Reading is Magic

I've been looking for ways to share my talents to improve the world in little ways. After a lot of thought, I decided to branch into educational magic shows, where I can use humor and magic to teach a positive message. 

Last month I spent a lot of time writing an educational magic show for schools and libraries that would encourage kids to read more. Here's the official description of my show from the library entertainer's directory: 

Sunny Blossom's high-energy silly magic show is full of physical comedy, crazy costuming, and large doses of audience participation. She has entertained at corporate events, schools, and private parties. Her educational magic shows cover topics such as reading and anti-bullying. Her "Reading is Magic" show encourages children to read while taking them on silly adventures through several books in all the genres of a library, teaches students how to take care of library books, and encourages them to broaden their literary horizons.

My first public performance of the "Reading is Magic" show went really well. The audience was marvelous and participated very well. 

It was hosted outdoors on a hot day, so I wasn't able to wear my hat and wig....I need to find something more lightweight to wear on my head on situations like this. Ah well- I'll fix that soon.

Check out some glimpses of the show in action:

I use a trick with beensy scarves to lay out the rules for behavior in a silly, engaging way. It involved a game, lots of laughter, and a surprise trick ending. 

We explored several types of books, with magic tricks to accompany each one. We went through fiction, nonfiction, fairy tales, chapter books, reference books, poetry, biographies, and recreational books. 

The audience really loved the magic coloring book, and it's such a funny act to perform. It's full of audience participation and giggles. I'm surprised how long we can stretch this trick out. The kids just LOVE erasing the colors over and over again, then helping me magically color the pages back in. 

Of course I use lots of gag wands that all do something silly. Here is a glimpse of the 'broken wand' during our Fractured Fairy Tales part of the show. Every time I hand it to my helper, it breaks and the audience laughs. I 'fix' it and hand it back over and over again, then it refuses to work for me at all. 

I dress up my helpers with costumes whenever possible, which is loads of fun for the kids. Here is a shot of my helper dressed as Prince Charming to help Cinderella get to the royal ball. 

This is a glimpse of my Vanishing Milk trick. It's really funny, and the kids LOVE the costuming for this one. 

Pictures just don't convey much. You can't see how funny it is, so I'm sharing a video clip of the act performed by a different magician, the famous Silly Billy.You can see the act here:

The show lasted one hour, and I had a fantastic time performing it. It's so fun to be silly onstage and make kids laugh. Once they start laughing, it's really easy to make them laugh again. The energy from the audience is really invigorating and it takes me back to my high school years when I performed in plays and in Competitive Drama. This is WAY more fun than competition drama since the judges are easy to please and are eager to adore you. 

Even the big kids were laughing and enjoying themselves. I even had a couple big teenage boys eagerly volunteering to help in the show, so they came up together for a silly act where we pump water out of a boy's elbow. 

The worst part was choosing a helper from the audience for each trick. I wish I could include everyone onstage, and feel so bad for the kids who don't get picked. This is part of the reason why I include large amounts of audience participation where the entire audience gets involved. They all throw pixie dust at me, or wave their fingers to help with the magic, or yell out answers when I'm bumbling onstage and messing up a story. 

For example, during the Cinderella story, I mess up details in the story and they correct me. I say things like, "And who came to save the day? The Easter Bunny appeared in the garden with his magic wand and waved it in the air-" The kids interrupt with giggles and yell out, "Noooo! It was the Fairy Godmother!!!" I smack my forehead and agree with them, then say, "That's right! The Fairy Godmother appeared, waved her wand, and said: Scooby-scooby-doo!" The kids shriek in laughter and yell out, "Bippidy-boppidy-boo!". 

The entire show is full of fun script like that where the kids are participating. It's really fun and they love it. 

Any time I do a public appearance, I bring lots of simple prizes to pass out to the audience if they can tell me the magic words from my facebook page.  I always post a magic phrase on the site for audiences to find. It's a fun way of advertising my party services and the families love getting a prize to keep as a memento of the show. 

After the show I had a huge line of kids eager to whisper the magic words to me. Several families asked to take pictures with me and many kids waited in line just to give me a hug and say "Thanks for the magic show! I loved it so much!"

I had been so stressed about this show, even though I've performed for several large groups. This was the first time doing my "Reading is Magic" show and a couple of the tricks arrived so late in the mail that I didn't have time to practice with them in private before going onstage. That could have been a humiliating disaster. Whew! There was no colossal failures and all went well.

The librarians were very generous with their praise and compliments after the show, and encouraged me to pursue this branch of my business more aggressively. They claimed I was more polished and more funny than any other magician they've hired- that is SO encouraging!

They are putting my info onto a state-wide directory of performers for all librarians to access. They are also including a great review of the show. I'm so thankful it went well and I'm even more thankful for their help in spreading my name around to other libraries.

Really though, all the credit goes to the Lord. I'm trying really hard to not let the praise go to my head and inflate my ego, and I'm trying to find ways to serve the community through these performances.

Anyway, it was a great day, and I was SO relieved that the show was well-received.