Crash Course on Kid Shows_Ginn

<strong>Crash</strong> <strong>Course</strong> on Kidshows
Copyright © 2003 by David Ginn, Loganville, Georgia 30052 USA. All rights
reserved by the author/publisher, me. No part of this book may be reproduced without
permission in writing from the Author, except for short excerpts under 500 words for
review purposes.
A polite word about my name. Ginn is pronounced with a hard G as in get, git,
great, gotcha, Godzilla, goo-goo, gargoyle, grandpa, grandma, grammar. Ginn is not
pronounced like a j as in jet, and certainly not like the g in gin, the alcoholic beverage, of
which I do not partake. Please note that gin is spelled with one n and is pronounced jin.
My last name, inherited from my father, grandfather, and many great grandfathers
before me is Ginn with two n's, thus pronounced Ginn liked you'd say giggle, as in
laugh a little bit, notjiggle as in shake it up and down. Please pass the word. Thanks!
Cover Art and Most Interior Drawings
by JIM KLEEFELD of Avon, Ohio USA
Many thanks to my longtime friend and assistant JEANNIE WALTERS for her
hands-on help in the preparation of this book. For the first time in 71 books, booklets,
and videos I have published, I actually allowed someone to do a part of my paste-up on a
camera-ready manuscript. Under my direction, and sometimes when I was out doing
three shows a day, Jeannie did a wonderful job helping me get this book out nearly on
time. Without her help, <strong>Crash</strong> <strong>Course</strong> on Kidshows would not have gone to press in
early March 2003 and certainly not be off the press in the month of April. With our
move to the new house in February 2003 and all the work and stress involved, this
book would not have appeared without Jeannie's help. So THANK YOU, my friend!
Dedication: To Mom
It was just a year ago that my mother, Helen Matthews Ginn, left us in her 80th
year, Heaven-bound to join my Dad, who passed away in 1997. Mom always wanted to
live to be 80, and she nearly made 81. She had a wonderful life, and God certainly
blessed me, my sister Nancy, and our families with our mother's love. Her influence on
my life alone is never-ending.
We were all with her at various times those last few days leading up to March 27,
2002. On the Monday before she died on Wednesday, I brought her a fried apple pie
from the Varsity in downtown Atlanta, all the way out to her hospital bed in Dallas,
Georgia. The fact that she ate three bites of it and said, "It tastes good, .. was all the
reward I needed. It was the completion of a cycle that started when Mom and Dad took
Nancy and me to the Varsity as children. Now I was taking the Varsity to her.
As I sit writing now in the new house, I see and feel evidence of Mom, Dad, and my
grandparents everywhere I turn. I fondly remember them all and the love they gave
me. But today I especially remember my mother, all the way back to my childhood, a
wonderful childhood because she was always there and because she loved children. So
Mom-this book is for you and the love for children you instilled inside of me.

4 DAVID GINN
-first-
Entertaining Children
is more im ortant than foolin them.
If your primary goal in performing magic is tricking or fooling them, then YOU'RE
DOING MAGIC FOR THE WRONG REASON. People, especially children, don't care as
much about the trickery as they do about having a good time. Making kids laugh and
smile and applaud with enjoyment is more important than the tricks themselves.
Now, if you perform magic to fool your peers or to satisfy yourself that you can do a
perfect coin roll or faro shuffle, that is for YOU personally, and that's fine. But don't get
in front of a kidshow audience and expect them to like that. Honestly, they don't care
how long you practiced or how perfect your sleights. They only want to have fun.
The tricks and props themselves-when you get right down to it-are simply vehicles
for entertaining your audiences. You can be a great sleight-of-hand expert, a polished
magician, a clown with an award-winning costume and make-up, or a vent who never
moves a single lip; but if you don't add your personality and connect with your
audience-in other words if you don't entertain them-they won't enjoy you or
themselves during the show. Please believe me on this first point and take it to heart.
ENTERTAINMENT comes first.
-second-
1 Love Children • • •
Let's don't mince words. Put the money aspect of doing shows aside. If you don't like
children, why waste your time trying to entertain them? You're only hurting
yourself! Do something else that will make you happy and make you money ... and
let those of us who LOVE kids entertain them!
Many children can sense whether you like them or not. Performers who don't like
children are often obvious to the audience, and that hurts the show.
Yes, I love children. I believe that most kidshow entertainers-magicians, clowns,
jugglers, ventriloquists, storytellers, and puppeteers-love them also.
No, I don't like everything kids do or say. But I do love them. I understand their likes
and dislikes, and I understand that they are CHILDREN. What makes me understand
that? Probably because at the core I am a KID at heart. For that reason, I look at

6 DAVID GINN
Part One
Basic Show Format
Yes, I use a FORMAT-and you should too! Working within a format is one of the key
elements of a successful kidshow. Simply pulling tricks out of a bag and doing them
haphazardly is like trying to eat everything on a buffet. There is no logic to it, and the
audience senses that.
My show format follows the same format used by many magicians of the past
including Blackstone, Thurston, and Dante, and it is analyzed well in the Tarbell <strong>Course</strong>
in Magic, Volume 3, Lesson 34, under "Routining a Magic Show." You owe it to yourself
to study that chapter, but let me share with you how I adapted this format to fit
children's shows of any type. Here is my basic format in a nutshell:
1. Comedy Warm-up
2. Silent Magic to Music
3. Talking Comedy or Sucker Trick
4. Audience Participation with One Helper
5. Two or More Helper Routines
6. Danger Type Trick
7. Show Closing usually with Music
Granted, I occasionally make adjustments due to the tricks and their needs, but this
is my basic format to follow. Why? Because it builds logically.
It starts off with me alone, introducing myself and the show, getting the kids to clap
their hands and laugh (warming them up to me) and doing a quick trick. Next I
impress them with musical magic without words, followed often by a "turn-it-around"
type sucker trick to get them reacting more. Then I devote the next 30 minutes or so to
participation tricks with audience helpers, the last one sometimes being of the danger
variety. Finally, I close the show with going back to music for some closing silent effects
and/or a LIVE RABBIT production.

CRASH COURSE ON KIDSHOWS 7
[ _ ___
Ex p anded Format Step-b y-
Ste p _
J
Now that you are aware of my basic format, let me break this down step-by-step and
expand on these seven areas.
1. ComediWarm-up
English magician HAROLD TAYLOR forever affected my performing career by
teaching me the concept of "warming up the audience" before the show. I even wrote a
little booklet about it, Comedy Warm-ups for Children's Shows, which has just gone
through it's 27th anniversary printing. READ THAT BOOK! In a nutshell, doing a
warm-up at the beginning of the show builds rapport between performer and audience,
which carries through the entire performance.
During my typical opening warm-up I do three things: (1) get them to clap hands,
(2) get them to laugh, and (3) do something magical or funny to impress them. This
takes only 2-3 minutes of the show, but it lets the kids know right away that the show
will be FUN and that the performer is SPECIAL and therefore WORTH LISTENING TO
and WATCHING CAREFULLY. Otherwise, they might miss the fun!
However, don't miss the opportunity to warm up the kids in the front while others
are still coming in and getting seated. I often talk to the front few rows on the floor or
even seats, even if my coming in music is playing, and simply try to get them "used to
me" before showtime. This is especially important when the 4-5 year olds are down
front. Many of them may never have seen a live show before, and some may be scared.
Lots of times with this group, before the show, I do raise hand gags (how many like
cheeseburgers, hands up? hot dogs, hands up? ice cream, hands up? a dead rat, hands
up?). I show them finger tricks I learned in first grade and ask them to try the finger
tricks themselves. They love seeing me pull off my thumb!
As the crowd gets seated more, I use both my hands to make imaginary binoculars
to see the back rows, wave to kids far away, smile at them a lot, and make faces at some
in order to get them to smile back and loosen up. There are lots of things you can do at
these moments to break the ice, without even talking if you wish, and pave the way for
a better show when you do get started.
With that said, let's take a look at some of my favorite IN­
SHOW comedy warm-up tricks and routines:
1. Hot Book. Smokey the Bear's life story, How to Fight
Forest Fires. My routine appears in Comedy Warm-ups. I have
used this for over 25 years, including this week!
2. Blooming Bouquet. Trevor Lewis' wonderful look-don'tsee
routine I have also used for 25 years. His routine appearing
in the Linking Ring, April 1978.

