My First Kids Show

[GrahamHorgan]

So a school would like me to perform a magic show in a few weeks for an age group from 10 to 14 years old. This will be my first ever show. I would appreciate your thoughts on my tricks for the show. I want to say also that I don't have lots of tricks like 10-12 as I'm still a beginner and to be honest, I'm trying to do the right thing and spend quality time on the sleights of a trick and presentation rather than learning lots that I can only kinda do. So here's what I got so far.

-Magic Colouring Book
-Cups & Balls (The Classic Routine)
-Spongeball Routine
-Cut & Restored Rope

And a Ambitious Card Routine. But do you think 10 years old would be still too young for card magic?

I have a sponge microphone for the opener. I will attempt to introduce myself, but after a few failed attempts of no audio from it, I get a little frustrated and crumple it up and toss it over my shoulder. What is your opinion on that opener?

 

[Maaz Hasan]

The opener sounds great!
How long is the show supposed to be?

An ambitious card might be difficult for 10 year olds. Why not something a bit more visual? Maybe a cool production of an actual microphone? I'm not sure if using fire would be a good idea or not, but if you do decide to use it, maybe you want to do a fire production of an actual microphone.

 

[GrahamHorgan]

The opener sounds great!
How long is the show supposed to be?

An ambitious card might be difficult for 10 year olds. Why not something a bit more visual? Maybe a cool production of an actual microphone? I'm not sure if using fire would be a good idea or not, but if you do decide to use it, maybe you want to do a fire production of an actual microphone.

Hi Maaz.

I'm going to do a 30 minute show to be safe. Fire is a good idea for a production. But I wouldn't use it at this age level and as much as I would like to, I don't have any experience with fire products. Hopefully in time. Thank you for your suggestions. I wish I had more visual props. But I simple just don't have the funds right now for anything.

 

[Lord Magic]

So a school would like me to perform a magic show in a few weeks for an age group from 10 to 14 years old. This will be my first ever show. I would appreciate your thoughts on my tricks for the show. I want to say also that I don't have lots of tricks like 10-12 as I'm still a beginner and to be honest, I'm trying to do the right thing and spend quality time on the sleights of a trick and presentation rather than learning lots that I can only kinda do. So here's what I got so far.

-Magic Colouring Book
-Cups & Balls (The Classic Routine)
-Spongeball Routine
-Cut & Restored Rope

And a Ambitious Card Routine. But do you think 10 years old would be still too young for card magic?

I have a sponge microphone for the opener. I will attempt to introduce myself, but after a few failed attempts of no audio from it, I get a little frustrated and crumple it up and toss it over my shoulder. What is your opinion on that opener?

So!
Amazing ideas you have got there!
Btw...I feel you should include the Ambitious card routine, I mean you can still verbally state the effect. This kind of performance may not suit with adults, but kids will never hold that against you. Mind you tho...14 is not that young

I remember something I once heard from a seasoned performer, unfortunately I forget the actual speaker of these words:-
"It takes a lot to put up a great show for adults...because they have a very fixed and biased version of how the world works, they have EVERYTHING figured out and don't like to welcome second thoughts. Children on the other hand don't really need magic performances to make them believe in magic. They feel you are jus chanelling some magic in front of them. They believe in magic. They are magic."

What I want to say is I think you can safely include some of your other pieces you think are too advanced. If the majority of your audience is 13-14,you are safe! If most of them are 10-12, you can still perform some other effects.
But nothing as complicated as, I dunno, a rubberband penetrating a coin and then magically rising and wounding itself around the 4 aces in a shuffled deck.
Lol
Hope you get the idea.
And Good Luck! Have and make a blast

 

[Maaz Hasan]

@LordMagic kids simply do not pay enough attention to enjoy most card effects. If it's visual and hard hitting, it's good. But for the most part, They will get bored and not undrrstand halfway though. Hell, distracted adults won't understand card tricks.

Unless you do something like a rising card, or a teleporting card with little patter, the kids won't enjoy it. Even if they understand it.

Sponge balls are amazing and get great reactions, regardless of age (especially for kids though). I suggest making your sponge balls routine and your cups and balls routine longer.

What about a chop cup?

 

[GrahamHorgan]

@LordMagic kids simply do not pay enough attention to enjoy most card effects. If it's visual and hard hitting, it's good. But for the most part, They will get bored and not undrrstand halfway though. Hell, distracted adults won't understand card tricks.

Unless you do something like a rising card, or a teleporting card with little patter, the kids won't enjoy it. Even if they understand it.

Sponge balls are amazing and get great reactions, regardless of age (especially for kids though). I suggest making your sponge balls routine and your cups and balls routine longer.

What about a chop cup?

I'm sorry. What is a chop cup? I do a cup and ball routine. Just 3 balls and one cup. But it's very fast.

 

[ahead246]

I think card magic is ok for kids but ambitious card has a lot of elements in it if you're going to do it, I would do it as a closer and the mic opener sounds like a cool thing, If you decide not to do ambitious card I would say still do some minor card magic

 

[Maaz Hasan]

I'm sorry. What is a chop cup? I do a cup and ball routine. Just 3 balls and one cup. But it's very fast.

