You have just discovered the wonderful world of magic. Trip after trip to the magic shop has added to your ever growing arsenal of magic tricks. Thirty-three days later the credit card bills arrive to remind your wife that this IS an expensive hobby.

No problem! You will make back all of the money you’ve spent and more by becoming a part-time professional magician. Looking around for places to hone your craft, you suddenly remember that your niece has a seventh birthday coming up. You call you sister and offer your services in lieu of a gift.

Two weeks later the performance time arrives. You pack all of your “A” material into two large cardboard boxes. You start the show for sixteen first graders and all of your relatives. The show goes well. Everybody is laughing and having a good time. You take some theatrical pauses to build suspense as you search your boxes for the next great trick. Finally, your fifteen minute show concludes after fifty-three minutes. You never realized you had that much great magic. The kids cheer and applaud for your debut magic show. Even your sister, wiping the tears from her eyes, says, “I have never had more fun than I did watching your magic show. It was great. John got it all on tape.”

This is how many part-time professional magicians attempt to begin their career. They look around and decided that doing kid shows is the best way to start. Performing magic for kids is one of the most difficult areas of magic to do well. This article explores some of the challenges of performing children’s magic.

YOU ARE TRAINING CHILDREN

Children don’t understand many of the common cues in a live performance. Most children are raised in the age of television. Not a bad thing, except the laugh tracks prompt the children when to laugh. No laugh tracks and the children are left out in the cold. They are quick and will get up to speed in no time. But they need your help.

The same issue is even more problematic with applause. Children are not used to clapping. They don’t understand applause cues. Those wonderfully timed applause cues will leave you and your audience with a lot of uncomfortable silence.

What can be done? Everything. One of your most important tasks as a children’s magician is your opening. The beginning of your show must do four things:

• Establish audience control
• Teach the children to react to applause cues
• Set the tone for the show
• Introduce your performing personality

The audience needs to be warmed up prior to your magic show. It seems hokey and a waste of time, but it can make the difference between a great magic show and a horrible one.

Children love to have fun. Even in school children are taught to obey those in authority. For some reason, many magicians forget to establish authority early in the show. The result resembles a saloon brawl in the wild west.

When you step out for the start of your show, you have the perfect opportunity to establish the ground rules for the show. I don’t mean that you should bring out a list of house rules for the show. Instead come out with confidence and warm up your audience.

After you welcome everyone to the show, look out over the audience and say, ”This looks like a really great crowd. Let’s see how loud you can clap. On the count of three ONE. . . TWO . . THREE . .Not bad! Let’s try it again. On three . . .” After some byplay conclude by saying, ”What do we do when we like the magic? (pause) What do we do when we LOVE the magic?” (pause and react strongly to the crowd)

Four things are being done by that warm up. You have taught the children to clap when they like the magic. It also trains them to react to the applause cues in the rest of the show. The warm up establishes that you are in control for this show. Finally, it sets a fun tone for the show. This is the first time your audience gets a sense of your performing personality.

YOU ARE NOT PERFORMING FOR THE KIDS

You will learn quickly that the most difficult task facing the children’s performer is to design the show to appeal to children and adults at the same time and at different levels. No I don’t mean filling your performance with phrases that have sexual double meanings. Nothing is more pathetic and unprofessional than the performer that gets a child on stage and slyly eyes the adults in the crowd and says “Do I have a big magic wand or what? “

Children’s cartoons provide the best examples of the point I am trying to make. Take Loony Toons or Spongebob Squarepants for example. These cartoons work for children and adults on different levels at the same time. This is what you must achieve to be a successful children’s magician

This is very difficult thing to pull off. This is one of the main reasons that doing children’s magic is so difficult. You must DESIGN your show for both audiences. One key to the show design is your performing personality.

YOU ARE NOT YOURSELF TODAY

When you perform magic for children, you must have a distinctive and appealing performing personality. Long gone are the days when the children’s magician can come out on stage in a second hand tux and wow his audience with a formal magic show. Look at Silly Billy, one of the most successful children’s magicians. His performing personality is fun and engaging. His show tone is fast paced and humorous.

Even beyond children’s magic, examine the performing personalities of children’s television. Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Rodgers, and Peewee Herman are examples of compelling performing personalities. Each one was successful, yet, had very different performing personalities. The common factor was that each performer engaged children through fun.

Your performing personality must engage you audience, children and adults, with fun and wonderment. You must draw your audience into the show by your performing personality, but you must wow them with a well designed show that delivers great magic. This is why doing children’s magic is so tough.

