Volunteering at Hospice/Hospital/Nursing home

[Sepharoth]

Hey

I'm really starting to get into magic and would love to volunteer at the local hospital, hospice, nursing home etc to do a couple of "shows". The only problem is that I don't really know where and how to start.

I'm reasonably accomplished in card magic, but I don't know if that's really the best place to start when performing for younger kids and elderly people... Would you guys have any suggestions?

I'm gradually learning a cups and balls routine, but was wondering if there's anything else that would help with this sort of thing? Sponge balls, silks, maybe that sort of stuff?

Also, as I'm 17 and not a very clown-like figure like most of the entertainers in my area, would I need to work on being overly bright, cheery and funny? Or can a "proper" magician in a formal outfit work in these environments?

Thanks in advance

 

[icannotmakeapassword]

Try a spongeball routine. Choose magic for the right audience, you may want to do more color changes for children. Remember, DO SIMPLE MAGIC THAT ANYONE CAN RELATE TO. dont do a super long sandwich effect. Do stuff like dresscode or whatsoever. Glad to hear that youre making use of magic to make people at the hospice/hospitals happy. I hope you are sincere and voluntary in doing this.

P.S I'm going to do some community work using magic at a chronic disease centre. Wish me luck too.

 

[Sepharoth]

Thanks for the advice I hadn't thought of dresscode but now you mention it, I could do stuff like smoke, thread etc too. Cheers, and best of luck for your show.

 

[waltertayspades]

Sepharoth,
It's wonderful that you are so willing to share your talents!

Simple, visual tricks are good. No loud noises or creating too much excitement. Do things to cheer them up, but be careful about allowing patients to handle props (might spread germs). Ask the nurse's opinion on who might enjoy some magic.

 

[KINGOFHE4RTS]

Also, I would not recommend scary effects for children or the elderly, so stay away from Smoke and Thread. As said before, I think simple color changes along with Dresscode would work great with young children. For the elderly, try something simple. What they enjoy most is company, so make sure to spend time talking and interacting with them.

 

[William Draven]

You could do smoke but you'd catch a lot of heat for it. In hospital or nursing homes etc, they have a lot of O2 laying around, thusly you can't do anything that even creates a simple spark. Fire, and flash paper is right out. Smoke though it doesn't actually create fire could be questionable by staff. Also sterile environment, so yeah thread's a bad idea. For that matter most of anything geek is.

As advised above, Simple, and Visual elements are probably going to be your best bet. Don't expect to be the center of attention. Elderly people have the worst attention spans, and they will be quick to dismiss you if your not what they want. Don't take it too hard.

When I used to volunteer for the children's hospital in Columbus, OH I used to do a lotta bowl with a candy production, that would be given away at the end for the kids. Sadly, because of diets, etc, not all kids can accept candy. So it kind of sucks to tease them with something the nurses won't let them have. Be mindful of this when working with the kids. It's great to give them something, just may not be wise to be sweets.

Before you go into doing balloons check with the hospital, some places have things against using latex balloons.

I think it's awesome that you want to share your talents like this, and I wish you the best of luck!

Also, I would not recommend scary effects for children or the elderly, so stay away from Smoke and Thread. As said before, I think simple color changes along with Dresscode would work great with young children. For the elderly, try something simple. What they enjoy most is company, so make sure to spend time talking and interacting with them.

 

[CaseyRudd]

It's awesome that you'd like to help out around the community hospitals with magic. You have no idea on how magic can impact a person's life when they're sick. I remember David Blaine went to a hospital and did magic for a kid who wished to see him perform. It made the little child's life to see one of his heroes in person.

Regarding effects, keep it simple. This rule goes for anything really. Simple magic is almost always the best. Easy to relate to, easy to understand, and it's straight forward. You could do an ACR, telling them that whenever they are feeling down, they will always rise above it all as the card comes to the top (kinda cheesy but you get my idea). Make them happy and make it an experience. It will make their world.

 

[RealityOne]

you may want to do more color changes for children

As said before, I think simple color changes along with Dresscode would work great with young children.

Obviously you've never performed for children. Magic for children has to have a plot. Pure visual effects get attention, but effects with a plot keep their attention. A good children's magician combines strong magic with strong presentation. For effects, you will have to look outside T11.

Hey

I'm really starting to get into magic and would love to volunteer at the local hospital, hospice, nursing home etc to do a couple of "shows". The only problem is that I don't really know where and how to start.

