I have not begun doing hospital shows--yet. I originally had a timetable to spring of last year. But 2016 was a dumpster fire; financially and personally. Tried shooting for spring, and finances weren't there, and I got hospitalized in April and I couldn't get on a stable med regiment until November. I SHOULD be able to get the show settled by the end of this year (application approved at either end of this year or beginning of next year) because the finances are going to be all right and I can actually fund everything I would need. I work with a lot of props (Tenyo Magic to be exact). I want to have everything I would need for the routines and then work from there. I'm working on some sleight work as well, but I;'m also trying to learn what all is out there. Can't use just ANY trick out there, you know?
What I'm about to say is only applicable to volunteer your time in hospitals with the sole intention of doing this for non-profit ONLY. I know that magicians do work with certain charity functions and there is sometimes the issue of getting paid for your time and the ethics regarding that. I believe that the people that need magic in their lives are the ones that are not able to make it to a show. So, non profit volunteer magic.
EVERY hospital is slightly different in protocol. There's always going to be a coordinator you'll have to talk to first. Some hospitals have applications online. Some just have a phone number and a name. Once you get the ball rolling, it'll take about a month....maybe 2 before you are able to do your thing in a hospital. It mostly consists of a background check, flu shot, TB check, application registration, an interview with the coordinator, and MAYBE a 'hospital protocol' course (more than likely just a day since you're filling in as 'entertainment'. As far as protocol goes, you'll learn and only be required to know real bare bones stuff). Depending on the hospital, there MAY be a uniform (a vest, from what I have seen in some cases) involved for volunteers, so you may have to go out of pocket for that. Most I have seen is $25
Depending on where you live, Open Heart Magic may be a group applicable to you.
Also, be prepared to do some tricks during the interview. Most of the places I have screened want to see the EXACT routine you are going to do. Some hospitals will give you free reign on what you do (within reason). Others want to make exactly sure they know what they are approving and make sure HIPAA doesn't get violated.
As for what tricks to do and what not to do. The hospital doesn't know exactly what is, or could be, in a magician's repertoire. They do have some HARD 'NO!' items such as: fire, smoke, animals, latex, and anything that makes a mess.
One thing to keep in mind is the kind of magic you want to do and that you're going to be in contact with sick kids. With that in mind, NO SPONGE BALLS. Absolute bacteria bath for every kid after the first one who handles them. Great trick. Just not for a hospital. I have seen some videos where magicians do sponge balls in a hospital. Just do the courteous thing and don't do it.
Cards. This is a tricky one. If a kid handles a card, and you shuffle it back in the deck. The deck is now basically contaminated. I stay the hell away from card tricks unless I'm actually going to 100% handle them. And even then, card tricks aren't the most effective things working with kids. At least, using basic Bicycle deck with regular faces and suits isn't the most effective. Personally, if you're really hard up on using cards, get a blank deck and do an Ambitious Card routine with one of the cards having a drawing of a dog. I'm trying to do an Oil & Water routine with 8 Pokemon cards. The ONLY card trick I would do that utilizes a regular deck would be Tiny Plunger. However, it has a set of limitations that you have to work with and your mileage may vary.
Mental magic if iffy. While some self-working stuff is easy and has instant reset value. From experience, mental magic will either flop, or EVERY KID WILL WANT YOU TO READ THEIR MIND. Do you want to be swarmed by 60 kids for individual mind readings? I had 30 kids swarm me at a church function because of this. You. Will. Weep.
No tricks that utilize weapons or things that look like weapons. Like knives, anything sharp, etc. I have a routine in which I turn a Heckler & Koch G36 into an AK47. I thought about it and went, 'I don't think this is appropriate for kids.'
I know some tricks utilize props that use knives or props that look like knives; run it by your coordinator because HIPAA and anything that resembles a weapon, or just whispering the word 'weapon' within 200 feet of a hospital--or in the same room with a picture of a hosapital, is a no-no.
Tricks using vapor of any kind. I think the trick Stewart Edge uses is called Frozen. I could be wrong. That, and tricks like Vapr. I'm not all too clear of how they work and whatnot, but I can almost guarantee that even if you explain the mechanics and (if they are safe), you won't be given a go-ahead for them. Every hospital magic video I have seen features at least ONE trick that makes my eye twitch. For Stewart Edge, it's the ice cube trick, a lot of others it's kids handling cards and sponge balls. I know that with 'vaping' being a thing and something hospitals had to address and crack down on, anything like that in the magic realm will more than likely be outright banned. Just be ready for that.
Religious overtones in tricks or routines. This will get you blacklisted.
If you have a website or an actual business and try to promote yourself in the hospital through business cards and such, you will be blacklisted.
Tricks involving a phone. Taking picture of patients and things in the hospital (without approval from proper channels) is a big HIPAA violation. If you do any phone tricks, try and show that they won't activate the camera. If they do use the camera function, try and work it so that the patient, or anybody for that matter, is required to be in the picture.
When Pokemon Go was first released and was a nationwide epidemic, hospitals all over the place had mixed protocol about it; all stemming from the fact that the game used augmented reality and you could take in-game pictures and get pictures of people and things you shouldn't. While you COULD turn the AR function off and avoid the whole mess, some hospitals would kick you out (not the patient, but like people in waiting room or patient room and such) if you got caught playing the game in or near the hospital. Others were okay with it. Honestly, run it by the coordinator because this, to me, seems like it's case-by-case basis.
I have a trick that requires the use of a camera phone (Ghost Camera), I'm going to run it by the coordinator and hope it works. Mainly because I'm having to locate some seriously hard to find Pokemon cards to make the trick work the way I want to present it.If it's a no go, I'll be beside myself and eat Ben & Jerry's for a week.
Also, in the same light as sponge balls; I know there's not a whole lot of tricks that involve this. But anything with strobe lights or pulsing lights. Don't use it. I had a trick that used something like this (The Third Eye) and it didn't hit me until I sat down and messed with it that it COULD be a danger to epileptics. While I haven't heard of any stories of any magician causing epilepsy with a trick they were using, you don't want to be the first one that does.
D*Lites are fine, as long as you're not rapid-firing the light and being a complete chuckwagon about it.
Also, be prepared to do like a small show or a parlour show. Of the 4 hospitals I have been in talks with (1 in Las Vegas at the time. 3 in Texas), they all have 1 thing in common: a playroom. This is a place where kids who are doing....better...For lack of a better term; kids can go to. They generally do shows and other promotional events in there. Find out maximum occupancy and try and work the size of your props and show effects accordingly in case you do get maximum occupancy.
Some hospitals may allow you to do walkaround magic from room to room. A lot of Youtube videos that display magicians in hospitals show them doing this. However, I have only had 1 instance where I COULD have done this (Las Vegas). The other hospitals didn't even pose this as an option. I have some theories:
1) The Las Vegas hospital only had a pediatrics wing, so it's possible for a magician to go room to room and see ALL the kids, plus being able to do a show in the playroom.