If you want to start your career in magic as a children’s magician, think again. Kids are brutally honest. There is nothing tougher or more satisfying than have a great children’s magic show. Being a children’s magician is not the best way to become a part-time professional magician.

Copyright (c) 2005 J.L. Siefers, All rights reserved.

About The Author
J.L. Siefers

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You want to get the best magic kit for your kids. I don’t want your kids to be disappointed by an inferior or inappropriate magic kit.

Here are six things to look for when shopping for a kids magic kit.

1. Specific suggested age range: Every kid should have an age group that it was created for. For example a lot of magic kits are sold for “ages 4 to 104”. Well, what that means is that half of the tricks are appropriate for kids and half are good for adults. The problem with this is that most kids will get frustrated because 50% of the trick are too hard for them to learn. Kids want to learn all of the tricks in the magic kit…not just half.

2. Instructions that are fun: You want to have the instructions for your kids magic kit to be fun and exciting. For example, you don’t want a magic kit with just printed instructions that have no illustrations.

Studies have show that over 61% of kids learn best visually, so getting a kids magic kit with DVD instructions is ideal.

3. Item should ship out within 24 hours: If a website doesn’t have a product in stock, it shouldn’t be listed on their website. You don’t want to wait 2 weeks for them to get the item instock, you want your kids magic kit promptly! A surefire way to tell if a site has an item in stock is that their shopping cart checkout page will have their realtime stock listed of each item they carry.

4. Lots of Testimonials: Every site should have testimonials or reviews from actual parents about their kids reactions to the magic kits. An endorsement from someone like David Copperfield is impressive…but he doesn’t have kids and isn’t necessarily a good judge of what kids nowadays think is cool, but other parent know what kids like!

5. Secure check out: When you begin the checkout part of your order, make sure the page is secure so that your information can’t be stolen. Most online shopping carts only operate in secure mode during the part of checkout when you enter your personal information, and that’s fine.

Here are two ways you can tell if you are submitting your information at a secure site:

#1 look at the address bar in your internet browsers window it should begin like this https:// The “s” in the https means secure.

#2 a closed (locked) padlock will appear at the bottom of your browsers window.

6. Customer service phone line: Every site should have a phone number you can call to ask any questions you might have about their kids magic kits or to place your order over the phone. Having a phone number to call is basic customer service, and I would be skeptical of any site that doesn’t want you to call.

Now that you know the six things to look for, I’m confidant that you will find a kids magic kit that is fun, and age appropriate for you children.

Louie Foxx
http://www.amazingmagickit.com

copyright 2006 by Louie Foxx

About The Author
Louie Foxx is a professional children’s magician based out of Seattle WA.

This article is free to reproduce, but by using this article you agree that you will not alter the content. All links must and copyright notice must remain. Links must remain standard HTML tags and cannot be converted to another form of link.

The magic that you see magicians performing today is really truly amazing. It seems like every year the bar is being raised to put the challenge on the rest of the magic community to come up with the next “big thing”. Magic shows are getting bigger; they’re getting more elaborate; they’re getting extreme. But is bigger always better?

Think about it. What would you rather see, David Copperfield on stage performing one of his unbelievable elusions with all the lights, pretty assistants, and fire and smoke or some ordinary Joe walking up to you on the street and asking you to pick a card, any card?

What’s your first reaction? Of course, who wouldn’t want to go see David Copperfield? He is the man, well known for all of his mind blowing magic that he has performed on stage and seen by millions on TV. Hey, if I was asked this question, I’d be the first to admit, I would choose David Copperfield in a heartbeat.

But let’s take a step back and think about this question, David Copperfield or Ordinary Joe. You’ve got the glamour versus the struggling street performer. Why would we choose Copperfield over Ordinary Joe? Is it because we know what Mr. Copperfield can do and we know whatever he does is over the top and we will enjoy it? Most likely, but what about Ordinary Joe? Why not give him a chance?

If you really think about it, do you know what this Ordinary Joe can do? Nope. So maybe it may be more exciting to see what he can do over Copperfield. Just maybe this Ordinary Joe has something that you and the rest of the world have never seen before. He may even have the next “big thing” in magic.

Maybe Ordinary Joe isn’t so ordinary after all. Now that I have put this perspective into your mind, I’ll ask the question again, Copperfield or Ordinary Joe? It’s still a tough sell, isn’t it? We are still drawn to the glamour and lights of Copperfield because we know what he can do, he is a proven entertainer.

You may be asking yourself, so what is the point in all of this? My point is that David Copperfield use to be that Ordinary Joe and now look at him. He is far from ordinary. So next time, take the time to give that Ordinary Joe a chance to show you the magic he can do because he could be showing you the next “big thing”. In the end, magic being performed by some one on the street or on some big stage, it is still magic and that’s what counts.

