Freebees For The Kiddies
Let us hearken back to the days of yester-year . . . you know when Ronald McDonald was cool . . . and Grimace was even cooler, but the coolest of all was the Hamburglar. When I was a wee lad, I went to a McDonald’s grand opening where Ronald McDonald, himself, performed a magic show! It was awesome. Although, I can’t remember a single trick from the show. However, I do remember the one trick that he taught us all. It was the vanishing wand.
Weird . . . I just suddenly remembered one other trick from the show . . . the bouncing handkerchief. Anyway, sorry about the digression . . . back to the wand. The very wand that he had been using throughout the entire show was rolled up in a piece of newspaper. Then the newspaper was folded in half and torn to shreds. The vanishing wand! The crowd went wild! They loved it. I loved it. At the end of the show we got to go up and shake Mr. McDonald’s hand and, in turn, he gave us a hand out that showed us exactly how to make the magic vanishing wand.
The feeling of wonder I had when seeing this effect as a child inspired me to include it in my, now retired, children’s show. I teach them how to do the effect and at the end of the show give them (or their parents) a copy of the instructions. It’s one sheet of paper with the instructions on one side and the wand template on the other side. You can take a look at a copy of here: Vanishing Wand. You’ll notice that at the top is my website (which back in the day was where you would go to book me for a kids show). Also, at the bottom, is the link to the very file where the parents can download the file and print as many copies as they want.
Of course, No Stone Left Unturned is always about the business side of magic. The point here is that this little tip got the kids more interested in the show (if you’re a good audience, I’ll teach you a trick). It got the kids excited and talking to their parents about the “cool magician who taught them this cool trick.” And finally, it gets the parents involved by having them help their kids build the magic wand and practice the trick. It also gets them (the parents) to check out my website. All of these things combined help spread the word that you’re a good magician and increase the odds of you getting re-booked.
For all you youngster entertainers, this is a great addition to your act that can help you get more gigs. For those who do more strolling/restaurant work, here’s an idea you might try. I’ve never tried it, but I imagine it would work just fine. Bring a stack of these wands (print in color please) to the restaurant and leave them at the counter next to your advertisement (table tent, etc). At the table, if the table has kids, tell them that on the way out, they can pick up a free magic trick at the main counter. Make sure the restaurant staff is aware of this so that they can help the customers find them. Anyway, you get the idea. It gives the kids something to look forward to and gets your contact information in the parent’s (your real client) hand. Below are a couple of files that should help get you started.
The first one is a pdf of a completed wand and directions set with no contact information. The next file is a MS Word Document that you can modify with your own contact information. The two places you’ll want to modify are labeled in red ink. When you click on the file below it should try to download. Just click “yes” or “ok” and let ‘er rip. Until Next Month . . .
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