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Magic Shows for ChildrenWhen looking to hire a magicians to provide magic shows for children, it is useful to see what and how an established professional handles him (or her) self. This way you can get an idea of what you can and should expect. This is a conversation with professional Philadelphia magician Stephen Yowe.Other Interviews with magician Stephen Yowe about Magic and Harry Potter shows.
Magic Shows: an overview Children's Magic ShowsBy Ellen ZuckerSY: I normally say in my magic shows for chikdren when I first start out I tell the children, “I am the magician. And this is the birthday boy. And the birthday boy is the one who is going to do the magic with me. We are going to work together. And when I give him the magic wand to keep, when the show is over, the magic wand does not work anymore.” Comprehend what I said? EMZ: Yes, I do. SY: I make sure that everybody is quiet enough to understand that when I perform magic shows for childrenthe magic works only when the magician is there. EMZ: Is there a minimum age where you think the children need to be before they can understand what is going on? Before they ought to be part of a magic show for children? SY: Actually I say this at all of my magic shows for children, regardless of age...even if it is for little kids in the pre-schools. But they understand what I’m saying. Because they are taught certain things in that school. And they do know what I’m saying, because when I ask them “do you know what I just said? Remember, the magic wand only works during the person’s birthday and for the person doing it. Do you hear me?” And they say yes. And that’s all I need to know. Once they say yes. Whether they understand or not. But most of the children really do, especially if it’s an older child. When I deal with grown ups I don’t even say it, because the grownups understand in a magic show that the magician does all the manipulation on everything. EMZ: Unless they’ve had too much to drink. Laughter. SY: When they are seeing a show- a magic show for children- that means a magic show, which goes from 45 minutes to an hour and everybody in the audience, well not always everybody, but the majority, does get a chance to help the magician with the magic trick. Because everybody wants to help. Especially if there’s 25 or 30 kids I could be there for hours. I normally pick children who I think... I say to them... “Of those that are watching my show and paying attention...I will get you to come up and help me. But if you’re going to sit there and talk to your friend on either side of you, I am not going to pick you. Because I’ve been watching everybody. So, pay attention to the show.” And this is how I get their attention. They pay attention and nobody gets to talk. But I’m observing the audience and when I see they’re paying attention...those are the ones I pick to come up and help me. EMZ: So what do you do in your magic shows for children? SY: A little bit of everything. EMZ: Which means? SY: We produce the rabbit and the dove. We make the dove disappear. We do a lot of interacting with different types of magic. The range of the magic will depend on the ages of the children. We use change bags. I don’t know if you’re familiar with it, it’s a bag and you show them there’s nothing in it. They close with a zipper in the bottom.They wave over the top, then they put their hand back in. And a nice silk appears in there. I’ll usually point to about three girls and say “this is for the girls”... “The next trick will be for the boys, but this is for the girls.” “Little girl, what’s your favorite color?” She’ll say “Blue.” I’ll go to the next girl, she’ll say. “purple.” I say “That’s fine. Jump up here and help me out.” Because there’s a specific color I’m looking for-purple and pink. I’ll go to another one and I’ll say, “what’s your favorite color?” She’ll say “pink.” Normally I’ll get pink and purple right off the bat. I rarely get any other colors. For some reason, pink and purple seem to be a common favorite for the little kids. So when they reach into the bag, I’ll say “what’s your color?” “Pink.” “What’s your color?” “Purple.” “Your name is Megan. Your name is Sarah, give a great big hand because they did some magic with me.” I continue, “There’s nothing in the bag, right?” They push the bag up and they push the bag down. I have one of them wave over it. I ask “what was your color?” She says “Pink.” I say to the other girl, “what was yours?” I go over to the other girl, I take the right bag over to her. I tell her to “wave over the top and say the magic words, reach in there and bring out a pink elephant for her.” And she’ll step back and I’ll say “yeah, bring out a pink elephant, because that’s what she says pink. And I want to see her with a pink elephant. And she looks in the bag, reaches in, out comes the silk, and there’s a pink elephant on there and the outline is purple. I say, “Wow, did you see that? They picked the two colors they really said, and look at what they just brought out of that bag. A pink elephant for her and a purple silk for you.” “Put it back in the bag”, then I don’t even reach, I just stretch my hand out, to the nearest kid down front. I say “reach in there and bring out that silk. Show these kids how good you are.” I’ll go to a boy. He’ll reach in there and he can’t find it. It’s gone. I say “you can;t find it?” I swing my hand right back to the two girls and I have one girl reach in and they bring out the silk again. And everybody roars because, here he couldn’t find it, but yet the silk is there. EMZ: Right. SY: She drops it in and I’ll go to another boy or maybe another girl down front or I’ll step back a little over their head and have someone...and I’m not doing anything to the bag, because it doesn’t have a large handle. But it’s what they call a “change bag.” And its a magic bag. It’s got a double insert inside. As I’m swinging it across there’s a little mechanism under the bottom, I take my finger and I flip it over which gives me the other side of the bag which has nothing in it. EMZ: Aaah! SY: You understand? That’s the magic trick of it. And it blows people’s minds. And I go back and forth. I don’t reach my hand in. All I’m doing is swinging it from the girls to someone else. And when I do it to a grownup and they say they can’t find it... “You can’t, but it was just there,” I say. I take the bottom of the bag and as I do I push it up and the silk is there. I say to them, “do you see this silk? Does anyone see this silk?” And its from the bag pushed up.They say yes. And I pull it back down, and I say, “do you still see it?” “Yes.” “Wave over the top.” “Say the magic word to make it disappear. You don’t believe it disappeared. Unzip the bag and put your hand up from the bottom. Reach in.” They reach up and it’s gone. EMZ: That’s neat. SY: And that’s one of the tricks that I do. EMZ: Thank you, Steve, for describing how you handle magic shows for children. Other Interviews with magician Stephen Yowe about Magic and Harry Potter shows.
Magic Shows: an overview
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