8 DAVID GINN
My version appears in two books, Almost Unpublished and God's Message in My
Magic, which also contains a gospel routine for the bouquet. You can also see a short
version on my school show video, The Magic of Hawaii. Thank you, Trevor, for allowing
me to continue sharing this!
3. Vanishing Coke Bottle. I use the one made by Rudy Van Langen in Canada,
and I put it back in the show about every fourth year. Kids love this (I did it twice
yesterday). You can see my routine on Live Kidbiz the video or read it word-for-word in
the hardbound Kidbiz book. Frankly, it still works after 23 years of doing it.
4. Magic Drawing Board. Steve Axtell's wonderful animated prop, in which a
drawing you make of a face comes to life. I'm not a ventriloquist, but I made the face
come to life by using a pre-recorded tape that I made. The face came alive, started
singing, and basically took over the show for a minute or more. You can see this on Live
Kidbiz 4: Storytelling with Magic, a video tape. Kids went NUTS with laughter over this!
5. Computer Baby. Not exactly magic, but fun comedy. I performed this in 300
"Computerized Magic" shows about 19 years ago, plus I showed it in hundreds of
lectures. A diaper-covered tape recorder comes to life, slurps milk, burps loud, then
goes to sleep, after calling YOU the performer a "TURKEY!" You can see me in a live
performance of this on my video, Behind the Scenes.
6. Tie Race. I showed this in lectures for four years, and kids really do like it!
Teachers groan, but appreciate that I caught them humorously offguard. Watch this
on Magic They Love To See.
7. Color Changing Shoelaces. I've used a bunch of different versions of this
simple trick over the years. It is explained on Behind the Scenes, the Komedy Kidshow
Klinic Live videos (on volume one though it is not listed on the back), and the blackwhite-red
version on my library show video, Magic in Black and White.
8. Flower Wallet. Here is a good example of a storytelling routine with a
repetition framework. It works great as a beginning warm-up trick to explain how you
learned magic, or at least tried to! See a performance/explanation on Kidshow How-2.
9. Clap Hands Warm-up. I often use this routine with an audience of preschoolers,
especially if they are too quiet, even if I do a trick right after it. Watch me do
this on the Bag of Magic video, plus it is explained in the Nearly Unpublished book.
10. Tape Measure Wrist Watch.
I love using this mechanical watch
strapped to my wrist. "Don't laugh at
my new watch," I tell the kids after I've
started them laughing. "According to
my new watch, it's 27 inches after the
hour!" Saying that, I pull the tape out of
the watch about three feet where it
stops. The kids laugh at this surprise.
"What's wrong? You never heard of
MEASURING TIME?"
Pause for laughs. "It really keeps good time AS A RULE." Teacher groan. "Hey, I sleep
with this watch on-to measure how long I've slept. I always measure on the metric
side, because you sleep longer that way." A high level joke. "Well, let's get the show
started now, because I'm PRESSED FOR TIME!" So saying, I push the watch button, and
the tape pops back inside.

10 DAVID GINN
I'll talk more about music later in these notes, but let me share with you a list of my
20 favorite SILENT TO MUSIC magical effects that I have used in literally hundreds of
shows:
1. Color Changing Wreaths. Since I bought my first set of Kikuchi's Feather
Rings in 1980, this has been a wonderful, audience-pleasing visual trick in a half dozen
David Ginn shows, meaning about 2000 live performances.
2. Multiplying Sponge Balls. I created this routine in the mid-196os and have
performed it for over 35 years, having described it in my first book, Colorful Magic. I
also teach it on Magic They Love To See. It is a sleight of hand production of four 3-inch
matching sponge balls.
3. Sponge Balls from Silk. I learned this one as a teenager at the Georgia Magic
Club. I also teach it on the MTLTS video, and you can see it on the Hawaii show video as
well. The sponges keep multiplying out of a 36-inch silk, and finally a large object
appears. I like using 3-inch sponges and the final one being 6-inch or larger. That
makes a good surprise for the kids.
4. Rocco Delites. Children love seeing these glowing lights appear at my
fingertips. Like the Miser's Dream I have done this both to music and talking. I always
end my routine by changing the last lights into a 12-foot rainbow silk streamer. I use
only red Delites because many school shows have natural daylight coming through the
windows, and RED is the only color that shows up well at a distance.
5. Miser's Dream. I'll discuss this later in the lecture notes, but I use this one
every few years to great success. See my video Magic They Love To See.
6. Color Changing Cane. Having known Fantasio since the 1968 Chattanooga
IBM Convention where he won all those awards, I have personally used his Color
Changing Canes in several thousand shows. My preference is the Triple Color Change
because of the 1-2-3 aspect of it (rule of 3s). Years ago one of my neighbors came to see
me do a live show, and this was the one effect he absolutely raved about for years.
7. Silk Blendo. Since I read John Booth's Marvels of Mystery, I have been doing my
versions of his unprepared blendo using the John Booth Handkerchief Roll. You can
learn the set-up from John's book or Colorful Magic. This is simply a matter of pulling
out three unprepared 18-inch silks, crushing them together, and smoothly changing
them into a 36-inch picture silk. It beats any other blendo hands down because you
can change the final silk to any 36-inch silk you own.
8. Feather Flower Production. I love doing this right after a blendo while the
audience is still dazzled at the silk's appearance. In a moment there's a beautiful
bouquet of feather flowers from nowhere. I once wrote a book about that.
9. Multiplying Candles. I acquired and started using the Earl Morgan Nesto
Candles about 35 years ago. I always end up with the final burning candle changing
into a 36-inch picture silk using the John Booth roll.
10. Card Fan Productions. Never was I a Cardini or Walter Cummings or
Fantasio with my card work. I learned Card Fan Productions from the Ed Marlo book,
and a friend taught me how to produce single cards as we rode trains across Europe the
summer of 1966. Adding Brother John Hammond's "Fan-to-See" ending, I developed
the basic card production routine I have used my entire career. It still works.
11. Fantasio Vanishing Candles. Perform these correctly, and they make you
look like a real magician. Thank you, again, Fantasio! I still love vanishing candles.

12 DAVID GINN
streamer-seeming to be the same one you put inside the cane-can. Dispose of that silk
and hidden cane parts into your dumping place (hat, box, bag).
( 7) Pick up the cane-can, unscrew the lid, and AGAIN slide your thumb under
the lid to hold down the can. Now you can control the cane's appearance.
( 8) Place the lid aside (dump spot). Look into the cane-can. Act surprised for
just a moment, then slide back your thumb with the CAN'S MOUTH STRAIGHT UP. The
appearing cane will shoot vertically straight out of the cane and into the air. I hold the
can with my right hand. Therefore, my left hand is free to reach out and grab the cane
as it falls. This leaves me in a symmetrical position-cane in left hand and can in
right-which is a good applause cue. I suggest you do the same.
ANOTHER THOUGHT. Hide a silk or streamer in one compartment of the canecan.
Put a little G-powder (slush) in the other. Pour water into the can. Slush freezes it.
Pull out dry silk or streamer as you turn can upside-down. Water gone. Silk appears!
Wash slush out after the show .
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
13. Balloon to Rabbit. I developed this myself using Wally Reid's Elusive Bunny
Box made by Abbotts. See my way of working this on the MTLTS video.
14. Toss Up Cane Appearance. Created by Fred Kaps in the 1950s I believe. Kaps
worked often on circus arena floors, so he started a running gag of pulling out a silk,
wiping his brow, then tossing the silk into the air 10-15 feet up where it instantly
changed into a steel Walsh cane. Kids are astounded when you toss a silk or streamer
into the air, and it changes into a cane right before their eyes. It's magic! IMPORTANT:
I personally use only Fantasio's plastic appearing canes for this. My days of being cut
with metal canes and oiling/ cleaning them are long over!
15. Scarf Juggling to Blendo. I learned silk scarf juggling at a clown workshop
23 years ago and have used it ever since. Being a magician, I combined the blendo
effect with it to give it a tah-dah kind of ending.
16. Pavel's Blow-Tie. I learned this from Pavel's 1966 lecture at a magic
convention in St. Andrea, Italy, and I was performing it in Atlanta, Georgia, for six
years before Tannen ever put it on the market. Tenyo now makes this trick under the
title, ''The Crystal Tube." Like scarf juggling, I usually combine blow-tie with a blendo.
17. Carnival Ribbons Dove Production. In my dove days of the 1970s, I used
this production a lot. My wife Lynne and I spent two hours making this trick from an
Ian Adair dove book, and I still use my original one to produce a diggeridoo in my
Australia show. I also use a commercial one now to make anything from a flower
bouquet to sponge balls to a rubber chicken appear for comedy. I still like this trick and
so do children, probably because of the colorful ribbons you wave around.
18. Silk Fountain. Again here is one I have used my entire career. When I first
attended a magic convention in 1962 as a teen, I saw this performed several times. I
just loved the beauty of one color popping out after another. I still do, and so do the
children in my audiences. See the Live Kidbiz video and book.
19. Check It Out. This trick, made in Japan by Ton Onasaka, is basically a
checkerboard blendo made out of Tyvek, the untearable paper. Although mine is used
and worn, it has lasted through nearly a thousand shows. I recently showed my old
one to Ton at the Columbus Magi-Fest, and he laughed! What a pleasure to present.
20. Rabbit Production. No matter how you make one appear, even to music
playing, children love to see a live bunny make his magical appearance in a show. But
if you make him appear early to midway into your performance, BE SURE you have a
good closer. With pre-schoolers, a live bunny is my only closer!

