The best kid show magicians knows that in the presentation of any magic trick, it's not the magical moment that matters most to children, it's the fun stuff that happens on the way to that magical moment.

You magic purists out there are probably cringing thinking about it. But itís true. And I think that the reason so many (adult) magicians hate doing kid shows is because they don't understand this concept. These magicians will perform miracles for an audience of children, and get no reaction. Or they get shouts of explanations like, "It was there the whole time". These magicians must learn that "fooling" the audience (especially 3-7 year olds) is not the goal. As important, and possibly more important, than fooling the audience, is having fun before the magic happens.

What do I mean by having fun? I mean making the kids laugh - either through physical comedy, verbal comedy, or both. Acting silly (i.e. Silly Billy), goofing around, hamming it up, or all of the above. These are the things that an audience of children loves and will enjoy the most. To put another way, the emphasis in my kids show is not on the magic but on the entertainment. This isn't to say that the magic isn't important. But with an audience of children, I go for the laugh, not the "Oooo, how did he do that?"

For children 3 to 7 years old, I try to make the effect as fun as possible. In fact after I finish a routine, the kids often shout, "Let's do that again." (Not "Show me that again.") They see the routines as fun games that we play together.

For example, if I want to make a silk vanish from a change bag, I may "accidentally" miss the bag and drop the silk on the floor. I may even do this a few times. And the more times I do it, the funnier it gets. Of course I eventually realize my error and continue on with the trick. I tell you though, the kids enjoy "the part when he kept dropping the handkerchief on the floor," more than the fact that I made a silk handkerchief disappear.

You see, the world is full of incredible magic to a young child. A child can lift a plastic handle to his ear and hear grandma, or mommy or daddy coming from it. Or push a button on a box and see hundreds of different programs. So making a silk disappear seems like no big deal to a kid. But having fun and making them laugh, is.

For example, hereís what a do when I vanish a silk using a thumb tip. First I explain "I am going to put this handkerchief in my hand and when I open my hand it will be all gone". (I speak using the vocabulary of a child.) I put the silk in my empty right fist (I'm left handed). I wave my left hand in a magical gesture and raise my right hand high. I open the fingers of my right hand and the silk flutters down to the floor. Moreover, I keep my eyes fixed on my raised right hand as I announce, "All gone!" I don't notice that the silk did not disappear. To make matters worse, I continue talking, "And now for my next trick..." As I ramble, the kids are yelling more and more to call my attention to the fact that I did not vanish the silk. When I finally realize what they are trying to tell me, I look down at the floor. I am startled as I discover, to my surprise, that the silk is still here.

To children, this is hysterical. Why? Well, first of all, the magician said he was going to do magic and he didnít, with laughable results. And secondly, the magician, fool that he is, doesnít even realize that he failed.

The next step in the routine? I do it all again! Exactly the same way. I place the silk in my empty fist, wave my hand, and open my fingers. The silk flutters to the floor and, ignoring it, I pretend I am so proud of my accomplishment. "For my next trick..." Again the kids yell and scream and try to tell me of my failure. By now the kids are convinced I am an idiot. Good. Because I am going to replicate my actions exactly, only this time using the thumb tip.

I place the silk into the thumb tip in my right fist. The kids expect a third failure. But when I open my hand and the silk is indeed gone, the children are really surprised and thrilled. We achieved our goal.

So instead of showing off that I can do miracles, I had fun along the way, to everyone's delight.

This principle: "Entertainment is more important than fooling them" applies to older children as well. But for a different reason. With children eight years and older I believe you must fool them, and fool them bad. But on the way to fooling them, if you have fun and make them laugh, you will diffuse their need to catch you and try to expose the method. Let's use the thumb tip and silk vanish again. I will sometimes use a thumb tip for older kids, even though many children in this age group know about the "plastic thumb." When I vanish the silk I ask, "Where do you think it went?" Sometimes someone will say, "In your plastic thumb." But (ignoring the comment...), when I remove the birthday boy's shoe and sock, and find the silk in his sock (my style may not be suited to everyone), the kids forget about the thumb tip and just get a huge laugh at seeing their friend barefooted with my silk in their sock!

When I perform the coloring book (yes, I do the Coloring Book) sometimes children will call out, "I have that book." But amazingly, when I perform my Coloring Book routine, these same children participate just like the other children. Why? Because my Coloring Book routine is so funny and so much fun that they forget about the secret and just have a good time.

We all have experienced older kids who shout out their own explanation for the method of your magic trick. They insist their method is accurate whether they are correct or not. So if you emphasize the fun of the ride, not the "how did he do that?" of the destination you will suck the wind out of their desire to expose you.

(In reality, they are just insecure and donít want other people thinking they were fooled. They defend themselves against their feelings of insecurity by shouting out what they think is the explanation.)

Let's look at another example: the modern classic Farmyard Frolics. Farmyard Frolics was manufactured by Supreme and, as of this writing, is no longer available. However, Whoís Who at the Zoo, also by Supreme and Pet Store Pranks by Jam Magic are currently available. All three of these tricks have the same basic format. A home base is displayed and described to the children (either a farm, a zoo or a pet shop). Then a series of cards are displayed to the audience one at a time. On each card is a picture of an animal. For each animal card the magician makes a joke or two and has the children make the sounds of that animal. The last animal card is turned face down. The magician attempts to vanish the animal card and have the animal reappear in the home base.

The face down card is placed under a silk. The magician claims to have vanished the animal but the children point out that the card is still under the silk. Upon turning the card face up, the audience discovers the animal is missing from the card. The magician looks in the home base. The animal is not there. Suddenly the children see the animal sticking his head out from behind home base. The kids are eager to point this out but the magician does not see the animal. This continues until finally the magician does see the animal and returns him safely to home base.

Distilled down to its bare bones, each of these routines has only one vanish and one reappearance. But instead of presenting this trick as a simple vanish and reappearance of one animal, we laugh our way through four other animal cards that really have nothing to do with the "magic". But this is the fun part of the routine and this is the part that the children like the best. This is the difference between an ordinary magic trick and a classic routine for children.

Entertaining adults with magic is different than entertaining children with magic. A good rope routine is composed of a steady stream of minor miracles spaced throughout, from beginning to end. A good Ambitious Card routine is also made up of a series of minor miracles in quick succession. In our example of Farmyard Frolics there is only one vanish and one reappearance in the five minute routine. But for an audience of children it's not the magical moment that the kids like the best, it's all the fun that they have getting there.