Ten year olds are smart. Do your best stuff, your personal favorites(and be funny). This age group pretty much understands anything an adult group would, just keep it clean of course.

Thank you Mr. Pitts I was also thinking of doing fantasy magician (Ken Scott) with this group? mmm...and the tossed out deck Will the children be too imature and be childish with the deck For example (take it out of the rubberband?)

Be prepared for anything, but don't worry too much, kids are usually pretty good. It's adults who always act up. That's why I recommend you do stuff you're confident with, it will show in your presentation and the kids will pick up on it. If they get a confident vibe from you they are far less likely to misbehave. Just remember that the audience, even kids, are actually on your side and generally will be interested in being helpful and having a good time. Just relax and have fun with it like they're all your age and you're all friends. They're just little people. Use your sound system with a group this big of course. Being the guy with the mic tends to automatically make you the guy in charge.

Cards are not the best routine to do. I avoid these like a plague. (Except for the pro-viper which is more of a comedy scary routine than a card trick.)

The Vanishing Bandana is a comedy routine more than a magic trick. It is best in the middle of the act some where. It has no real interaction with the kids. I tell them its a new trick I just received. and it comes with instructions. (They might not know what a cassette tape is if you have that model.)

Hippy Hop Rabbits will work if you have a lot of young kids involved. They will say what you want.

Mentalism is out of character. Are you a mentalist or a Magician, or a Clown, or a Juggler. Yes you can do a variety of fun things, however, it is best if you focus on one main area.

I did a 8 week class teaching the this age group to do Magic. They bought the Dollar store box magic and I taught them how to do eight tricks. Don't send all of the tricks home or you find lost items and broken items. So teach one trick each week. I also did a few good tricks in the class.

The chair suspension is a good illusion. Rainbow ropes as a patriotic routine, 20th century silks, a good production are good tricks for this group.

Do you spend an hour a week with them for those 8 weeks or a longer amount of time?

Paul, One hour. They had specific pick-up times because this was an after school club. "The Magic Club" And they paid for the box tricks.

I just re-read this whole thread, and the information is still good today. The positive comments are nice.

Here is a post regarding the Birthday Party Business

Thanks Dennis!

One trick that Dennis mentions is a spring skunk from a hat. For anyone out there with a spring skunk may I suggest something I do that works. I hollow out an egg. Then I color my egg with a black marks a lot leaving a white stripe in the middle.
I now have a skunk egg. I put my spring skunk in a dove pan. I bring out my egg and ask the kids if they know what this is? I then explain that it is a skunk egg and proceed with my routine.

I have a turn around cloth "Rabunk" on one side it is a skunk, and on the other side it is a skunk. I pulled it out of a top hat. I only see the rabbit and the kids see the skunk. All the turn-it-around jokes work with this. Since it is half rabbit and half skunk, it must be a "Rabunk".

It is not made by anyone, and was a trick I used back in the sixties before I got Hippy Hop Rabbits. I use only one-turn-around routine in my show.

Whoooaaaoo, what a rich and useful thread.
Thank you so much !

I second her

The information here is worthy to be published as a book! Thank you!

Dennis, I want to comment on the PHONEY RING ( the whole George Bit) If you set your cell phone on alarm for three different times during the show it will ring on its own. It also gives you an idea where you are in your show time wise. you can use it to see if you are behind in time and have to speed the show up or going too fast and need to slow down. I hate when I see a performer say Where am I for time and then they check there watch, This is a way to do just that without letting them know you are checking the time. and adding a funny bit to the whole thing.

Wow....thanks for the wealth of information.

This is my first post since joining "Magic Café" and I must say that this has been very helpful.
I plan on doing some kids shows in the near future and I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread.

I am new at performing, I don’t understand the time confinement; if I am performing in a children’s show and the children are interested and excited about my performance, what does it matter if I am slow to end?

I understand that If I booked a show later in the day, I need to end and leave for my next show, but the 15 minutes should not matter, if I planned my shows apart to make sure everyone is provided the best show you can perform.

Buzz

I kinda like the idea of a phoney ring during a show....easy to ham it up and be silly & get some laughs from the kids with it. I'm just can't do it because there may be slight variances in the contractural start time if the parent asks for a couple more minutes because of some late guests...or if one of my routines varies slightly longer or shorter due to unpredictible responses from kids/volunteers during the show. Then the phone could ring at an inopportune time.

I kinda like the idea of a phoney ring during a show....easy to ham it up and be silly & get some laughs from the kids with it. I'm just can't do it because there may be slight variances in the contractural start time if the parent asks for a couple more minutes because of some late guests...or if one of my routines varies slightly longer or shorter due to unpredictible responses from kids/volunteers during the show. Then the phone could ring at an inopportune time.