I was fortunate enough to have a very busy summer, with a lot of summer camps and daycares treating their kids to a WonderPhil Magic Show. All my shows contained some special moments, but looking back now, here are a few memories that really standout in my mind. Coins and balloons seem to be the running theme here…
Wait, how’d that get there?
It seems to be a pattern with me. I try to make coins appear out of the air, but somehow they wind up being children’s ears, under their chins, and in their pony tails. Kids always seem to be amazed when I find a coin behind their ears, but there were a couple times this summer where the child was so taken by the moment, that they had to pause and examine their ears. You could see the wheels turning: “Wait, how’d that get there? Any more? How was it just sitting there? What… how…?”
You have two jobs…
This one I didn’t get to see first hand, but I met the girl after the show and don’t doubt this for a second. There’s a routine in do in some shows that involves a needle going through a balloon — and the balloon not popping. I do a pretty good job at sizing up an audience to ensure they’ll be okay with the trick, before I do it. Once this summer though, a 4 year old girl decided she wanted to leave the room while the balloon was there.
As she left, this 4 year old looks a staff member, and calmly says “You have two jobs: tell me when the balloon is gone, and warn me if another balloon is going to come.”
I’ll be speaking with my lawyer.
(This isn’t the first time this has happened, but this past summer it happened with far greater frequency than in the past.)
So, about those coins coming from behind kids’ ears. I maintain that they’re mine, having accidentally fallen from the air, where they were meant to stay hidden until produced. Nonetheless, when a coin comes from behind someone’s ear, I’ve been hearing a lot of “Excuse me, that’s mine,” and “Hey, give them their money back.”
For the most part, this all seems to be in good fun, but there was one time where I couldn’t tell if the child was serious or not. I mean, if a coin is magically hiding behind your ear, it stands to reason that it must be yours. So, on one occasion I had to make the coin invisible again, and put it right back where I found it.
Excuse me, it should be like this…
I admit it. I have problems blowing up balloons. For years, whenever I try to blow up a balloon in my show, I end up blowing into the wrong end. Sure the kids thing it’s funny, but… well, anyway.
For thousands of shows the kids laugh hysterically when I mess this up. One show this summer though, a girl felt sorry for me. Calmly and politely, a five year old girl stands up, walks towards me, and says “Excuse me, I think it’s supposed to go this way.” She reached up, turned to balloon around, and sat back down.
It was adorable. It stepped all over about 2 minutes of laughter, but, adorable nonetheless.