Earlier this year I published the first part of ‘If Ever A Wiz There Was’, the idea behind this was to publish my back catalogue of routines for entertaining children and family audiences, but more importantly to give me the enormous personal pleasure that I get from handling a book with my name on it. Yes, I have to confess that the whole thing is just a selfish ego trip, but if it wasn’t then very few of us would publish anything! But in the whole process of planning, writing, photographing, editing, cover designing and tea drinking that goes into a project like this there is one moment that I absolutely dread – that moment is when you have the first consignment of several hundred copies on your doorstep and you have to put your baby out there and see if anyone likes it. Until then it has just been your personal pet project, now other people are going to see it and let you know what they think. Worse than that they could be slagging off what took you 2 years to complete!
But I had completed the book, it was printed and I knew I had to show it to someone. To cut a not so long story shorter I will let you into a secret that you already know – people loved the book and it has had some amazing write-ups in several magazines. One of those people was Mark Daniels the organizer of KIDabra and he called me as soon as he had finished it and invited me to speak and perform at the conference for childrens, schools and family entertainers.
I had no idea what to expect! What was it going to be like surrounded by clowns and kids entertainers for a whole week? Would I be able to stand it?
I had heard about KIDabra from some associates and they had generally said that it was a great convention. A few friends make the pilgrimage from the UK to Pigeon Forge every year so it must have something going for it… It had!
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My favourite trick at Kidabra…
John Kaplan’s Killer cut is a simple and clean cut and restored hanky that has a quick reset and there is no need to replace anything! To see it click here.
…Kidabra continued
The convention usually opens with the production of a botania – OK I know this sound weird but the way I understand it is that it was originally a gag many years ago which turned into a running gag which became a tradition and that is how religions get started! But at the end of last years convention the botania was kidnapped (shock horror) and taken to the UK. This years convention opened with a hilarious video featuring Terry Herbert hugging ‘my precious’ until the botania was stolen back by an intrepid detective (a vent doll) and returned to its rightful home. All the Brits (me included) were given T-shirts with union jacks and emblazoned with the words ‘Rule Botania’. Oh how we laughed!
This set the attitude that was to carry on for the next few days. A lot of laughs and lot of very good talks and lectures. Some of the shows were performed in front of an audience of children and we could sit at the back and learn from the best. School show experts, birthday party magicians, library shows, family shows, it was all covered and in great depth, a great learning experience for all who attended.
If you are serious about working in this arena then you should seriously consider making this convention a must. A chance to mingle and become friends with some of the best in the business – worth it’s weight it spring snakes and breakaway wands.
Along with the lectures and talks there are some amazing breakout sessions. I did 2 sessions on the human xylophone and the feedback was great. The audience were coming up with new ideas as we discussed the possible routines in detail. My only regret was that I could not attend the other breakout sessions as I was doing mine.
I also had the pleasure of performing in the closing show which was a blast. The audience was about 50 children sitting on the floor, the convention attendees and some public (about 500 of them) sat behind in chairs. Modesty forbids me from telling you how much the audience enjoyed my set but I can tell you that I had a fantastic time. It was a show where I had to improvise frequently and change the routine as we went through due to the exuberance of the audience. What a blast! All the experiences of working the street and comedy clubs where you have to expect the unexpected came into their own at that show!
Sometimes entertaining a room full of magicians can be daunting experience as they react differently from a roomful of normal people. But this show was amazing because it felt just like a normal audience! Maybe childrens entertainers are the only magicians who know what it feels like to be up there so they are generous and supportive when they are not – doing unto others the way they would like to be done to!
This is a lesson we should all take to heart when we are watching our fellow magi on stage. It is so hard performing in front of our peers that we as the audience should make it our job to see that the performers enjoy themselves. As audience members we should be extra generous with our laughter and applause. It is easy to be an armchair critic, it’s a lot harder to get up there and actualy do it!
A better audience would result in more people wanting to perform at magic functions and feeling valued and respected when they do. We would see more new performers doing what they do best – everybody wins!
What is the difference between a kids entertainer and an insurance policy?
One day the insurance policy will mature and make money!
Funny… yes… but not true! Good kids and family entertainers are the ones who are making the money, even in these depressed times.
Worth thinking about.
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Cheers