I'm reasonably accomplished in card magic, but I don't know if that's really the best place to start when performing for younger kids and elderly people... Would you guys have any suggestions?

I'm gradually learning a cups and balls routine, but was wondering if there's anything else that would help with this sort of thing? Sponge balls, silks, maybe that sort of stuff?

Also, as I'm 17 and not a very clown-like figure like most of the entertainers in my area, would I need to work on being overly bright, cheery and funny? Or can a "proper" magician in a formal outfit work in these environments?

Thanks in advance

I can help with kids shows.

As William pointed out, there are a lot of restrictions in hospitals and you will have to address those. But first you need to develop two different set lists. The first should be effects that can be performed close up one after another (if younare performing in a room) and the second should be a parlor show (if you are performing for a larger group). The close up effects should be broken up by ages. Under 5, 5 to 7, 8 to 10 and over 10. As a general rule, you want effects that don't require the kids to touch your props (for their protection from germs not necessarily yours).

If you don't have Mark Wilson's Complete Course, get it. The material in there is great. While you are at it pick up some spongeballs and magician's rope. There are a lot of great effects that you can perform for kids and a lot of garbage out there. I'd be willing to give you my opinion on any effect you are interested in.

As for your character, you don't need to be clown-like. Clowns are not magicians and magicians are not clowns. I perform for children wearing a blue button-down shirt, black pants and a black blazer. However, you need to interact with the spectators. For kids, that means being silly at times (which is different from being a clown). My sense is that many children's magicians rely more on gags than strong magic. An occasional gag or sucker trick is fine, but your whole routine or show shouldn't be gags.

The last part is patter. You can't just say "look" and do the effect. You need patter that engages the audience.

I'm willing to help out anyone who is serious about developing a kids show and is willing to put in the necessary amount of work. Just shoot me a PM.

NOTE: Casey has a good point about having upbeat patter, however you have to be careful about giving false hope in some cases. Generally avoid patter about getting better because you don't know how serious the child's diagnosis is.

NOTE #2: Make sure YOU have a support network set up. You should have someone you can talk to. At times, You may see some things that will break your heart and you will need someone to lean on at those times.

 

[formula]

Be careful with this. In the UK you have to have a CRB check and stuff if you want to do magic for kids. You can go do magic for free at a home but if ANYTHING goes wrong like one of the old people has a fit during your magic you can be liable. At homes and hospices it's not so bad but you should make sure you have your arse covered for hospitals because families could sue you if they really wanted.

As for your appearance question, I would be more casual. The very smartest I would go to a hospital, hospice or home is jeans and a shirt or possibly add a jacket to that if you really have to. Sick and/or old people most likely won't give a crap what you look like as long as you don't look like a tramp, they will just be happy to have a bit of entertainment.

 

[RickEverhart]

Reality has given a ton of experienced knowledge in his post. I would echo many of his thoughts and notes. Especially note 1 and 2. Those are crucial to understand.

As far as a character, no, you do not have to be a clown or have a costume, etc. I perform in black dress pants, sports coat, shirt and tie for all of my shows.

 

[Sepharoth]

Thanks for the great advice guys, I'll definitely take it on board. I'll be going on a magic-shopping spree once my exams are over in a month's time, so I may shoot over a PM to discuss things, if you don't mind Reality.

Once again, thanks for all the info

 

[Luis Vega]

Obviously you've never performed for children. Magic for children has to have a plot. Pure visual effects get attention, but effects with a plot keep their attention. A good children's magician combines strong magic with strong presentation. For effects, you will have to look outside T11.



I can help with kids shows.

As William pointed out, there are a lot of restrictions in hospitals and you will have to address those. But first you need to develop two different set lists. The first should be effects that can be performed close up one after another (if younare performing in a room) and the second should be a parlor show (if you are performing for a larger group). The close up effects should be broken up by ages. Under 5, 5 to 7, 8 to 10 and over 10. As a general rule, you want effects that don't require the kids to touch your props (for their protection from germs not necessarily yours).

If you don't have Mark Wilson's Complete Course, get it. The material in there is great. While you are at it pick up some spongeballs and magician's rope. There are a lot of great effects that you can perform for kids and a lot of garbage out there. I'd be willing to give you my opinion on any effect you are interested in.

As for your character, you don't need to be clown-like. Clowns are not magicians and magicians are not clowns. I perform for children wearing a blue button-down shirt, black pants and a black blazer. However, you need to interact with the spectators. For kids, that means being silly at times (which is different from being a clown). My sense is that many children's magicians rely more on gags than strong magic. An occasional gag or sucker trick is fine, but your whole routine or show shouldn't be gags.