14 DAVID GINN
11. Jumbo Three Card Monte. Gene Gordon essentially taught me this while I
edited his Magical Legacy. I published my version in School Show Presentation. Gene did
it in four movements; I do it in three; and I am currently doing it 5-10 times weekly in
my school show again. The kids really fall for the third part, thanks to Gene's
psychology.
12. Farmyard Frolics or Pet Store Pranks. Again, two versions of the same
trick. You can see me perform Pet Store on Kidshow How-2 and with more explanation
of the Komedy Kidshow Klinic Live video set. Kids love animals, and either trick fills the
bill. The sucker aspect is here, plus the look-don't-see technique. In my version (not
necessarily the for-sale version), something also appears on my back, much to the
delight of the children. I am still using Pet Store in one of my book and reading shows.
13. Pom Pom Pole. See the Klinic Live videos. Baffles kids and adults. So many
stories you can tell with this. I always make it a point to pull the poles apart, then put
them back together, and show the trick WORKING again. It's magic! I include a gospel
version of this in my God's Message in My Magic lecture notes.
See my full routine with the Pom Porn
Pole on page 42 of this book.
Here are a handful of other tricks I like to use in this position. These are not sucker
effects, just solo comedy tricks and routines that work well for me:
14. Linking Coathangers. Thank you, Mike Caveney, for inventing and
perfecting this wonderful routine. I learned this 23 years ago after three weeks of
constant practice; in fact, it was the most difficult trick I've learned in my adult
performing life. But the work paid off. I have now used Mike's Linking Coathangers,
filtered through my personality, for over 1200 performances.
15. Eskimo Yoyo. You can see me perform this on the video, Ifs All the Same Trick.
Two children in Alaska taught me how to do this on vacation four years ago, and I
proceeded to show it to 100,000 Georgia school children in my Amazing Alaska show
the following year. It's a skill thing, not really magic, but the children like it and I've
learned how to milk it for laughs and applause.
16. Glow Loops. Thanks to Frank Herman, who showed me this in 1996 and later
sold me the rights to it, I've had fun presenting this little Coke bottle trick in hundreds
of lectures and more hundreds of shows. It's a simple children's toy turned into a magic

16 DAVID GINN
4. Tricky Bottles. A do-as-I-do routine with one boy on stage, seen on Live Kidbiz
and published in several of my books (School Show Presentation, for one). I consider the
instant turning upside-down of my bottle to be very strong magic.
5. Big Bad Kong. My routine with Steve Bender's gorilla version of Forgetful
Freddy, used in my monster show and my jungle show. See Live Kidbiz 4. The boy holds
the hank which makes the gorilla head vanish.
6. Slush Powder. My primary routine with this involves pouring water into a
styrofoam cup, pushing two large knitting needles through it, then turning the cup
upside-down over a boy's head. He doesn't get wet because the water vanishes, thanks
to the small spoon of slush or G-powder I placed in the cup before the show. This super
absorbent polymer instantly congeals or solidifies water Guice, coffee, tea, soda) so you
can make the audience think it has vanished.
7. Sharpshooter. My version of the Karl Wagner routine in Safety Magic for
Children. The message-Never point a gun at anyone even in fun. I used this 300 times in
my "Wild West Magic Show" about ten years ago, and you can see it on Live Kidbiz 4.
However, since we've had so much gun violence in schools and public places over the
last few years, and many schools have a no-tolerance weapons policy these days, I
would have to seriously consider if I'd ever do this again. I probabl y would not. But I
might take the balloon popping part, eliminating the imaginary gun, and use that.
8. Sponge Ball Rabbit. Placing a ball into a child's hand and having it turn into a
sponge rabbit or other shape such as a star is great fun, hands on magic. You can even
make the helper into a hero, whether it be a he or a she. See MTLTS video.
9. Disbanded. I taught the close-up version
of this in lectures for years, and it appears on
MTLTS. My stage version will appear in 2003
(yes, this year!) on the forthcoming (finally) Live
Kidbiz 2: More Funny Magic, which will be a video
and book.
10. Comed y Card on Back. I invented this
myself back in 1974 in Newnan, Georgia, at the
school where Alan Jackson's mother worked in
the cafeteria, no joke! You can see an expanded
version of it on MTLTS. My friend Jeannie Walters
thought up the wonderful closing line, which I
have uttered over a thousand times. I'm
considering doing this next school year in a new
reading show. After all, it is mindreading! Also,
I'm considering doing the 29 year old effect for
the first time using JUMBO CARDS!
11. Dino Mind Reading. Both of these next
two effects you can see explained on my newest
video, It's All the Same Trick. Children love
dinosaurs, so this became a big hit in several
shows, thanks to the personality of the dinosaur.
See page 49 for routine.

18 DAVID GINN
21. Ali Bongo Monster or Clown Hat. Packs small, plays big. A paper hat you
unfold into different shapes and colors, each time placing it on a boy's head, never
seems to fit. Finally you turn him backwards, cover his head with the hat, and turn
him around to reveal a funny monster or clown face. Audience kids freak out! See me
in a live performance of this on Live Kidbiz 3: Costuming Kids for Laughs.
22. Comed y Cut and Restored Neckerchief. See the original hardback book,
Kidbiz, for the full expanded routine. In five minutes I cut holes in a scout's borrowed
official neckerchief, then restore his own neckerchief to its original condition amid lots
of laughs. One of my strongest routines for scout banquets.
All these routines worked great for me in the one helper slots, and I often run two
of these in a row if I keep close watch on my time, using a boy for one, a girl for the
other. However, certain tricks I prefer to work with a boy-card on back, for example,
because a girl's long hair will interfere with sticking the card on the shirt back. Spider
Surprise I always work with a girl, however, because I get a better "scary" reaction
when the spider appears.
5. Two or More Heli,er Routines
Now I go on to one or more two helper routines. I purposely select two children from
different parts of the audience. A good technique here is to pick your first helper from
far way; that allows him or her to start walking toward the stage. Then pick the second
helper from closer so they arrive about the same time. Bring them up (and send them
back) as usual with a round of applause.
Here are some of my favorites in this category using just TWO KIDS:
1. Wilting Flower. Thanks to Florida's Bruce
"Sparkles" Johnson for teaching me this 30+ years ago. I
can still use it at the drop of a hat, and do! The routine
appears in Bringing Home the Laughs, plus you may see
me perform it (after Vanishing Wand to Flower) on the
video Another Bag of Magic, a pre-school show at a
church. Two children with me in the middle, and lots of
LOOK DON'T SEE involved.
2. The Snake Can. One of my oldest routines,
which I have used for years and just started showing in
lectures in 1998. Hmm, about time! There are many
variations, and probably you have seen me do one of ·--.._,-
them, or will at my next lecture!
3. Flying Gecko. Seen on my Hawaii video, a plastic gecko lizard vanishes from
one box to appear inside another, but he never makes it. Instead he appears on the boy's
back while the girl looks on and laughs!

20 DAVID GINN
15. Wander-Filled Card in Balloon. The entire six kid routine with comedy
wands and a popping balloon is in the original Kidbiz book, still in print! Sorry this is
not visible on video, but one day it will be!
16. V-Frozen and Denzel Washington. Both versions of the same trick, sorta,
and explained in my Kidabra 2002 lecture (now a video), It's All the Same Trick. You
can see another version of this sort of thing using a $100 bill silk, seven kids, and giant
paper money on Kidshow How-2.
17. Watch Routine. I have published two versions of the vanishing watch which
reappears elsewhere, one in School Show Presentation and one in the book/video It's
About Time. Both are totally different from each other, involve groups of children, and
play off of the idea of my breaking a watch or at least losing it.
18. Lobster Cards. Extremely adaptable. See Live Kidbiz.
19. Sun and Moon. Thanks to Bev Bergeron for inspiring me to do this and
develop my own version. I used it for one year, LOVED IT, and there it is in Live Kidbiz.
20. ABC Puzzle. Sorry, you'll just have to wait till LK 2 appears later this year! A
kid's alphabet puzzle becomes magically assembled on stage with three helpers.
12. Charlie's Invisible Message, Wild West Animals. Again, one of my most
adaptable routines, versions of which I will use the rest of my career. Read the basic in
its own booklet (Charlie's Invisible Message) or in Children Laugh Louder. The animal
version will appear on LK 2.
22. Comedy Lunch Box. Long ago and far away, I produced this routine about a
school pet show, four kids on stage, animal sounds, a lunch box production of rubber
goods, and finally spring snakes jumping out. I even gave magician friend Jimmy
Gosch permission to construct a few of these, and he did a great job. You can still find
the routine in my book Clown Magic.

22 DAVID GINN
8. Delben Double Wrist Chopper. This was really fun for a year, a double wrist
chopper. But instead of putting both wrists from one person in it, I used one wTist each
from an older boy and older girl student, then handcuffed them together, did the chop,
and could not find the key to get them out. Lots of red faced fun if you get the right pair
of 5th or 6th graders.
9. Stocks or Pillary Escape. I've used several types of these, wooden tricks that
lock someone's head or hands in place, but have a secret mechanism for getting out in a
hurry. Always injected with ample comedy.
10. Dracula's Coffin. In the monster book I described how Bobby Fay and I made
my one and only jumping, dancing, shaking coffin using Van Cleve's original idea. I
added the spring snakes popping out at the end, a la my Comedy Lunch Box. Last
summer I painted my coffin gold, and it became King Tut 1 s Coffin in a similar routine.
The kids still loved seeing it jump and shake around on the table top.
11. Princess Flying Carpet. One year I used a girl from the audience, beautiful
dramatic music, and had her "floating" in front of the whole school. Frankly, it was
fun, and really no danger to her. All she had to do was sit there while I whisper-cued
her and waved the hoop around her. I think the audiences enjoyed it.
Most school and library shows I now close with music. In pre-schools I may use
music or not, but I ALWAYS close with a live rabbit. Music brings back the movement
and excitement of the show, adding another theatrical element to the magic.
Years ago in my original Comedy Magic Workshop of 1992-1996, I theorized from
my experience that a magician or clown or other family entertainer could close a show
in one of at least six valid ways:
1. Skill Feat. My example here is the Table Cloth Stunt, of pulling the cloth out
from under the dishes without breaking them. This is pure skill, and you'll see me do it
on Live Kidbiz 2. Endless thanks to Fred "Mombo" Petrick of Iowa for teaching me this !
2. Production. This can be doves, a rabbit, a silk production, silk fountain, a flag,
whatever you cause to appear out of nowhere magically.
3. Vanish. For years I closed with the dove or rabbit vanish in schools. Read about
it in Live Kidbiz, the book. However, I no longer do that. Now if I vanish the bunny, I
bring him back as you see in the Hawaii video.
4. Song. Yes, you can close with music, even having the children singing
something familiar, if it works for you. Ventriloquists often use this type closer with
their vent characters.
5. End of Skit or Running Gag. I loved closing with the Tree of India running
gag one year, making an Abbotts Super Botania flower bush appear from nowhere.
6. Build Up to Applause, Talk Your Way Off. I consider this the weakest kind of
ending, and hope I would never use it. But sometimes it is necessary.

