is like the blind leading the blind.
And very pissed off parents who paid you, and the other parents who saw you fail, which will not help repeat business. You wouldn't believe how much word gets around between parents. Start slow and you'll be fine, Jack. Walk before you run.
-ThrallMind
I wanna know what your gonna decide to do. . . if you are gonna do the show, let us in on what tricks your gonna do and maybe we can help.
I agree an Hour act for 3 year olds might be difficult but not for the other 5 and older kids.
And by the way I'm sorry, when exactly did you and I cross path that it obviously gives you the idea that you know me and know what experience I have and don't have?
And for advice: Advices are meant to be taken at a owns discretion.
I'm done with this Thread. JackofClubs GOOD LUCK