What is happening at the JUNE 28th meeting of Ring 313?
Our June 28, 2022 regular meeting will be a hybrid meeting with the focus on member performance of effects perfect for children. Much of the regular work for magicians is performance at birthday parts, bar or bat mitzvahs, sweet sixteen, graduation, and other gatherings where the majority of the audience consists of children.
Children are some of the most challenging audiences because they do not have as many preconceived notions of what is possible. They challenge everything. Engineers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, accountants and other highly educated people are the easiest audiences for us to perform for. Our tricks are designed with these kinds of folks in mind. They have preconceived notions of what is possible and what must be magic. Children see almost everything as magical because they do not possess the scientific and logical studies that adults use to understand the world.
Those of us whose primary audiences are children are doing the heavy lifting for the world of magic. First, we delight and entertain children in a friendly way that helps them discover magic in their lives. Often, we deliver meaning to the lives of children in the stories we tell. There is a moral to our stories that teaches children values that develop their character.
Second, some of them, after seeing a live performance, decide they want to become a magician. Remember how you felt the first time you saw a magician live and in person.
Third, the effects and performances you do elevate the art of magic. We who perform for children define what is magical and what is merely science.
Magic, after all, is an art form, just as music, dance, drawing, writing, painting, and sculpting are forms of art. While you expect the other art forms will naturally be taught starting in kindergarten, magic is not usually on the curriculum. When students see us at a library, in a classroom, an auditorium, or a birthday party they begin to appreciate the art of magic. We teach the "magic appreciation" course of study.
Please prepare some of your favorite "children's magic" tricks and present them at this meeting. Some folks think that performing for children is the bottom of the pyramid and the apex is being a Las Vegas Headliner with their own performing Palace. The truth is the reason adults crave the heroes in Las Vegas is because of their early experience of magic as a child.
It is easy to learn to appreciate music, literature and art, because in public education we have MUSIC APPRECIATION and ART APPRECIATION as courses of study. Who can tell me they attended a course called MAGIC APPRECIATION ever? No one, that's who. We also study Literature so we can appreciate the great writers. You can study American Literature, English Literature, French Literature, et.al. but where is the course about the lives and times of the great magicians? That my friends is up to you.
Next time you get a contract to perform for children keep in mind that this is a great opportunity to bring real magic to the lives of the children who experience and APPRECIATE your performance. It is said that you have only one chance to present a first impression . . . for most of your audience YOU will be the first magician they see live and in person. Lots of responsibility so get it right.
Hum . . . have we got your attention yet?