About The Author
Dion Semeniuk is the proud owner of the popular online magic trick store that offers magic tricks for all ages. Learn free magic tricks by visiting http://www.thisismagic.com.

I used to mange a magic shop for many years. Quite often parents would come in and say something like, “I want my kid to learn some magic tricks, but I don’t know how to get them interested?”

That’s why I have come up with these five ways to gently nudge your kid into learning some magic tricks.

1.Get them a magic kit

For your kids next birthday or for a holiday like Christmas, get them a beginners magic kit. This way they have a variety of tricks that they can learn. When getting your kid a magic kit, make sure that you get one that is specifically for their age. Try to stay away from a magic kit that has a suggested age range of “ages 8-108” or something like that. Instead look for a kit that is for ages 6-12, or ages 4-6.

2.Take them to a magic show

After your kid sees a live magic show and possibly even helps the magician with a trick, they will be begging you for a magic kit. To find a magic show in your area try checking out your local newspaper, or you could hire one for your kids next birthday. An easy way to find a birthday magician is to do an internet search for “your city, magic show”.

3.Learn a magic trick yourself

There are tons of easy magic tricks you can learn to do that don’t require any special props. If you learn one or two simple magic tricks and show them to your child many times that will spark their interest in magic.

4.Get a book about magic

You can get your kid a book on magic tricks, but I only recommend this for kids that are old enough to read by themselves, or if you are willing to sit with them and learn the tricks with them (family bonding?).

5.Watch a magic show on TV

Right now magic is having a boom in popularity, with people like Criss Angel and David Blaine’s TV shows. Watch one of the magic shows on TV and when your kid is amazed by the magic, ask them if they would like to learn a magic trick. If they say, “yes”, then that’s a pretty good sign that they are ready for a magic kit or magic book.

Now that you know where to begin, go out and encourage your kid to learn some magic tricks. Did I mention that when a kid learns magic tricks they also get improved self esteem, develop public speaking skills, and much more!

About The Author
Louie is a professional magician based out of Seattle and he runs the website www.amazingmagickit.com that makes magic kits for kids.

Every year thousands and thousands of kids across America display their talents at a school, church or community talent show. Most of the talents that these kids have is either singing or dancing, hardly any kids are doing a magic tricks.

If your kid wants to stand out in the pack of singers and dancers by doing magic tricks, I have some tips to help your kid’s star shine brighter than the rest!

Tip Number 1: Give your kid plenty of time to practice!

When I used to run a magic shop, quite often parents would come in and ask me for some magic tricks or a magic kit for their kid’s talent show. I would ask when the talent show was, and would be frequently shocked when the parent told me it was only two or three days away!

Learning magic tricks from a magic kit, magic book, or when you just get individual tricks takes time to practice and learn properly. Learning magic is just like learning any other talent…you wouldn’t teach your kids a four minute dance routine on Wednesday and expect them to do it well on Friday…would you?

With that in mind give your child at least a month’s worth of practice…or more!

Tip Number 2: Make sure the tricks are big enough to be seen from the stage!

When selecting magic tricks for a talent show, make sure every trick you select is large enough to be seen from the stage. For example, if your kid does a coin trick, it will be very difficult for people in the middle or back rows to see it.

If you are getting a magic kit for your kid to select his talent show magic tricks from, make sure the magic kit has items that are larger and will be visible from the stage.

Tip Number 3: Have a script so your kid knows what to say!

One important part of performing magic tricks is knowing what to say when, and making what you say fun!

When you are shopping for your magic tricks for magic kit for your talent show make sure it includes the jokes for the kids to say.

Tip Number 4: Dress rehearsal at home!

A couple of nights before the talent show have a dress rehearsal at home. Maybe invite some aunts and uncles over for a little magic show. This will build your kids confidence in the magic tricks by getting to perform them in a safe place before the big talent show.

Now that you have those four tips, I’m sure your kid will knock ‘em dead a their next talent show!

Louie Foxx

About the author
Louie Foxx is a professional children’s magician based out of Seattle. Louie does magic workshops where he teaches kids how to perform magic tricks and he also runs the website www.amazingmagickit.com that features magic kits for kids

If you are new to the world of magic and you’re looking to improve the execution of your magic tricks then you’ve come to the right place. Follow these free tips and you’ll start to improve your magic starting today.