24 DAVID GINN
My S p ecial Pre-School Endin g
I have always believed in the theatrical rule of closing a show with no audience
helpers on stage. But sometimes I use a child in pre-school shows to help me (without
knowing it) make the magic rabbit appear at the show·s end.
When that happens, I allow that one child to pet the rabbit; then I send the child
back to her seat with a round of applause. I follow that with a little "rabbit comedy,"
showing the bunny and having him hop into his cage. Then I take his cage to the other
side of the room, near the exit, leaving him in the cage in a chair so the kids can walk
by and see the bunny up close. They love doing this, and it allows me to pack up.
My point is that when the rabbit appears, THAT is the climax of the show, but I
have to talk my way out of it. That's why I let the bunny do something (hop into his
cage), and I have a special way of closing these little guy shows. Here's what I say:
0
Before we go see Harry the Bunny in his Bunny Barn, I want to ask all of you one
last question:
"How many of you had a good time at the show today? Raise your hand!" As I say
that I lift both of my hands. "Well, you know what? Both of my hands are up because I
had a GREAT TIME being with you today-so let's give EACH OTHER a great big round
of applause!"
I immediately start clapping for them, and they clap their hands for me. The
teachers then take charge and lead them group by group to see the rabbit.
I like this because it gives me personally a sort of theatrical closure. But I'll tell you
what can happen:
Three years ago I said this same line-11S0 let's give each other a great big-" ... and
before I could get out "round of applause," the front row of four-year-olds jumped up,
rushed me, and ten of them HUGGED MY LEGS!
They evidently thought I was going to say, "give each other a big hug," so they did!
And I said, " ... a round of applause ... oh, and a big hug too!"
It appears that they really enjoyed the show!
As We Finsh the First Part of CRASH COURSE,
keep in mind that entertainment comes first, you gotta love kids and thus love doing
shows for them, and you must be organized when you step out in front of them. Having
a basic format makes all the difference: comedy warm-up, musical magic, solo or
sucker trick, one helper, two helpers, three or more, possibly a danger trick (but not a
requirement), then closing with music or a live rabbit production.
Remember, this is all my opinion. But keep in mind it has worked for me these 32
years of fulltime performing. If it works for me, I think you can adapt it to you.
In part two of <strong>Crash</strong> <strong>Course</strong> we'll look at 33 things kids enjoy ( whether they realize it
or not) and how knowing about them and using them can favorably affect your
performances for children.

26 DAVID GINN
there's that word again, and when the tape measure pops back into the watch, I've put
the surprise element into action, coupled with exaggeration.
3. Groaners. 1 often say things in shows that the kids honestly don't
understand. I'm not talking about blue or risque humor or inuendo-J never use thatjust
double level humor.
1
With the tape measure watch, I always remark: "It keeps good time AS A RULE. 1
Well, kids don't understand that remark at all ... but the adults present DO. So you
see, I toss in groaners to hit the grown-ups. (Why do you think they call them
GROWNERS?)
These lines often go right over the children's heads, but hit the teachers, principals,
librarians, moms and dads present at the show, entertaining the adults even during a
KIDshow. 11l always sleep with this watch on . . . to measure how long I've slept. I
measure on the metric side because I sleep longer that way."
In our book Creative KidTalk, Sammy Smith, Steve Taylor, and I spend an entire
chapter discussing how you can entertain adults during children's shows without
offending anyone and while entertaining the kids at the same time.
4. Mistakes/in Trouble. As a comedy magician, I often make mistakes
or get myself into trouble on purpose to create laughs and misdirect kids from what I am
really doing or really going to do. Isn't this the essence of a "sucker trick" in magic?
I often use the sucker technique during which kids THINK they know how I'm doing
something. Then I get in more trouble (they think I've goofed) as they shout "turn it
around,° and finally I get out somehow. I love getting in trouble and having the kids
"catch me." I spent a lot of time thinking about this subject in my book Kidbiz, where I
refer to this as the "magician-in-trouble syndrome." But remember, it's really the
PERFORMER in trouble syndrome, and a valuable tool.
An example:
Let's say I'm performing my routine with the Hocus Pocus
Hare, which is a color-changing rabbit trick. In a frame is a
picture of my white rabbit, Harry.
"I named him Harry, not because of Harry Potter . . . not
because of the famous magician Harry Houdini . . . not even
because he's covered with . . . 11 I pause and usually the kids
1
• • •
tell me, "HAIR!" Then I say, 1 fur. No, I call him Harry
because he loves LIVER JELLO!"
I proceed to make Harry change colors to a brown rabbit by
passing the picture behind my back. "He got dirty playing
with his rabbit friends out in the yard. That's when I call him
Dirty Harry!" (Another groaner.) After a few more passes
behind my back, I go into the sucker turn-arounds in front of
me .. . with the kids telling me, pointing, shouting, "TURN IT
AROUND!" before finally revealing the back side of the white
rabbit. When I turn it around once more, it shows a top hat
with a question mark, and I remark, "I don't know how Harry
does it-it's a mystery to me!"

28 DAVID GINN
Do you see what I mean? Go ahead, get hurt on purpose, and make kids laugh! Just
try not to really get hurt. Personally, I quit accidentally hitting my mike stand
because I got bruised too many times.
6. Object Takes Over. Children love to see an inanimate object, a
puppet, or even your live rabbit usurp your authority as an adult performer. I use this
to my advantage in many shows. For example, when the Silver Sceptre repeatedly rises
out of the handkerchief or carrying case without my permission. It acts as though it is
ALIVE and furthermore, in charge! I act frustrated-out of control-and kids love seeing
that. Check my Kidshow How-2 video or the Klinic Live video set to see me doing this
before live audiences.
You can do the same thing with many tricks. Take the Zombie floating ball, for
example. When it starts floating up under the cloth, pretend it is getting away from
you, pulling you along, like you're chasing it. Kids enjoy that because they think you
are losing control. Let them think that. Better, MAKE them think that! Use this
technique to your kidshow advantage.
7. Look Don't See. This technique is basic Abbott and Costello to me.
When I look at something, I don't see what the kids are telling me about. When I look
away, it happens and they yell about it. Hey, it works. I've done the Trevor Lewis
Blooming Bouquet routine about 2000 times in 25 years to prove it-and it STILL
WORKS! Thank you, Trevor, for teaching me and sharing this with the world of magic
and clowning!
Thirty years ago I saw Johnny Giordmaine perform at a park in Toronto, Canada.
He was a master of look don't see, using the technique every time he produced another
billiard ball. "I have two balls," he'd say, and a third would appear. Then the kids would
tell him THREE, he'd look and there were only two (because he made one vanish), and
he'd repeat this over and over much to the amusement of all until he had FOUR balls!
In my "Every Book is a Magic Book" school show, I perform the Pet Shop Pranks
version of Farmyard Frolics. I end up with the cardboard snake on MY back. When the
trick is "over" and the snake "gone," I remark to the kids, "Do you know what this
means? No? It's means there's a SNAKE LOOSE IN THE SCHOOL!"
With that I turn around, and pandemonium takes place. They instantly see the
snake on the back of my shirt . . . and they go wild with laughter and shouting trying
to tell me. Of course, I cannot see the snake. I look left and right, walk to both sides of
the stage. I look, but I don't see it!
Finally, I pretend to understand what they are telling me: "It's on your back!" I
reach behind my back, grab the snake held in place with duct tape, then swivel around
to show my back to the crowd, at the same time bringing the snake with me and taping
it onto my shirt front, a technique I learned from the late Edwin Hooper. Then I feel
around my back. Nothing there.
So I face the kids again and say, "It's NOT on my back!" And off they go to shouting
again, this time saying, "It's on your FRONT!" I play the look don't see game a moment
more, then find the snake, pronounce him a Magic Snake, and have the children give
him a big round of applause. Did they have FUN throughout all this? Sure they did!

30 DAVID GINN
"Look!" I shout. "It's PETRIFIED!"
Using this try and fail, try and fail technique, you can create your own running
gag. Just do what appears to be the same thing again and again, and use some
dramatic or funny words to mislead the children. Finally, let the magic happen.
11. Animals. Need I tell you what Walt Disney learned about 75 years agochildren
love animals. Pictures of animals, toy animals, stuffed animals, live animals.
Inserting any kind of animal trick in your show gives you a big PLUS with kids.
Magician Duke Stern told me years ago
that he was allergic to rabbits. That's why
he made his animal effect in live shows the
Abbott's SNAKE BASKET with a
mechanical snake which finds a selected
card. Boy, did Duke get entertainment
mileage out of it.
I personally opt for a LIVE RABBIT in
virtually all my shows. The moment I
switched from doves in 1977 to a real
rabbit, it was like the difference between
night and day. Some children are afraid of
birds, but not rabbits! In fact, once you
magically produce a live rabbit for preschoolers,
the show is over! With
Christmas shows, you cannot follow Santa
Claus . . . and with little kids, you're crazy
to try doing any magic trick after the
rabbit appears! The rabbit 1s more
interesting than you are!
One day I counted my rabbit tricks in the basement. I had 17 productions and 4
vanishes. That tells you something. And I'll share something else with you, about
which I have changed my mind:
I no longer vanish a rabbit in a kidshow without bringing him back. In a
future book I will discuss this at length, but understand now that I have changed my
basic thinking about closing with a rabbit vanish for kids. This does not mean I won't
use a rabbit vanish in a show; it only means that if I do, I'll use a production after it to
bring Mr. Bunny back into audience view.
12. Incongruity. Look it up. Basically, it means something that is not quite
right. Something out of the ordinary. It's a good way to make people, and especially
kids, laugh.
One of my writing professors in college said incongruity was the most important
element in comedy writing. I think it can also be extended to work in performing.
Magician friend Bobby Fay used to tell kids at a birthday party: "I had no trouble
getting here. As I drove into the neighborhood, I saw what everybody expects to see on
a birthday party mailbox-MASHED POTATOES!" Incongruent. They expected him to
say balloons, but instead, mashed potatoes. Totally incongruent.

