There are no bad tricks...
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...but maybe you have this trick that you can't seem to cause the reaction you want, no matter what you do
...but there is this one so badly produced that you are afraid to scare kids whit it
...but there is this one you buy a long time ago and can't find the way to put it in your show
...but you had a lousy reaction from kids the first time you presented and you put it aside for good
...but the angles of this particular one are so bad that it is impossible to do it under your usual conditions of performance...
so, what is your worst kids trick?

You should see the looks on the kids' faces when I bring out my handcuffs!!

Margarette

Most likely the worst kids effect is the baffling bra. No I have actually heard of a Bozo (no offence to our clown bretheren) doing this to a little girl at a birthday party. I am sure she is still going through therapy.
As for me it probably was Strat-O-Sphere as I could never get beyond the cheezy looking props nor come up with a decent routine. Doesn't mean it's a bad trick, it just wasn't me.

Now the Strat-O-Sphere is a great Kids Trick when uses to teach colors to the little ones or used to teach stop light safety for 4-8 year olds and Stop-Drop and Roll for A Fire Safety message.

If you not getting a reaction, then it quite possible is not the trick but the way it is presented.

One thing I've learned from the "Pros" is that some of the magic I have in the drawer is "Great Magic" when they presented it. I was absolutely amazed how Silly Billy got 10 minutes out of the Coloring Book Trick! And 10 minutes out of the Crystal Silk Tube (Three Silks appear tied together when blown through the crystal tube)

Sawing a naked lady in half.
The kids love it but the parents seem to get a little huffy when I do it at a birthday party.

Good one Peter, I needed that laugh

The Web, the parents are happy to see it but the kids see me like a tomb keeper with spider crawling all over my bodies

I actualy gave this one some thought - it is a good question.
Any trick that is or has been designed and properly routined with thoughts to suit kids requirements should be good if not excelent for kids. Not all kids magic have been given the devotion of providing the same kick the second time round.
For example - funny sponge ball routine will always be a funny sponge ball routine,
zombie ball or mis made flag will always be jaw openers but...
sucker effects like sucker die box or run rabbit run would be taking things one step too far for those who have seen it before (and let's face it - every kid who's seen a magician has probably seend those effects).
MY NUMBER ONE CHOICE FOR WORST KID TRICK would be hippoty hop rabbits. They simply know that the other side is yellow and red and they will be very fast in spoiling your punchline for the little ones that haven't seen it yet.

Don't know if there are any bad kids tricks - but there are certainly unsuitable ones. Re: Hippety Hop Rabbits - is the true name "Norman's Elusive Rabbits" which originated from Stockport, England? I think it's one of these tricks kids can watch over and over again - it all depends on how it's performed! I don't like kids tricks that are 'padded out' excessively which can sometimes happen with this. I think it's easy to get your head screwed on the wrong way and begin to hate tricks you perform whilst the kids still in fact love them! My worst period was the early 1990s. I loathed everything about my act - even though we also have some exceptional hand built marionettes with fully working jaws/eyes etc. I rushed through some magic tricks as I personally hated them that much I imagined everyone else felt the same! (Some quite brilliant musicians can also go through this loss of self esteem/self doubt process). Nowadays - 25 years on from that first party both of us see things as they really are - and you know, it ain't all that bad after all!!

Danryb,

I guess it just depends on the area you live in. I did Hippity Hop Rabbits for 21 library shows this summer and no one yelled out the climax. I hadn't used it before then, but the kids certainly hadn't seen it.

I live in East Tennessee, where we aren't overloaded with magicians.

Michael

anything designed for a bachelor's party (sorry to steal your smilie peter )

Hmmm, An Ideal just was created...A college party magic performance geared to modern times.

1. Visable Sawing a Naked Lady in Half
2. Twentieth Century Panites or Bra

Gee a nice list of College dorm stuff can be created.

One friend told me that he saw a Twentieth Century Panties done with children but that is behind all comprehension!
I've bought "The Moving Picutre Frame". The version I bought must be a rip-off of something:
1. The size is almost ideal for close-up. The trick is not.
2. The eyes have a range of motion (they are supposed to move horizontally) to small to be noticed and if move them a little more they disappear - a good effect for Halloween?
3. The existant mouth is badly drawn and you can't work with it.

So, if I want to work with this effect, I must build a new one.
If someone wants more info about the maker or something just tell me.

Den,
What about Condom modelling?
Transparent poodles?
Phillip

An interesting point on the hipp hopp rabbits....

Sure, very many kids know the effect and its climax but once you perform it with different props (although same effect) this makes it a totally new trick for them. This is also true of a nice variation I perform at children's parties: I only show the picture of a rabbit and turn the plate around behind my back (oops, did I just give away the secret?). Children do not associate this to the classic version.

For the life of me I can't figure out a good kid;s presentation of the appearing cane. I mean how cool is that effect?!? I LOVE IT, but the kids barely see it as amusing more or less amazing =-( Any ideas? Along hte same lines, I think my stiff rope isn't very amazing, but everyone loves it! Seems like a silly trick to me but it works!

~Spiff

About the stiff rope, I remember a presentation by Juan Tamariz. It's hilarious.
The routine is on a tape by Juan Tamariz. If you want details on it I could post it here or you can PM me. Of course, when you talk about Tamariz is how and not what he does that seems to matter most.
But if yours work with you maybe it's better not to mess around with it.
Johnny Lonn as a routine with a superb use of canes - if you use comedy, you can analyse the use he does with them to come up with your own ideas

Spiffnik,
The only time I use my appearing cane with kids is at the beginning of my show. I run through a list of things that a magician needs (magic clothes, table, stuff (thats props to us), etc).

I then pull out a 'used' hanky that I say is what I use to blow my nose and wipe my eyes when I am upset if a trick goes wrong.
"But" I say, "There is something else that I can use if things are not going so well - a magic wand!" (Change hanky into cane).

That is only one very simple way to incorporate it, Im sure you will think of many others,

Chris

Ok, I think this thread wasn't really about worst trick in the sense of inappropriate, but I consider tricks where you put something in your mouth or pick something from your mouth as the worst or most inappropriate tricks. What if some child puts something in his or her mouth thinking: "I'll try and do as the magician!" and then chokes and dies?

Think about it...

Mikael

"The Magic Ding Dong"
It does not get any better than this for the kids.
he he he
Mat