Doing children’s parties is a great way to make money while you get stage time. You can’t grow as an entertainer unless you are regularly performing in front of people. At the vast majority of kids birthday parties there are plenty of adults who will watch you perform. These are the people who can hire you to do walk around magic at corporate events so it is essential that you include some really amazing magic for the adults in the audience.
If you are just starting out in magic and have never entertained at a children’s party before try to keep your program under 30 minutes. Volunteer to do your show or for free in order to get good enough to charge money. Your 30-minute routine should include 5 to 10 different routines. Subroutines will only have one climax while others will feature locked up mini-climaxes leading up to the finale. For example, a sponge ball routine will feature several vanishes and reproductions leading up to the final surprise production. A rope routine may feature vanishing and reappearing knots and a series of restorations each more impossible than the last.
When choosing tricks for your kids magic show, think visually. Any magic trick that requires a great deal of explanation will surely lose your audience’s attention. Shy away from doing card tricks at children’s parties. Young children simply don’t get the concept of playing cards and they won’t be impressed when you find a chosen card. When you perform at a family party you will often be given an area to do your show that will have many of the guests surrounding you. Forget using body loads or any trick that is not angle proof.
Go for a variety. Start your magic act off with something visual and exciting that does not require any elaborate explanation. Productions, especially continuous productions, are sure to grab the audience’s attention and establish you as a “real magician”. Keep your opening routine fast paced and visual.
Next, engage your audience with a more elaborate routine – but try to avoid using volunteers too early on. Young volunteers are unpredictable and can slow down the pace of the show as well as possibly screwing up the trick. Remember to vary the tempo of your routines. A loud and noisy trick, like the linking rings with volunteers will contrast nicely against a slow, pretty trick like the broken and restored thread.
Never perform any dangerous tricks in front of children. Tricks with fire, rope escape routines, razor blades from mouth and anything hazardous that a child might attempt to imitate must be eliminated from your routine.
Some tricks that work well at children’s parties include; mouth coils, sponge balls, the coloring book trick, rope routines, color changing silks, torn and restored newspaper, egg bag, linking rings, miser’s dream and dollar bill to lemon.
According to Brooklyn magician Hijinx, “Start with a few tricks you can do confidently, even if they are very simple. Experiment and gradually add new routines. Pay close attention to which tricks your audience responds the best to and regularly remove the trick that gets the least response.”
The professional kid’s magician said, “To be successful in kid’s magic you really need to have an excellent sense of fun. You don’t have to be the funniest person but you have to be full of fun. You don’t have to be silly and goofy – but you need to have a lot of enthusiasm. Remember, you’re there to make the party more fun.”
“Too many magicians forget that the main reason they are hired for a kid’s party is not to do amazing magic – but to bring fun and excitement to the event.” Hijinx has performed kid’s magic shows all over New York City and Long Island for over 30 years. The best advice he can pass on to magicians who want to start getting hired to do birthday parties is, “Always include great magic that will impress the adults. It can lead to lots of very lucractive engagements. One magic show I did for kids in the Bronx got me a trade show gig in San Franscisco. Kid shows are a great way to get paid to promote yourself while you perfect your craft.”
Levitation magic tricks can be grouped into two major categories:-