CRASH COURSE ON KIDSHOWS 31
Lead them down a path figuratively, then veer off the the left or right, up or down.
Say or do the unexpected. Take out a deck of playing cards in a box. Open the box and
pull out a ROPE. "What did you expect-a card trick?"
Consider how you can use this in your shows. Maybe you are already using it
without realizing that you are.
13. Use Adults. Believe me, children at schools love seeing teachers-even
the principal or headmaster-brought up on stage to help in the act. Over the past
seven or eight years, I have used over 1000 teachers on stage with me. I always make
them look good, never embarrassing them in any way. I usually turn the adult into
the hero of the routine.
In my Hawaii show, I dressed two teachers in hula skits and flower lei necklaces and
performed the Mutilated Parasol. In my Alaska show I pretended to send a teacher on a
trip to Alaska, gave her all kinds of props to hold, while telling educational things about
our 49th state. Five years ago I borrowed a teacher's shoe and pretended to accidentally
burn it up in my shoe-cleaning invention. Kids screamed with laughter over that since I
acted as though I had goofed and blamed the whole thing on the student who brought
her shoe onto the stage. We eventually found the teacher's shoe in a nest of boxes.
Big hint: the best way to get teachers or any adults on stage is to get names of some
GOOD SPORT adults from the person in charge before the show. I write these names
on a slip of paper kept atop my table, then use them like this: "For this next experiment
I need a helper who is a little taller, no even taller than the fifth graders-about as tall
as Mrs. Thornton!" Electricity runs through the audience at the sound of the teacher's
name. "That's my teacher," I often hear, and the kids point to her. Of course, this
teacher often looks around to see who gave ME her name!
I even have teachers volunteering their friends to be in the new show each year! So
don't be afraid to try this. I suggest you read the chapter on ''Using Adults in Kidshows"
in the Creative KidTalk book.
14. Involvement. Kids love to be a part of the show. rm not talking about
on stage at this point. But shouting the magic words, raising hands gags, chanting or
singing songs or words, and other group participation. Making kids feel this way takes
them from your show to our show.
I often have pre-schoolers hold up and wave their "magic wand fingers" while we
shout the magic words. Get them involved from the moment you set foot on stage, even
if stage is a living room floor.
15. Say Funny Words. Use funny words during your show. I use magic
words such as Purple Puppy Chow, Liver Jello, or Okeefenokee Ishkeebibble to create
fun and laughs in magic routines. Saying words that are "automatically funny" is a
good way to create lots of laughs with children. My patter book Laughter Legacy,
created from Gene Gordon's comedy notebooks he kept for nearly 50 years, is packed
full of automoatically funny things to say within your routines. Ask a child helper on
stage: "Do you have those little white things in your head that bite?" The kid will often
reach for his hair and say, "NO!" Your reply? "What-you don't have teeth?''

32 DAVID GINN
16. Say It Funny. Or say normal things in funny ways. You can drag out
words slowly, or say them rapidly, or mix things up, as our minister Herb Outlaw used
to do when he said, "He put the em-PHA-sis on the wrong si-LA-bull," by changing your
pronunciation. Instead of calling those inflatible latex sculptures balloons, refer to
them as BAA (said like the sheep sound) LOONS. Kids may correct you-in fact, they
LOVE to correct you-but act as if you don't understand what they are talking about.
BAA-LOONS. Hey, it works for comedy!
17. Play Games. Kids love games. They love to play games and generally
love the very IDEA of a game. So play games during your show, or at least use the idea
of games. In fact, I often refer to a trick as a GAME. It's sometimes a ruse or a ploy, or
maybe it really is a game!
Years ago I used Supreme's Ring Toss trick in my pre-school show. I let several
children toss 6-inch rope rings at a wooden target with hooks. Then I tossed them all,
saying I would make them ALL land on the hooks. Of course, the trick was that MY rope
rings ended up linked together, due to a clever switch of rings on the back of the target.
In my current school show, during a matching trick with two teachers and giant
cards, I tell the audience kids: "When I was your age I used to play a certain card
game. It's a game you've probably heard of and most of you have played. It's called-GO
FISH." Instant identity factor. Yes, they know the game, yes, they've played it. "It's the
game where you match up colored fish cards-the two reds, the two blues, the two
greens and so on. And you know what? I played that game so much as a kid, I could
play it blindfolded or in the dark. And my wife is happy about that, because now, as a
grown-up, I can match up my socks!" Teachers find that humorous. ''Yes, I know that
the yellow sock does not go with the red, or the purple with the pink. If I could just
learn a GAME that would help me get the matched up socks OFF my bed and INTO my
drawer, my wife would really like that!"
Play games.
18. Audience Participation. There are three types of audience
participation: (1) using the audience seated as a whole, (2) getting people on stage with
you, and (3) using audience helpers while still in their seats or at least in the audience.
Use all three methods for a well-rounded show.
Get some kids on stage to help during your show, even adults as I've already said.
Pick children from all over your audience, not just the front row. Also, select all types
of kids-large, small, tall, short, different ages, races, classes, and so forth.
Bring children up and send them back with a round of applause. Always ask their
names, even if you don't use them throughout the routine. This way you identify them
as people, not portable tables.
19. Big Objects. Children love oversized objects. I use the giant comb,
toothbrush, scissors, sunglasses, even a giant diaper pin, in my shows.
Clown friend John Gutherie in Colorado uses a 6-foot toothbrush in a dental health
program, carrying it into the school hidden in a ski bag (a normal thing for Colorado).
Kids love it when he pulls it out and has a small child try to wave it like a magic wand.
And they remember what he tells them to do-brush their teeth!

34 DAVID GINN
check it out with someone who knows. All it takes is one teacher, parent, librarian
complaining about what music you used to hurt your bookings.
(2) Don't play your music too loud for the room you're working. If you see kids with
hands over their ears, or teachers wincing, turn down the volume.
(3) Don't play music behind your talking. I personally cannot stand performers
talking while music is playing in the background. My ear is distracted by the music,
even when I want to hear what the performer is saying. My rule is, if I'm talking, the
music is not playing, and if music is playing, I'm not talking.
Personally, I use some type of music near the beginning of every school and library
show, and I almost always close with a musical number, that is, magic performed to
music. I do not always use music in pre-school shows; it depends on what tricks and
routines I am doing in that situation.
One last note about music: Magicians and clowns are constantly wondering about
music copyrights and licensing. According to Toby Travis, in his book The Professional
Amateur, if you are working schools and churches (and I would have to think libraries
fit into this category), you are exempt from fees due to the educational nature of the
situation, as long as the show is sponsored by the school, church, or (I believe) library.
Home parties may also be exempt, but Toby says this is currently a gray area. My
comment is: "Who's going to police home birthday parties?"
On the other hand, if you are working a theatre or other public venue, it is usually
the promoter's responsibility to obtain a licence for the use of the music in that place.
Beyond this, if you are performing in comedy clubs, banquets, restaurants, corporate
functions, fund raisers, civic events and the like, you must obtain a music license from
ASCAP (714-586-1632) or BMI (310-659-9109). Of course, a sure way around all this
is to use some of the copyright free music available in the magic and clown markets.
23. Embellish Your Routines. Take basic tricks and expand
them using accessory props, costuming, jokes, and audience helpers. In my Magic and
Monsters for Kids I Love book (and you can see this on my video Live Kidbiz 4:
Storytelling with Magic) I spend nearly 12 minutes doing a girl in guillotine routine
which could last one minute. However, I add to it with a very strange conehead
assistant, a towel, a pillow, a bucket, a chopped off head (it's funny!), and a lot of corny
lines that family audiences really liked! In the 1980s when I performed my full
evening show across the Southeast USA, this routine became one of the highlights of
the show.
Another routine in the show (you can find this one in School Show Presentation) was
in essence a watch that vanished and reappeared elsewhere. The basic prop was a Tote
Bag Change Bag, but I embellished the routine with six kids on stage, six comedy hats,
a nest of cans, a spring snake jumping out of a peanut butter jar, my accidentally
breaking an audience man's watch ... and lots of corny comedy. The man, by the way,
did eventually get his watch back, but only after ten minutes of clean comedy.
For the most part in my career, you will never read of me or see me doing "just the
trick" as it came out of the cereal box. I must add to it, fix it, change it, blow it up,
make it more than it is, and to it add my personality stamp.
Embellish your tricks ... and make them full-fledged routines.

