I would of went and got the director of the event. Tell them that it's impossible to work.

Of course tell the kids you'll be back later, and if that doesn't work, use the above.

I would bring out my tortue kit and take out the leather whip, baseball bat, chain, etc and then ... just kidding

All the advices above are excellent and I don't need to add more. Just could not resist the joke.

"Your solution about if the kid belong to anyone sounds to me putting the kid down, not nice at all."

Yes, it's NOT nice. That's the point. It's decisive and firm, without being whiny. The performer maintains control of the show.

"You could make the kid your special assistent."

That'd be like inviting a heckler on stage to assist in a magic trick - will the heckler help? Maybe. Or maybe the heckler will continue to disrupt the show and steal the attention. The performer has just capitulated to the heckling, after all. Why should he stop?

Point is, you don't know which way it'll go, so why take the chance when YOU'RE the one getting paid? If you want to be "nice," remember that it's not nice to gamble with your clients' money.

Jim,
A kid who is enthralled enough in what you are doing to the point of following you around from table to table...is not even close to what a heckler is. I'm not sure what type of kids you have encountered, but as I said, this happens almost all the time when kids are present and I'm hired to go table to table. I've never, not once, allowed a kid to go too far to disrupt the flow of the performance. Again, "handled properly", the kid(s) will not be a liability, and can even be an asset to the fun.
Point is, I KNOW which way it is going to go. I am going to allow the kid to be an asset to the show, until he/she is not. then I will direct the child's behavior appropriately (to the point of asking the child's parents to intercede, if necessary). I am not going jump to the conclusion that the kid will ruin the show until I see the potential for that occurring.
I do agree with you that it could be a major problem if not handled well. i, too, have used lines like, "whose kid is this anyhow? (said good naturedly but with intent).
patrick

I did a stage show, followed by a couple hours of walk around. It was a children's safety fair. The stage show was no problem.

The walk around part was totally different. As I approached groups to show my magic to, my entourage became increasingly larger. I used these lovers of magic as my personal assistants. I included them in parts of the patter. They just wanted to be a part of the fun.

It didn't matter that they saw several effects more than once. They were all part of the "Magic Team".

Just don't let this happen at a restaurant. Big difference there.

I`m no children`s entertainer, but you must be doing something right to have children following you around wanting to see more and trying to help. Maybe they should be looked at as a compliment.

John

As someone said earlier, in certain venues, children following you around is the norm, not the exception. I find it much more enjoyable to perform for adults or children who are interested in seeing the magic and being excited about it.

Don't we all try to involve the spectators when we perform closeup? What better opportunity is there than having a enthusiastic crowd with you.

As I stated earlier though, children following the Magician around in a restaurant is not acceptable. I just politely tell them to go back to their seats and I will be back over later to do some more magic for them ( even if only to do one more effect ).

From the thread topic I thought you wanted to know how to annoy kids.

Fascinating problem presented here . . . adults can be as problematic as children. There is a fine line between appreciation for the magician and over-zealous, bombastic behavior towards the magician.

We continue the search for answers . . .

I tell them to go back where they came from and when I'm done with the adults I will come back and show them the coolest trick I have, but only if they let me finish. Seems to be incentive for them to get lost for the short term. They will usually police themselves not wanting to miss that.

Try doing card on ceiling and then tell them to get the card down! They can spend hours trying to come up with a way of doing it - leaving you alone in the process!

Great topic and ideas . . .

Last Saturday I did a show for a family Christmas party: grandma, eight sons and daughters, several daughters- and sons-in-law, bazillions of grandkids.

One of the grandsons - I'd guess around eight years old - had exactly one response to everything I performed: "I know how you did that." Every time he said that I replied, "But you're to going to tell anybody else, are you?" His response: "No!"

Grandma, however, didn't handle it with quite that much aplomb. She kept telling him that he didn't know how it was done, that everyone else was trying to enjoy the show and that he was undermining that, and so on. I think it would have been better if she'd not said anything, but I got the impression that she might have been overwhelmed by all of the festivities.

As for me, I thought he was fine, and he never did tell anyone his theories on how I did anything.