What's up with this?

Aug 15, 2017
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The need for "fast" or "visual" magic for kids is a common misconception. The effect needs to be something that accomplishes what they know to be impossible.



This is exactly the issue with a mindset that kids need fast visual magic. That may work for table hopping where you are there for five minutes, but not for a 30 to 45 minute show. Kids need entertaining magic.



I agree normal cards aren't interesting and that special cards have more initial interest. However, it is what you do with them that is important. I've done a jumbo invisible deck routine for children using a beach ball and music that entertains them. I have another routine that hole punches their selected card and it matches another card in an envelope with the exact same hole punches that amaze them. In contrast, I've performed some routines with Pokemon cards that just fall flat.



Like. Like. Like. Like. (repeated 100 times).

Be ENGAGING! Have you ever seen kids sit at rapt attention to hear a story read by a good story teller?

The same "short, visual and silly" mentality dominated children's television for many years. Look at Sesame Street episodes - all short and to the point. Then there was a change in the thinking of how kids learn. There is a great book by Martin Gardner called Theories of Multiple intelligences that argues that kids learn based on a variety of different intelligences (the intelligences are not what you would think). The Dora the Explorer show took those theories and tested it by incorporating those intelligences in the show. Notice how each show is a series of events tied together by a common plot and the "Map." Notice the different interaction of the audience as part of the show.

Good magic shows combine strong magic and strong entertainment. The problem with a lot of kids magic shows is that it is neither.



Priceless.



Those who are not genuine or engaging typically perform one kids show and leave beaten, bloodied and tattered and say "never again." The problem is they blame the children rather than examining their own performances.



I think it is more a matter of being interesting to them rather than relevant. The use of the word "small lives" gives the sense of what Brett is talking about -- they don't think their lives are small. As a parent and someone who has worked a lot with kids, I can say that their view of the world is more expansive and more open to possibility than any adult.... until of course they become a teenager and they think that because they know a lot about what they know that they know everything.



Kids actually have a very strong baloney (for lack of a better age appropriate term) meter. I do think that young kids are more accepting of something not having a possible explanation than older kids. Heck, they know there is a lot about the world they don't understand. BUT, the focus should be on entertaining, not on the method.



In a way, there is some truth to this statement. A good magic show draws in the audience, keeps their attention by being entertaining, builds the impossibility of the effect through providing context and then has a clear understandable statement of impossibility. How you get each of those elements is what is different.
Oh yeah, my bad :)
I should've been clear...
by 'small' I meant the time span...not their view of the world.

Unless of course, I have misunderstood you?
 

RickEverhart

forum moderator / t11
Elite Member
Sep 14, 2008
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Louisville, OH
I agree. There are a bunch of different age groups. There is the "5 and Under" group which I will not perform for; the "6 to 10 Years Old" which is my favorite to perform for because you can hold their attention with fun magic; the "10 to 13 Year Olds" which is a tough group because they want to be adults but are really still kids and the "13 to 16 Year Olds" who pretty much are like adults with short attention spans. The 6 to 10 year olds love my mismade Zebra routine but don't get Mark Wilson's Tic Tac Toe. The 10 to 13 Year Olds are the opposite.

Spot on. Children/Kids magic does not fall under just one heading. It is definitely broken up into these subgroups. I always always ask the client what age the majority of the children are who are attending the party for this very reason of selecting my material.
 
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