36 DAVID GINN
It was something like that (it's been 20 years). Check out the video. Back to the point
One of the best ways to embellish and fill out your magic, comedy, or clown routines is
to add stories.
Steve Taylor took this same basic trick-Forgetful Freddie-and created the best
version ever, Airhead Rudy, with a storyline about a boy who didn't read and lost his
head because he wasn't using his imagination and creativity. When he started reading
and learning, he got his head back. In this routine, kids enjoy the story and the magic
fun, but they hear a solid message about the importance of reading in our lives. The
story and point are so simple that kids "get it" and teachers appreciate it.
Storytelling! Try it. As Fetaque Sanders said years ago, "Patter packs better than
props!" But I say, "If we only used patter, we'd be comedians and not clowns or comedy
magicians." But there is much to be said for both sides of this coin. Me? I'll continue to
embellish my magic with stories, both real and exaggerated.
26. Magic Wands. Thanks to Harry Potter and Cinderella's Fairy
Godmother with "Bippity Boppity Boo," children love the concept of a magic wand. All
we have to do is wave that wand, and magic happens, trouble vanishes, things get
fixed, and things we don't have but do want, appear out of thin air like ... MAGIC! So if
you and I are playing the "magic game" in our shows, we need magic wands. But do
they have to work? Of course not!
That's why it's fun to use comedy magic wands that
f}
/
don't exactly work wonders! ,\\
Breakaway Wand, Fishing Pole Wand, Tipple Topple Jf.
Wand, Rollout Wand, Secret Wand, Rabbit Wand, Wand _;.,·
to Wilting Flower, Grewsome Wand, Stretching Wand, j ',\:,..
Popaway Wand, Color Changing Wand, Comedy Flower
Wand, Long John Wand, Jumbo Surprise Wand filled
with Spring Snakes-these are just some of the comedy
magic wands I have used in my 32 years of live shows.
Most of the time I use wands as accessaries to tie parts of routines together. In other
words, the wand itself is not the main magic trick, just a filler, an embellisher. And
keep this in mind: whenever possible, put magic wands in the hands of your audience
helpers. That makes them feel good and useful, plus it often creates more laughs.
27. Danger Tricks for Comedy. Okay, let me explain first that I DO
NOT use danger tricks such as choppers in my shows for kindergartens and pre-school
audiences. Over my career I have made it a point to use these in family shows and in
schools where the older students are present. I feel their laughter acts as a buffer for
the little kids present. Here are seven points I wish to make about so-called "danger
tricks" so you'll understand how and why I use them:
(1) I always have a REASON for doing a chopper, not just to "chop off your head." It's
a new invention that won't cut you.
(2) The trick is always under my CONTROL and never truly dangerous.
(3) Yet the audience must THINK it dangerous, or what's the point.
(4) Danger tricks for me are always COMEDY VEHICLES.

38 DAVID GINN
28. Use Toys. Children love toys because they love to play, and toys give
them a vehicle for play. Toys also help them learn. Some of us learned from playing
with Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, Tinker Toys, model train sets, Legos and the like.
During the Christmas season 2002, my family watched the television movie called
"The Man Who Saved Christmas," the story of A. C. Gilbert, the man who made the
Erector Set and many other creative toys for children from the 1910s through the late
1960s. Children loved playing with his metal building toys for over so years, and I
was one of them. I had fun building with Erector Set parts and learned at the same
time. Hmm, what a concept-HA VE FUN while you are LEARNING! I bet that means
you'd learn twice as much and twice as well because you are having fun!
Two years ago I created a special pre-school act called the "Magic Toy Show." Every
trick in the show was a toy or something to do with a toy. It was fun to create and
present to 3, 4 and S year olds. As suspected, they loved it from the moment I told
them the name of the show!
Want to make fun for children? Put one or more toys in your show-and do magic
with them! Or simply tell the kids that this magic trick IS a toy. Instant attention!
29. Kids Love Candy. Right or wrong, children love candy. So doing
tricks and routines with anything sweet-lollipops, candy bars, even peanuts and other
sweets-attracts their attention. Often tricks with brand name candies make an even
stronger impression because of familiarity.
One of the oldest candy tricks around is the simple Lollipop Trick This is a
gimmicked lollipop, originally made in the 1930s or 40s out of wood, like a Tinker Toy
stick with a wheel on each end. Each side of this lollipop is painted a different color,
four in all: purple, green, yellow, orange. By having the lollipop gimmick in a paper
bag, you can remove it with one end hidden in your hand, show green, return it to the
bag and turn it around, then show yellow. Lime, then lemon, as though you have two
different lollipops. Then, inside the bag, you reverse ends, repeating the action to show
orange and grape (purple). Remove the purple, say you'll keep that, and place it into
your pocket. Then you can tear up the bag and "vanish" the other three lollipops.
Sammy Smith has marketed two candy effects: the "Really Quick Candy Trick," in
which a roll of Lifesavers instantly changes to a stick of gum at your fingertips; and
"Pop Pop Poof," in which two Tootsie Roll Pops of different colors change places in the
hands of two children. I personally used "Pop Pop Poof' in over so pre-school shows one
year, and it played great. Why? Because kids love candy!
30. Use Puppets. Okay, David, we gotta stop there. I hear you saying
it-"I ain't no puppet boy or girl!" Hey, I didn't think so either. But eight years ago I put
a cute Australian koala puppet in my "Magic Down Under" show, and the kids thought
he was real! I'm no ventriloquist, so I simply let the puppet "talk" into my ear, and I tell
the kids what he says. That means he can be funny and he can be educational.
Children will LISTEN to him tell them things that maybe they wouldn't listen to if the
teacher, counselor, or principal said the same things.
In years following that, I have employed the same kind of routine with a rabbit out
of the hat, an Alaskan grizzly bear, a frog, a bookworm, even a snake in a basket. There
is a wonderful little dog puppet routine in Gene Gordon's Magical Legacy, if you can find
a copy of this out-of-print volume. I adapted a little of that routine too.

40 DAVID GINN
31. Money Is Magnetic. At a convention years ago, magician George
Kirkendall told me, "When I'm working hospitality rooms, I always start out with coins.
I shake them and jingle them because they attract attention. People are attracted to the
sound of money."
To some extent, children are the same. One year I did an entire school show about
money. I called it the "All About Money Magic Show," and I taught children the history
of money and different types of money. I even auctioned off the principal's one dollar
bill, till it was only worth a penny. That penny I enlarged magically until it was four
inches in diameter. But I traded it in for a dinner roll, and inside that roll we
discovered the principal's dollar bill! I will publish that routine in a future book.
Children enjoyed the "money" show, and besides the magic, I believe the IDEA of
money was the attraction.
Two of my favorite money-related routines are on the Kidshow How-2 video,
performed and taught: (1) the Giant Money routine with 7 kids on stage and a $100
bill silk and (2) the Credit Card in Coke Bottle using the principal's own charge card.
Kids freaked out the year I did that because THEIR own principal's Visa or Mastercard
vanished and appeared SEALED inside a 2-liter plastic bottle of Coca-Cola.
Also note that the trick played stronger because the credit card belonged to someone
the children knew, especially someone of authority and importance in their lives.
Probably my favorite money trick
for kidshows is the Miser's Dream.
You can see me perform this for 500
school students live on my Magic
They Love To See teaching video. I
use a combination of music, sleight of
hand coin stuff, and the Abbott's Coin
Pail, a mechanical device which
delivers dozens of coins into my
hands as needed. This routine is so
strong for me that I purposely
recycle it in school shows about
every third or fourth year. I am
presently using it in Tales of the
Mighty Mississippi, pretending to
collect admission money for a ride on
an 1850s Mississippi River showboat.
I always end up with a girl on stage
holding the bucket (coin pail) and a
shower of coins falls into the bucket
from her nose! The audience kids go
absolutely nuts with laughter and
surprise over this, and it usually
rolls into applause.
To see a small show version of this, take a look at Another Bag of Magic, my video of a
church pre-school show. In this version I perform the coin pail without music, moving
around and through the audience, talking to the children as I go. Fun and different.

42 DAVID GINN
Part Three
A Baker's Dozen Routines
So far the bulk of this CRASH COURSE has centered on philosophy. Tve tried to make it
readibly fun, with artwork and stories and examples. Now you'll see my methods come to
life in 13 kidshow routines, all of which I have personally proven in hundreds, sometimes
thousands of shows. As you study these routines-and hopefully use some of them-count
how many of my "33 Things" list you find within the routines. There will be a few in some
routines and a lot in others. Which routines are more fun? You be the judge!
f 1. __ Porn Porn Polel
Porn Porn Pole, Hindu Prayer Stick, or a half dozen other names for the same
thing goes back at least a hundred years in one form or another, and more recently it
can be found in the Louis Histed book, I think. And, although there are about a dozen
such tricks on the market-having started up when Doug Henning did it on a TV
special back in the mid-197os-my personal favorite is the one made by Jim Green in
Orange Park, Florida. It's not too big or little, and the thing works smoothly.
My basic routine, most often used as a warm-up trick, goes like this: Displaying
the pole with cord wrapped around the left end, I say:
"Let me show you my new toy. I bought this in California last year, right in a toy
shop on Hollywood Boulevard. It's called a POM POM POLE. Now the reason it's called a
Porn Porn Pole is ... it has four porn porns attached to it. See. One, two, three, four.
"Now on the left side, the green porn porn and the red porn porn are attached to
each other on the L-O-N-G string." I pull this up and down to demonstrate, emphasizing
the word LONG as I speak. "And on the right side, the yellow and blue porn porns are
attached to each other on the short string.
"But the thing is-when you pull down on the yellow porn porn, the green porn
porn goes up (opposite side). And when you pull up on the red porn porn the yellow goes
up." Kids usually laugh when this happens.
As they do, I slowly lower the red porn porn so the string goes through the pole
and the green porn porn descends.
"And when you pull up on the blue porn porn, the green one goes up."
More laughter. I lower the blue porn porn so its string goes straight down through
the pole and the yellow descends. Then I immediately pull the green one down, which
makes the yellow go back up.
"But remember, the green one and the red one are attached to each other on the
L-O-N-G STRING! Maybe I should show you again." With that, I go through the entire
sequence again.

