Free kids gig at the The Minories Galleries
Today was my first gig at the Minories for kids. The idea was to provide a free show and workshop to test to see if there would be a  demand for more shows and classes in the summer. The understanding being if it's a hit we will get paid for the gigs in the summer.
I have learnt a few lessons about performing kids magic, mainly being

a)  Keep an eye on the props, and make sure you can keep things that do not bare close inspection well out of reach.

b) Try to arrange things so you only need to make one trip to the car, two tops.

c) Make a lift of effects and then a check list for props, both to be packed and set up.

I made a rough running order and more or less stuck to it.
The introduction was weird, as they tend to be. With no stage to walk out onto you have to just be hanging around when people show up.
 As we waited for people to show up I performed a little elastic band magic.

I opened with the coke bottle. I wanted something with crowd interaction and kids love sweets.
Reaction, The shock end had the crowd  hyped.

I moved into diminishing milk (or red fluid in my case - reaction was amazed by some, others were moderately impressed

The mirror glass turning fluid to silk, kids found it fun, not so magical

Shrinking and transporting the silk. Spun it out for AGES using the hole in the change bag and getting kids to put their hands through the bag and acting freaked out by the monsters.
-A major high point

The crystal tube. How I WISH amber traffic likes meant "Slow Down" like in America, again a good reaction.

The colouring book - And the crowd goes wild:)  IT's funny, some kids "know that one" and one did know the method. One girl insisted she knew it before hand but she still joined in with through colours!

What I learnt.
1) Kids love my magic

2) I have enough props and material to throw on a good show.

The workshop split between Darren and I worked very well as well :)

First wedding of the year.

Yesterday saw my first Wedding gig in quite a while, was I nervous? A little, but only enough to make sure I was putting effort into my prep and planning. However while prepping I had a few thoughts.
1) Iron your outfit THE NIGHT BEFORE at the earliest.  IT's a good chance to check waistcoats for damage and make repairs.

2) I really do need some clothes that are purely for performance that are kept ironed and bagged up. I have a selection of new steampunk and non steampunk fabrics so it may be time to make some "magic only" gear.

3) One joy of regular practise is it means you know well in advance of you're running low on anything and can stock up

4) double check if you need to take kids gear with you (although it's always handy to take some ropes, a hotshot colour change effect and "once upon a time" to these things.

5) I know a fair amount of card effects. counted up to 15 and only 3 of them used gaffs of any kind. More than enough material.

At the venue I made sure the manager saw my insurance (hey if you got it flaunt it) and found a place for my case. Becuase I was doing a steampunk event I had my little leather steampunk bag as well. The case was a security blanket of sorts just incase I needed a complete reload. I had my smaller bag full of reloads, cups and balls and spare decks, the case had a few things for magic that might be a little too serous/dark depending on the crowd( such as Cartomancy)

Effects that went down well were
Wee Wee Mentalist (ofcourse)
Twilight Angels (non doctor who version)
Ambitouse Card (however I needed to use one less rise for some groups, it was too long for them)
Here then There (got a lot of people talking!
Do as I Do (totally freaked a few people out)
Mind reading and invisible deck was a huge talking about

And talking point is an interesting point! I was being dragged from table to table to show people "that thing you just did!" and i'd over hear snippets of "how did he KNOW!"

Basically the whole night was an ego boost. As is normal with these events I had a few "hardcorse fans" who kept wanting more, so I switched into gambling routines, the poker hand trick worked REALLY well for that.

one thing i should have prepped. a time scale. The bride didn't' know that it's normal for a magician to start at 8 ish and then do at least 2 hours, sometimes more. I started at 5, so come 9 the night was young but i'd been perfoming for 4 hours. By this time though I noticed everyone had settled into groups and were happily chatting. My work was done. I pointed ut to the bride that from now on i'd just be interupting people. Thanks were heaped upon me. I was told that I made the event and everyone kept telling her what an awesome idea it was to have me. I was paid, and off I went, after thanking  some of the hard core fans for their time, and thanking the staff of the venue ofcourse.
Overall, a fantastic night making me realise that magician is the right path for me!