Practice your palming skills wherever you go

The most necessary skill of a person with a great sleight of hand is the ability or skill of palming an object that goes undetected. You could perfect this after some time of practicing palming small objects like coins in your everyday normal routine. You could palm a small object or item in both of your hands or either while writing, eating, watching TV, walking around, or doing other activities. If you practice care about the angles, no one would notice what you are doing, and after some time, what you are now doing self-consciously would later become almost natural to you. From then on, you could be able to palm objects or items more confidently, boldly, and successful each time.

Be Natural

The secret in having a great sleight of hand is your ability to be natural. There should be no shaky hands, no hand waving, jerky or quick motions. You should work naturally, deliberately, and slowly. If you master this, balls, coins, rings, cards, and coins will begin reappearing and disappearing at the tips of your fingers.

Watching your angles

You should be aware of your angles. Angles refer to the sleight lines between the item that you have just palmed off and the eye of your spectators. If you do not have the right angles, the audience could take a glimpse or see the object in your hand and your trick will be caught.

Master your presentation

Practice your presentation. A small trick that is well presented could work wonders even without the most sophisticated of techniques since the audience would most likely relate to your trick or understand it.

What good is a magician if nobody understands or enjoys his or her tricks? The presentations therefore should be straightforward, simple, and understood easily so that your viewers or watchers could understand and enjoy the complete meaning of what you have been saying and doing.

Do not replicate a trick

This is a mistake MANY beginners make… Don’t be one of them! Do not ever repeat the same trick for the same viewers or watchers. That is one of the basic rules in doing magic. When you repeat a trick, your audience would immediately know what you are going to do next. What may have been a miracle for you when you did your trick for the first time may not be quite satisfying or dazzling the next time around.

About The Author
Ryan Even has been a regular speaker at magic conventions for years rubbing shoulders with the likes of David Copperfield, Criss Angel and David Blaine. Ryan will now teach you advanced magic at http://www.MasterMentalism.com.

Have you ever watched a magician in action and secretly wished that you were the one performing all those amazing feats and getting the audience’s applause? Magic has fascinated countless millions of people through the ages and used to be a mysterious art shrouded in deep secrecy. Now its sealed doors have been opened and almost anyone who has an interest in magic can take it up as a rewarding and potentially lucrative hobby.

Before I go further, I would like to clarify that when I talk about magic here, I’m referring to magic tricks- the art of illusion. It is the branch of entertainment whereby secret principles, props and skills are used to make impossible effects look like they are really happening.

Magic tricks are sometimes mistakenly assumed to be supernatural events caused by spiritual forces, simply because they look so real. No matter how incredible they look, magic tricks are not created by any supernatural means whatsoever but through some clever logical methods.

Okay, so where do you go to learn magic? If you happen to be born into a family of magicians or if someone you know is a magician, you are very fortunate because you can ask that person to be your magical teacher. Magic used to be passed down from generation to generation this way.

Don’t worry if you don’t know anyone. There are other ways to go about it. Try to look up your local phone directory or yellow pages for magic stores or shops. They are available in most big cities in Western countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Europe. Unfortunately however, they are not usually found in other countries.

The next best thing is to search your local library or book stores for magic books. These are books that teach you various tricks that you can perform with cards and common household objects. Most of these tricks are quite simple but they are good enough for a start. You can also try looking in toy stores for magic kits. These are packaged magic tricks that come with complete instructions and the props that you need to perform them. They are good as gifts for aspiring magicians too.

If all the above fail, the last resort is to visit an online magic store. Just do a search at any of the good search engines and you will find many good reputable magic websites that sell a huge variety of magic tricks, props, books, and DVDs. Any magician, from a beginner to an advanced professional, would be able to find something suitable for his or her skill level.

What are the benefits of taking up magic as a hobby? As a semi-professional magician who has been performing magic for as long as I can remember, I have found that magic has improved my confidence, public speaking skills and mental alertness. On top of that, it has also provided many hours of fun on many boring evenings and through the years, has helped me gain many friends.

Therefore, if you have even the slightest interest in magic, I urge you not to wait any longer. Jump right in and enjoy the wonderful hobby of magic!

About The Author
Alex Tsui is a semi-professional magician who has been performing magic since the age of ten. He has created a magic resource site with magic articles, news and updates to help all levels of magicians to advance further in the art of magic. You can check out the site at http://www.magic-tricks-guide.com.

Like a refreshing shower of rain in the middle of a long, laborious summer, a man stepped onto our screens in a long velvety coat and a rather predictable goatee beard and for me, changed the way I look at magic. He dazzled us not just with his magical fingerings, but with his beautiful use of the queens English.

