Children’s Magic Shows and Magic for Children.

I often have people come into the shop or phone asking for magic for children. My question, which always seems to stump them is “Who is doing the magic?”.

Its a simple question but it takes a moment for them to get their head around it. Then they will say, “Oh, its for me to do for them.”  or  “It’s for them to do.” or  ” It’s for me to do for them and maybe teach them how to do it.” or “It’s for a show for children.” Big difference. If you’re doing shows for kids, whether you’re a magician or a clown, the key word is visual.

You can and unless you’re a mime, should, attach a story to it. I notice that most kids are attentive. When my  grandson, age 7, had a party and Mad Science was there he spoke about complicated stuff and they listened and watched, as did the adults, with complete fascination.

For kids to do, there’s a whole bunch of stuff, like Appearing Flower, the Magic Coin Slide, Ball & Vase, Magical Block, and many more well within the ability of most 4 year olds. And they are also excellent for grandparents to do for their grandkids and even teach them how.

If you  are doing special events, Christmas shows, birthday parties, school shows,  etc. its a whole different story. I’d take a lesson from Bobo’s DVD.  Although most magicians know him for his Coin Magic (Modern Coin Magic), he was also a famous kid show performer. I did a whole blog on him. He did thousands of school shows.

If you are doing shows for young kids, 3, 4,and 5 year olds, 5 Minutes With A Pocket Handkerchief is a must. There are many options and the list is not complete. We are working on improving our catagories to make your life simpler when searching for something.

The latest thing to come in is Multiplying Pringles (Potato Chips). Multiplying Bottles has been a classic, but it is done with Champagne bottles and for the longest time kid show performers have been asking for an effect like that but for kids. I’m happy to say that it is now available and  in stock.  There is also Passe Passe Pringles and additional Pringle tubes available. Check it out.

The Magic of Cups and Balls.

I  love the Cups & Balls. A classic, as they say. As old as the hills. As a dealer, its one of my favorites. Why? Firstly because I am not a magician and I can do a basic cups and balls, whereby the balls pass through the cups, one by one. I have done it countless times with a $4.00 set and the amazement of everyone who sees it is always a delight for me and a sale. I mean how can you go wrong for $4.00? Our regular search with cups in the title produces dozens of  titles.

The beauty of it is that it is so easy, anyone can do it, and yet, there is so much more to it, if you want to go there. If you go to our google search on the home page you’ll find 10 pages of books, DVD’s, the props themselves, all kinds of different routines by wonderful magicians. There is a DVD 25 Amazing Tricks With Cups and Balls and another DVD Essentials in Magic on Cups and Balls by Daryl. The are both inexpensive and worth every penny. You can then graduate to Michael Ammar, with 2 volumes on Cups and Balls, and Dai Vernon, and Al Schneider, World’s Greatest Magic Series, Mendoza, Don Allen and the list goes on. And of course once you do them well, you want a better set of cups and balls, depending on your budget;  there’s a nice set of chromed plastic, or aluminum, or brass or copper.

And then of course, there’s the chop cup, but that’s a whole other story.

David Ben “Tacit Knowledge” Secrets of Magic

Yesterday one of the magicians that came into the shop asked me how my week-end was. I had to think. Week-end? It was a blur. I laughed and told him my two grandchild, age 7 and 5, had a sleep over at my home and it was hectic. We spent a good time of it making balloon animals. He didn’t say anything, but just looked at me for a while. I didn’t say anything either as I didn’t want to bore him with stories about my grandchildren. He finally spoke. “I wish my grandmother would have been a magician.”

I assure everyone I am not a magician, not even close, but I know a few tricks after being in the business for over 35 years. My grandson does do magic. He was asked to do a magic trick for his class, in French, and he did it so well his teacher asked him to go to the other classes and do it for them too.We have chats about magic, he and I, about magic, real magic, magic secrets, the performance of magic, etc. so when I read David Ben’s article on the passing on of secrets from generation to generation, whether it be magic, winemaking, or cooking, it gave me cause for pause. I mentioned the article on facebook, but if you didn’t catch it then you might enjoy reading it. http://luminatofestival.com/pages/light-news/may-29th-david-ben/