CRASH COURSE ON KIDSHOWS 43
Next stage:
"Now at the toy shop, they told me-NEVER pull down the green porn porn and
the yellow porn porn at the same time."As I say that, I grasp those two and pull them
straight down, spliting the hidden magnets inside the pole. I stop and look in mock
horror, because I have just done what they told me NOT to do.
"Because if you do that, they said-the whole thing FALLS APART!" As I pronounce
those words, I pull the two pole halves apart and spread my arms at least three feet
apart. I point the open holes toward the audience, left and right, to make it clear the
poles are apart and not attached in any way.
"And then it won't work. And if it won't work, you have to send it all the way
back out to California from Georgia. That's 2500 miles."
As I say that, I put the pole back together, string holes straight up towards the
sky. I grasp the green porn porn 'Arith my left hand. My right hand holds the pole by the
center, and the right first finger pins down the red porn porn against the pole top at the
hole. Immediately I tilt the pole right at a 45-degree angle, easing the green porn porn
and string upward. This makes the green string slide up and down into the pole,
allo'Aring the magnets to reconnect.
"And you have to pack it in a box, and ship it out to California to get fixed . . . and
repaired too! And that takes about three months!"
While I say that, I complete reconnecting the magnets, and I immediately wrap
the lower yellow porn porn string around the pole, the idea being that I'm going to
package and ship it.
"But I couldn't wait that long. Because a lot of times when I'm at home, I just
stand around and pull down on the green porn porn and the yellow goes up. Pull up on
the blue one and the green goes up. Pull up on the red and the yellow goes up."
I've unwrapped the string and started performing the movements again. After
three go-arounds, I just pull green and yellow down, back and forth.
"Wait a minute! Wait one minute! It's working again!"
I allow the audience to react, then wrap the green string around the pole as I
finish. "Well, I never have figured this toy out. But if you do, please write me a letter
and explain it to me ... because until then, I will think it's just MAGIC!"
TAH-DAH! That's the end of my routine, but here are a couple of after thoughts:
Any time you want to talk about four things working together-four people, four
parts, four products-use the Porn Porn Pole. Explain the four parts, then explain that if
they don't work together, everything will fall apart. To work right, they have to
cooperate.
Terry Seabrooke saw me do my toy shop routine in New Zealand. He suggested
this line of patter for me to share with you. Use the pole as an airport. You fly into the
red terminal, went to the green desk, but they sent your bags to the blue terminal, and
you had to check in at the yellow desk. Make up a story about your luggage being sent
back and forth and you chasing them all over the place. Hey, I like that!
Hank Moorehouse has a super routine in which he calls his pole the Nothing
Machine. It's a matter of looking at something and asking yourself the question, "What
does it look like? What is it for?"Your comedy routine starts 'Arith those answers.

44 DAVID GINN
! 2. The, Bji1!ed ,?!!c f J
Have you ever been caught RED HANDED doing your magic? Have children
yelled out, "I know how you did that! 11 or "I saw it in your hand," or even the old
favorite, "Turn it around!"? Or maybe you've performed close-up magic and have
caught looks from the spectators when they spied you doing "the ·move" which was
supposed to be secret.
Well, here's your chance to turn the tables on the hecklers and know-it-alls by
LETTING THEM catch you RED HANDED ... on purpose!
Thanks to an idea by magician, inventor, manipulator, former dealer JAMES
SWOGER (Somerset PA--Swoger's House of Enchantment-now living in California and
85 years young!) you can do just that! Using the same modus operandi as the Miracle
Rabbit, Big Bunny, and Growing Ball-professionally manufactured by Steve Goshman
of Magic by Gosh fame-you can suddenly or subtlely change a RED two-inch BALL into
a life-size big RED HAND. And when the audience catches you at it, you can
unashamedly admit: "You caught me RED HANDED!"
A sponge red hand the size of a large man's hand and an extra two-inch red
sponge ball are all you need.
SET UP: Starting at the finger tips, fold the fingers and thumb into the palm,
then fold over once more (into 3rds), and turn the hand inside-out via the hole in the
bottom of the hand. I personally wet my sponge in a sink several times before the show,
filling it with water, squeezing it out, then twice more. Then I towel dry the sponge by
rolling it into a paper or cloth towel, squeezing it to remove some water. This still
leaves the sponge wet and two things result: (1) the sponge item LOOKS BIGGER and
(2) it FLIPS INSIDE-OUT EASIER.
Before the show I hide the hand (now a ball) in my case or behind something on
my table, setting it AND the 2" ball ( which I also saturated with water and squeezed
out) on a plastic ziplock bag. This keeps other things from getting wet. At the
conclusion, I place the ball and hand into that same plastic bag WITHOUT zipping it
locked. Thus it will dry out in the bag without getting your other props wet. However,
avoid having it touching paper or cardboard items, even though it is inside the bag.
The basic David Ginn routine is the same I have employed with the Big Bunny
and Star of the Show tricks, both sponge balls which turn inside-out to make a large
sponge bunny or a 10" yellow star. The basis for this was shown to me by a caring and
sharing California magician at one of my lectures 8-10 years ago. I cannot think WHO
this was (getting old?), but let me say a heartfelt THANK YOU to him for sharing not
only with me, but through me with other magicians and clowns around the world.
This routine works thanks to the "magician-in-trouble" or "clown-in-trouble"
SYNDROME I wrote about in my book Kidbiz. Here's how I handle it:
I tell the audience I am going to give them a MAGICAL OBSERVATION TEST. As
I pick up the gimmicked ball in my right hand, I also pick up the two-inch red ball in
my left, and I immediately slip the 2" ball into my left pocket. Because it is wet, I don't
want that ball in my pocket for very long before performing the trick.
Displaying the red (gimmicked) ball, I put it over my left fist (ball opening
down), and push the ball into my hand. Thanks to the moisture, the ball generally flips
inside-out INSIDE my left hand. I show my right hand empty, make some magical
gestures, and announce that the ball will VANISH on the count of THREE. As I count to
three, I SLOPPILY STEAL the ball from my left hand with my right hand and put my

CRASH COURSE ON KIDSHOWS 45
right hand on my hip. I gesture at the left hand and blow on it, then open it wide and
exclaim, "IT'S GONE! And NOBODY in the whole world knows where it is!"
With kids, this is all it takes, to have them immediately pointing and shouting--­
"IT'S IN YOUR HAND!" Meaning, my other hand, my right hand.
"No, no," I tell them, "It's NOT in my hand." I keep waving my left hand, showing
it empty back and front, as though I am proud of the fact.
But the children are yelling, "THE OTHER HAND."
"What?" I say. "My other hand? I only have two hands!" Quickly I point toward
the right hand with my left. "There's one hand," then I hold up the left as I say, "and
here's the OTHER hand, and the OTHER hand is EMPTY!"
More shouting follows.
"Oh, you mean this hand--my RIGHT HAND?" Yes, yes, yes!!! "Okay," I finally
give in, "You caught me . . . " and I slowly open my right hand, ". . . you caught me RED
HANDED!" At which time I hold up the BIG RED HAND for a visual joke.
So, since the audience always wanted to catch us magicians RED HANDED, for
once we're giving them EXACTLY what they want!
Here are some other lines you might employ, first from David Ginn and second
from Steve Taylor. There are dozens more in the instructions supplied with the trick.
• I know---don't HAND you that!
• Hey, it was taught to me by a HAND-some magician.
• I usually play music with this---HANDdles Messiah."
STEVE TAYLOR: • (Put the foam hand between two slices of foam bread.) Applaud or
you're gonna get a knuckle-sandwich! Ha, ha, ha, it's FINGER FOOD!
• This trick only works with a little help from my STAGE HAND!
• This is really HAND-Y if you ever need your PALM RED!
• Hand it to a spectator to hold. "Will you HOLD MY HAND?"
• Put it under your chin upside down and make turkey gobble noises!
• Put the hand onto your head and flap it back and forth. "Hey, wavy hair!"
• Use David Ginn's pie joke. Put your ring on the hand and ask the audience,
"Why does my hand look like a lemon pie?" "It's got MA RANG (meringue) on it!"

