I'm sure this one will ruffle some feather bouquets.
If you haven't already, please take a moment to read the preface to this post: On Magic For Children. It may address some things not in this post and provide some context.
Before we start, let me offer my categorization, for the purposes of these posts, of the different types of kid shows.
There are two types of kid shows that roughly correspond to two age groups: those under 5 years of age, and those 6-12 years old. The obvious question that then arises is, "What about those older than 12?"
I came across an interesting article which got me to thinking more generally about kid's psychology. The article was about a school lunch program which found that kids ate more vegetables when they were given cool names. A study of 186 4 year old children were given veggies renamed as "X-Ray Vision Carrots" and they ate twice as much as they normally did.
Read more: Kid Magicians Take Note: How to Get Kids to Eat Veggies
Read more: The Childrens Birthday Party Business - Magician and Party Personality
As a family oriented performer I have often wondered exactly what is it that makes children laugh? What is it that they respond to that generates this rush of laughter and good times? It is interesting to research and I found out things I never knew before. If a magician understands what makes children laugh, then they can apply it to the routines they create. After all we are entertainers first. So allow me to dive in a bit on this subject and share some of my findings.