Hire a truly outstanding magician for a kid’s birthday party and you’ll be looking at the kind of marvellous event they’ll remember for a lifetime. By contrast, hire a downright shoddy London magician and chances are things will be just as memorable, though for all the wrong reasons. It’s common to assume that the vast majority of magicians working today are pretty much the same – they turn up, they do tricks and they leave. However, just as is the case with any other type of performance art it’s all about the way the show is put together, the skill of the individual and indeed their character when it comes to creating a show that’s truly astounding.
It’s no secret that kids tend to be one of the hardest audiences to please when it comes to taking to the stage with any kind of show. The kids’ magician therefore never fails to have their work cut out – some making the grade and others falling at the first hurdle. So for those looking to get things right the first time and put together a party to remember, there are a few important points to ponder when making that booking.
Dedicated Specialists
For example, there’s a big difference between a kids’ party performer that throws in a few magic tricks and one that is 100% dedicated to magic. The thing about magic is that regardless of what kind of magic you practice, it takes years or even decades of full-time dedication to master the art. As such, it’s impossible to expect an all-round entertainer to be able to offer the same calibre of magic services as someone who lives, breathes and strives to perfect their magic skills day in and day out. So rather than choosing an all-round performer, it’s a good idea to look for a dedicated magician.
Show-Reels and Images
It’s all well and good for a kid’s magician to make all sorts of promises as to what they can and will do – providing evidence is something else entirely. It’s not as if those of a slightly less capable nature are likely to come clean about their shortcomings, so it’s important to make sure you look for genuine poof that they are all they’re cracked up to be. With the kids’ magician, the best way of going about this is to look for images and video clips that show them in action. And not just in action, but in action in a live setting too. After all, they may be great when in a controlled environment, but how about when faced with a gang of dozens of hyperactive kids?
Long-Term Experience
As already touched upon, it takes an incredible amount of experience and dedication to become a great magician – regardless of who your target audience may be. Kids’ magic is uniquely difficult to pull off and to become a great performer you must dedicate yourself to the pursuit for a long time to say the least. As such, it’s a good idea to look into how long the magician has been doing what they do in order to gauge how much real-life experience they have. Again, it’s one thing to tick all the right boxes in theory, but it’s another to make them work in a real-life setting.
Feedback and Recommendations
You can’t always trust the word of a professional when it comes to being honest about how good they really are. By contrast, those that have tried and tested their services in the past technically have no reason to make things up or to falsify what it was really like. As such, it’s a good idea to look into the feedback left by others and seek recommendations where and when they’re available. There’s of course more to it than feedback alone as personal tastes and expectations vary enormously, but at the same time it’s worth noting any patterns that suggest the magician in question is supremely capable or wholly to the contrary.
Satisfaction Guarantees
Last but not least, the fact that tastes and expectations vary across the board makes it tricky for magicians to realistically offer satisfaction guarantees. However, in the case of a truly outstanding kid’s magician there may indeed be some level of guarantee set in stone where enjoyment is guaranteed or payment need not be made. This tends to be the hallmark of only the most confident and capable magicians on the market and is therefore a rather rare commodity to say the least.