He performed the impossible right in front of our mortal eyes and left us in a mystical limbo (that is until he clicked his fingers and assured us that everything will be alright.)

That was a few years ago when I first saw Derren Brown on his first outing (I think) with Channel 4. That’s when he showed us a card trick and then horrors and horrors showed us how he did it, concluding with the words, “That’s the only tricks you’ll SEE tonight.” BRAVO! From then on we were hooked.

In the following years I’ve heard laymen regaling their own experiences of watching Derren Brown perform. The superlatives to describe this phenomenon were abundant but there was a part of me that wanted to say, look its all about exposure. I’m sure Derren himself would point you back to the guys who are out there every night on the performers circuit doing the same job, sometimes even better.

But hang on that’s not why I’m writing this. No, this is a commentary on the importance of presentation and I think Derren Brown is a master to be emulated in his approach to his act.

Here’s what I mean. The modern magic world is constantly looking for the next best trick, the next ‘What If I could do this…’ That is fine if you want to spend another hundred on a draw filler. But what about the old tricks? The ones that your granddad used to teach us or the first ones we saw in the Paul Daniel’s books (Sorry I’m not old enough to remember beyond that).

You give Derren and the boys a pick a card trick and they will take you on a journey into Van Demons land with your only saviour being that of the clever ledgerman uttering the immortal words, “Was your card the seven of clubs? Then you are left to wonder why you are standing in a pool of your own wee, wee. It’s just a pack of cards for goodness sake!

Suddenly that parlor trick has enough power to get you through college. To further illustrate this…

Pick a card, any card. OK look at it and remember it. In fact put it away so there is no way I can see it. Now I’m going to reveal your card. Blah! Blah! Blah! Big freakin’ deal.

Directors Cut: OK look at me and imagine your card right in front of you. Imagine the colors, make them bright and vivid but don’t give out any signals. I can tell by the strength of your stance…etc…etc that your card is a red…etc…etc.

I hope you see how the misdirection works on so many levels. You misdirect their thoughts, ideas away from the mechanics of a very simple magic trick and they are going to go away and not tell about a magic trick they have seen, they are going to talk about an experience of two people involved in a mind meld.

I guess my point has been not to underestimate the power of reframing old tricks, which have laid the foundation of what the universe of magic is built upon.

An archaeologist may be the only person who can see the inherent beauty in whatever he may find in the bottom of a hole. In the same way we can take the old tricks of the masters and re-energize them for a brand new, more hipper audience.

About The Author
Paul Frith is the creator of http://ShoutAboutMagic.com, a small site that hopes to grow a community of magic lovers, a place to meet and discuss anything about magic. You can go there now@ http://www.shoutaboutmagic.com.

Magic Tricks have fascinated people since early times. The Professional Magician has been with us since man learned to speak. If you can talk, you can make things seem other than they really are – and that is the essence of illusion.

Why the fascination? Why do we enjoy being fooled? We KNOW that the card didn’t really vanish into thin air – and yet … Have you ever witnessed unexplainable events or seen illusions so convincing that they leave you spellbound? Have you ever seen what happens to a group of people who experience magic tricks up close? A high energy excitement develops that’s contagious. There’s amazement, laughter, a great buzz enjoyed by all those who witnessed the seemingly ‘unexplainable’.

We actually WANT there to be magic! We want to believe that someone can make things appear or disappear just by power of thought or by saying a magic word.

Nowadays we rarely see the ‘smoke and mirrors’ that the ancient magicians were reputed to use. Illusions are much more sophisticated; they use few gadgets to work their deceit, most is effected by misdirection – making the audience look at one thing while something else is going on somewhere else. The Magician or Illusionist makes a big flourish with one hand while the other secretly picks an object out of – or drops an object into – his pocket. Whenever a performer asks you to concentrate on something you may be sure that the trick is actually being done where you are not concentrating. The magician’s ‘patter’ is designed partly to entertain and partly to distract.

Magic as a hobby is very satisfying. You don’t have to be a David Blaine. You can delight and amaze people if you perform reasonably well, and this could soon lead to your hobby paying for itself and perhaps providing a part time or even full time income. Whilst a Stage Magician needs expensive props, the hobby or amateur Magician can perform tricks with his audience up close – even surrounding him or her, for some tricks – and often uses borrowed objects. These can be the most amazing magic tricks – very satisfying to perform – and will build the performer a magical reputation quickly.

About The Author
Andy Canning is an amateur magician; an enthusiast. He has created a Website for fellow enthusiasts – amateur or professional – at http://www.magic.4funandprofit.co.uk where he offers free magic tricks for you to learn.