The last part is patter. You can't just say "look" and do the effect. You need patter that engages the audience.

I'm willing to help out anyone who is serious about developing a kids show and is willing to put in the necessary amount of work. Just shoot me a PM.

NOTE: Casey has a good point about having upbeat patter, however you have to be careful about giving false hope in some cases. Generally avoid patter about getting better because you don't know how serious the child's diagnosis is.

NOTE #2: Make sure YOU have a support network set up. You should have someone you can talk to. At times, You may see some things that will break your heart and you will need someone to lean on at those times.

You really need to take Reality One´s Advice!!! he helped me a lot when I had a kids show sometime ago!!

You could also ask Rick Everhart...he is also a very knowledgeable guy!! he also helped me!!

 

[RickEverhart]

Thanks Luis. As mentioned I do a lot of kids shows so if David (Reality One) doesn't quite answer all of your questions I would be glad to help as well. I normally do about 10-15 kid shows a year.

 

[icannotmakeapassword]

Thanks Luis. As mentioned I do a lot of kids shows so if David (Reality One) doesn't quite answer all of your questions I would be glad to help as well. I normally do about 10-15 kid shows a year.

Cool. What stuff(specifically) do you perform in kids shows?

 

[RickEverhart]

Growing Head Illusion, Spongeballs,Stratosphere,Cut and Restored Rope / Fiber Optic Routine, Shoot a Card Trick - kid wears a cowboy hat and shoots the deck with a cap gun and the only card that gets a hole shot through is his selection...he / she keeps the card after I sign it. Needle through Balloon, Change Bag routine with Happy Birthday Silks, Crystal Clear ESP trick, Lota Vase, Cups and Balls or a Chop Cup Routien, etc. It all depends on the demographics of the party. As Reality One knows...there is a big difference between what you perform for kids 5-7 compared to 8-10, and 11 and up.

 

[RealityOne]

Shoot a Card Trick - kid wears a cowboy hat and shoots the deck with a cap gun and the only card that gets a hole shot through is his selection...he / she keeps the card after I sign it.

And that one has to be one of the highlight of the show! It isn't really which effects you do, but how you do them.

My set list includes Cups & Balls (usually with a "stress ball" load of smiley faces or eyeballs at the end), Mark Wilson's Bigger card, Jumbo Card routines, Jumbo McCombical Deck, Vanishing Bandana, a Cut (with safety sissors) and Restored (using Scotch Tape AKA "Magic Tape") Card to Wallet Effect, various Sponge Ball Routines (currently a color changing routine where the balls change colors in the spectators hands and then multiply), Silly Strings of Death (a Russian roulette routine using cans of silly string), Mark Wilson's Tic Tac Toe (with a two phase reveal), Magic Milk Pitcher, a variety of routines using a change bag and the Magic Candy Maker.

I've also done Linking Rings, routines using the "magic kit" props like drawer box and ball vase, Spellbound (signed coin to nested coin boxes), Zombie Ball, Magic Coloring Book, Silk Blendo, Egg Bag, Needle through Balloon and lots of other effects that I'm forgetting.

I'm currently working on adding Clink, Fiber Optics and a David Ginn routine with a top hat that turns into a rabbit hat and a silk fountain.

there is a big difference between what you perform for kids 5-7 compared to 8-10, and 11 and up.

Exactly. That difference affects what effects you perform and how you perform them. There are some effects that can cover all age groups and some effects you have to rotate in or out depending on the age.

As mentioned I do a lot of kids shows so if David (Reality One) doesn't quite answer all of your questions I would be glad to help as well. I normally do about 10-15 kid shows a year.

Rick is someone who I've bounced ideas off of and is a tremendous resource to anyone who wants to do kids shows (or any other types of shows for that matter). There is a lot of work that goes into a show, including selecting effects, scripting, practicing and rehearsing. So if you reach out to Rick or me, you have to be willing to put the effort in to make it a good show.

 

[RickEverhart]

I have a show for 40 kids this Thursday night at a Fire Station. I'll see if I can get someone there to take some photos and I'll post them up Friday for everyone to see. I normally do not like to film my shows if it is a child's birthday because that seems a bit weird and there would be many kids in the video that parents may not want to be so I don't even go there with permission forms and such. If it is just the host sending me some pics that he / she took then I think it is ok.