Would you like to enhance the magic show experience for the kids and other guests at your party? Of course you do! The whole reason for hiring an amazing magician is to show the kids a really fun time. How can this be done, though? Well, experience at over 2000 parties has shown that the best ways to enhance the enjoyment of the show are often counterintuitive.
To give kids the best experience watching a magic show, and likely most other types of party entertainment, are more about taking things away rather than adding. For instance, clear a nice space for the audience to sit on the floor, remove distractions like televisions (meaning, turn it off — it’s surprising how often this doesn’t happen. Especially during playoffs!), and clear away toys and intrusive decorations.
(A quick note on decorations: It’s great to decorate the performance area, as it livens things up and makes your photos and videos so much better; however, don’t let the party decorations enter the audience area in the form of loose balloons or low hanging streamers.)
Avoid Popcorn and Drinks
This is where the counterintuitive stuff comes in. Drinks and snacks normally go hand in hand with entertainment, but in the case of a magic show it’s a no-no. A good magic show will be interactive, with lots of laughs and moments for children to clap and call out to the magician — add some food to the mix, and there will be choking. Food in the audience also leads to a lot of distraction. How? It will spill. There’s always a spill. The children will also start sharing or just taking food from each other, which is distracting in and of itself, and more so once it leads to more spills!
Noisemakers For The Audience
What can be better than giving the children noisemakers to help them cheer on the magic? Well, not giving them noisemakers! When there’s a noisemaker, there’s noise. And the noise won’t come at the right times. Partially because some kids are mischievous, and partially because they just don’t know the correct etiquette for watching a live performance.
Props For the Children
Magic wands at a magic themed birthday party? This makes sense. Making magic wands makes even more sense. It’s an awesome activity, and creates a party favour that the kids will make themselves and one that they’ll want to keep. But giving them the wand for the show? On the surface, this is a no-brainer. With a wand, they’ll be able to help make the magic happen. What better way to enhance their experience? Unfortunately, all it takes is one mischievous child to start drumming on the floor, spinning their wand, or even hitting the child next to them, and you’ll see a bad chain reaction begin.
Sure, an experienced party magician will be able to handle all of these situations. But do you want a magic show where the entertainer is impressing you with her or his crowd-control skills, or one where he or she impresses you with their magic and humour? Hopefully it’s the latter. So remember, the best way to enhance the magic show is to take away just about anything that’s not the magic show!