A chop cup is a gimmicked cup that allows you to do stuff like this and more (with practice of course). I'm not sure if you have the time to pick one up and practice it (the handling should be similar enough to the cups and balls), but maybe in the future?

 

[Rise Above]

I've heard that when performing card tricks for kids, using a blank deck and letting the child doodle something might help them understand better.

 

[obrienmagic]

Honestly about 4-5 effects is all you will need for that time slot.

-Coloring book will be about 3-5 mins depending on how long you make it last.
-Cups and balls can be as long or as short as you want it to be. Would make a great filler in case you feel like you don't have enough material to fill out the full time slot.
-Spongeballs are super interactive and visual. I have noticed that when you do the "ball from your hand to theirs" phase, most of the kids will say "I want to try!" So you may end up repeating that segment a few times for them if you wish.
-Cut and restored rope is another great visual piece they will love!
-Ambitious card is a great effect. If you feel that they will not understand the card trick, try the same effect with other types of cards (UNO, Pokemon, Etc.)

I would avoid fire effects for a lis show because it encourages playing with fire (plus if you do not have insurance it can get very ugly if there is an accident.)

I think you have what you need for a fantastic show. The hardest part is learning not to rush through your magic, but to be in the moment and have fun with the kids!

 

[GrahamHorgan]

A chop cup is a gimmicked cup that allows you to do stuff like this and more (with practice of course). I'm not sure if you have the time to pick one up and practice it (the handling should be similar enough to the cups and balls), but maybe in the future?

Thanks Maaz. That was epic. I will be sure to pick one of these up in the near future. The presentation was excellent.

 

[GrahamHorgan]

I've heard that when performing card tricks for kids, using a blank deck and letting the child doodle something might help them understand better.

Thats a good idea. Opens the door for a few different ideas. thank you @Rise Above

 

[GrahamHorgan]

Hi @obrienmagic. Thank you for your reply. That really helped.

 

[Hgagnon]

Thats a good idea. Opens the door for a few different ideas. thank you @Rise Above

I think the blank deck idea is great for the routine. Totally do the ambitious card routine. The 13-14 year olds will totally understand it and if some of the 10 year olds seem confused you need to just verbally explain it and everytime you do something tell them like... "I'm going to put your card that you drew on into the deck..." and "You will see your card the one you drew on magically rises to the top of the deck after putting it in the middle" or something like that.

 

[Hgagnon]

Also with the blank deck. After you do the ambitious card routine with the blank deck maybe you could do a blank deck to normal deck routine with a simple deck switch or something. That would be very visual.

 

[RealityOne]

@GrahamHorgan you sound like you have the basics. It is always best to go with what you know.

However, don't do the ambitious card routine - even using the blank deck. For a kids show, you are performing a parlor magic, not close up or strolling. An ambitious card routine will not play well because it is hard to see from people seated in a room.

There are tricks with cards that will work. Cards Across, Six Card Repeat or a Card to Location. Let me know if you need help with any of those ideas.

Also, no fire in kids shows unless the youngest kid is 14.

I would also avoid the coloring book. It is too young for the age group you are working with.

For the show, you need around five 5 minute routines. If you have Mark Wilson's book there are a lot of great effects there. I love the Tic Tac Toe routine. The sponge ball and cups and balls routines are great too.

@Lord Magic, your post seems to imply that kids magic shows are easier than adults. They aren't. Kids will call you out if they see something. Kids will also stop paying attention if you aren't entertaining.

 

[Timewise64]

Thanks Maaz. That was epic. I will be sure to pick one of these up in the near future. The presentation was excellent.

When I got my Chop Cup I found one that exactly matches my Cups and Balls. By combining these into one routine, the number of things you can come up with is limitless....when I started working on it I actually laid in bed that night and could not sleep as my mind was busy thinking about all the things I could add....including my PK ring....

 

[Lord Magic]

@GrahamHorgan you sound like you have the basics. It is always best to go with what you know.

However, don't do the ambitious card routine - even using the blank deck. For a kids show, you are performing a parlor magic, not close up or strolling. An ambitious card routine will not play well because it is hard to see from people seated in a room.

There are tricks with cards that will work. Cards Across, Six Card Repeat or a Card to Location. Let me know if you need help with any of those ideas.

Also, no fire in kids shows unless the youngest kid is 14.

I would also avoid the coloring book. It is too young for the age group you are working with.

For the show, you need around five 5 minute routines. If you have Mark Wilson's book there are a lot of great effects there. I love the Tic Tac Toe routine. The sponge ball and cups and balls routines are great too.

@Lord Magic, your post seems to imply that kids magic shows are easier than adults. They aren't. Kids will call you out if they see something. Kids will also stop paying attention if you aren't entertaining.

Sorry...did not mean to imply that
Just wanted to say that kids of 13-14 are smarter than adults take them to be, so no need of being afraid to perform a little of the complicated pieces.

But yeah, really visual pieces are the best. In fact, they are the best kind of magic, pure magic.
And yup...kids do have a habit of pointing out anything suspicious they'd see...but no tolerance for flashes right? ;-)