46 DAVID GINN
1 ........................................................................................................,
3. Hocus Pocus Harei
••..••••••..•••..•••••••••••••••••••••n••••••• ..••••••••••••••••••n••••••u•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ..
On page 26 of this book, I pretty-much sketched out my routine with this cute
inexpensive kidshow prop. However, let me share with you a technique taught to me
by Gene Gordon himself, which might save you embarrassment. He and I both have
used this with the Jumbo Three Card Monte to prevent the sliding card from "talking."
The technique is this: When you turn over the
sliding card (rabbit in frame), place your right thumb
below the sliding picture to CATCH the sliding part as it
falls. This keeps it from hitting the bottom with an audible
click. Once your thumb catches the slide, ease your thumb
out ( while talking to the audience) and let the slide go into
its place.
Also, if you wish to turn the picture around like a
steering wheel (side to side 360 degrees), just squeeze the
picture together. Nothing will slide, and you can turn the
rabbit portrait all the way around. Most likely you will see
me perform this, but I just thought these few notes might
be of help.
j4. Turkey Sandwich and Junior Chicken I
Here's a really neat sight gag or walk-around prop for clowns or comedy
magicians. Several magic and clown manufacturers (including me) make a turkey
sandwich, consisting of foam bread with a mirror inside. Since the advent of a small
and very flexible rubber chicken a few years ago, I have been using the turkey
sandwich in an amplified way.
This is really easy.
Place the small rubber chicken (I call it a Junior Chicken) centered on the foam
bread as in T-1. Fold in his legs first, then fold the head/neck over the legs, so that all
fits inside the bread before putting the top/lid on the sandwich. See T-2. You can wrap
this in foil, or even place it in a ziplock plastic bag. When ready to perform, pull out the
bag and say: "My wife made me a sandwich for lunch, but I don't know what kind."
Slip your right thumb inside the sandwich and hold the center of the chicken.
''I'll take a look-oh, it's a chicken sandwich!"
The moment you say that, lift the lid with your left hand. Because your thumb
is holding the rubber chicken down, the head and legs will automatically flop open,
leaving you holding the sandwich something like the T-1 drawing.
"What's wrong?" you ask the spectators. ''You don't like chicken? Well, maybe
you'd like a TURKEY SANDWICH!"
T-1
T-2

48 DAVID GINN
THAT flower back into the first position. IMPORTANT: I continue sliding my hand up
the stem now WITHOUT moving any flowers until my hand comes off the top-empty.
Then I make the three fingers pointing gesture and say:
.,Red-yellow-MAGIC!"And gesture for applause.
!6.·····Frank .. Herman's···Glow .. L oo·········Bottles .... j
............................................................................................................................................. P ........... ,.. ......................... .
In the fall of 1995 Skipper Frank Herman, California magician, inventor,
kidshow worker and TV personality, attended our second-ever Komedy Kidshow Klinic,
held in the San Diego area. At the lunch break he showed me this incredible trick,
which not only fooled me, but which I instantly loved. Yes, I bought one from him,
started performing it, then selling them, and before it was all over, Frank sold me the
rights to his "Glow Loops "little Coke bottle trick. Though we lost Skipper Frank several
years ago, the fun he had and gave with magic lives on in this trick.
Though Frank's basic instructions come with the purchase of this trick, I want to
add some David Ginn comments. I urge you to note, as Frank says, to blow a little
harder just as you push the bracelet through the string. This makes the trick work
better and look more magical. Also, the string must be straight, and the knot NOT
standing up where it might catch on the bottle. I often wet the knotted area with water
or saliva before the show and roll the knot around the string with my fingers.
Being from Atlanta, I always start off with the Coke bottle. I start by blowing
through the straw something like F-1 but without the bracelet in sight. I want the kids
to see the "toy"first. The sight of the string going continuously through the bottle
actually fascinates people (yes, adults as well as children). Then I introduce what I call
the "deadly dangerous daring HOOP OF DEATH ... also known as a cheap plastic
bracelet."I put it on the straw, blow through again to get the string going, then slowly
slide the bracelet THROUGH the string as in F-1.
Believe me, the first time people see you do this, they are spellbound amazed! So
be prepared for some reaction before you continue.
"Wait a minute,"I act surprised. "I'd like to see that again."So I perform it again,
turning to my left this time for a different viewpoint.
"I know what you're thinking,"I say. "You're thinking that's reallly cool, but
David, can you do that CAFFEINE FREE? Of course I can."I lay down the Coke bottle
and pick up the orange soda bottle. "Because I have Minute Maid Orange!"Now I repeat
the trick with the orange bottle, letting the HOOP bracelet penetrate the string.
Sometimes this gets a little applause, but I play it down, wanting to save the
applause for the big finish.
"Oh, yes, I still know what some of you are thinking. You're thinking: David, if
you were a REAL MAN, you could do BOTH bottles at one time. Would you like to see
me do both bottles and hoops at the same time?" YES! "Okay, then ... two bottles, two
hoops, two strings, and two straws all at the same time."
I place both bottles side by side as in F-2, getting ready.
"Now before I do this ... would you go ahead NOW and show me what the
applause will sound like if I really do it? Go ahead, let me hear it."The audience
usually joins in good-naturedly and applauds. If they are loud and enthusiastic, I say
fine, that's great. But if light applause, I say, "I'm not sure if it's WORTH it for just that
little applause,"and they applaud more and louder. You just have to learn to milk this.
"Okay, I'm ready, but with these two straws in my mouth, it's hard to count to
three, so I'll just hold up my fingers."I put the straws/bottles in my mouth as in F-3,

50 DAVID GINN
C-2
I have this boy stand on my right and hold out his right hand. I remove the first rubber
band and place it around his right wrist. This frees the top card.
Next I reach for his left wrist as in C-2. As I bring that wrist and arm into a
horizonal position (fingers pointing toward the audience), my RIGHT HAND with cards
goes briefly behind his back and presses the deck FLAT AGAINST HIS BACK. Thanks to
the tape, the card sticks. My positioning the boy's wrist and arm misdirects what
happens behind him. Almost immediately, my right hand comes up and over his left
shoulder and plops the deck into his open left palm. I pause a moment, then remove the
second rubberband and put it around his left wrist.
Now I show the cards (the first 26) to him and the audience ... all different. I
turn the deck face down and spread the top 20 cards or so, and ask him to take one but
don't let ME see it. I have him show it around while I turn left, but admonish the
audience not to tell ME what card it is because I'm going to try to read the boy's mind.
We return the card carefully to the deck, and I use the rubberbands to secure it.
I now place the cards aside. Waving my hand over the boy's head while he thinks of his
card, I announce: 0 Ace of Spades!" Wrong. "I'll try with two fingers." I slowly wave my
first two fingers over his head, giving him "bunny ears" or horns without him knowing
it. This gets a laugh from the audience. "Queen of Diamonds!" I shout. Wrong. Usually I
try a third time, mumbling magic words, telling him to think harder, and so on, but I
am still wrong.
"Okay, I give up. What was your card? What? The THREE OF HEARTS? Well, I'm
sorry. I don't know what happened. I'll have to work harder on this next time. At least
let me shake your hand." I reach across for the boy's RIGHT HAND, and the moment I
take it, I turn him around with his back flat to the crowd. I keep apologizing to him as
the audience gets vocal, laughing, shouting, pointing, now yelling. I look all around
and often say to the boy, "What are they yelling about?" Of course, he doesn't know!
Finally, I do pretend to understand them. I turn the boy's back flat to the
audience and remove the card, letting them see it.
"Well, no wonder I couldn't read his mind-his card wasn't on his mind, it was ON
HIS BACK!" That usually gets a good laugh, completes the trick, and I usher the boy
back to his seat with a warm round of applause.

CRASH COURSE ON KIDSHOWS
51
............................................................................................... ,
. The Pluto Planet
-- ·--------- ..!
Comedy mindreading for kids? Hey, I've been doing it for 30 years! Now here's
your chance to do solar system education with a good sprinkling of fun.
The props are simple: (1) Nine pictures of our solar system planets, laminated to
last through lots of shows. (2) A large manilla envelope to hold these pictures. (3) A
tenth picture of Mickey Mouse's dog PLUTO with his name printed on the picture.
My planet pictures I blew up from NASA color photos, mounted on 12 x 18 purple
poster paper (half an 18 x 24 inch sheet), then laminated. The names I blew up from
my computer. Pluto's picture I blew up from a Disney coloring book in black and white,
colored in with felt markers, mounted on purple poster paper, then laminated.
To set up, place the nine planet pictures, in order, on your table. Have the Pluto
dog picture in the envelope. In my actual show, I had a cardboard statue of a robot
("Mr. Roboto") standing to my right. The presentation I'll give you here will merely
refer to him, so you can do this without him in sight.
PERFORMANCE: "Did you know we live in a solar system in a galaxy? We sure
do. Does anyone know the name of our galaxy? What? The Milky Way! That's right.
"Our galaxy is called the Milky Way, and the next galaxy over is the Snickers,
and then there's the Three Musketeers and the Mr. Goodbar. A lot of people don't know
that. See how educational my show is!"
Okay, it's corny, but the kids like it.
"I wonder who knows the names of all nine planets in our solar system in order?
Oh, lots of hands. I'll pick someone who knows the first three."
Here I select a child 8-12 years old and have him stand up."What's your name?"
Let's say Billy. "Okay, Billy, what is the first planet, the one closest to the sun?"
"Mercury.''
"Right, Mercury," I repeat for those who might not have heard. "What comes
next?" He says Venus. "Good, Venus. And what's the Third Rock from the sun?"
EARTH. "Earth-that's right! Let's give Billy a round of applause! Thanks, Billy, you
may sit down."
I repeat this with a second child-Mars, Jupiter, Saturn-and a third- Uranus,
Neptune, Pluto-so we now have named all the planets. I've used three helpers without
having them come on stage. If one guesses wrong, I may give him or her help; if a kid
obviously doesn't know, I thank him, have him sit, and select another child.
Now I ask for a helper to come on stage. Let's call him Wesley, and-very
important-he must be old enough to be a reader.
"Wesley, I've brought along pictures of all nine planets in our solar system today.
Let's look at them. Here's Mercury. Do you know it's so hot on Mercury that you can
fry an egg on the ground? But you can't eat it-because you would be melted like hot
ice cream!" Next picture. "Here's Venus, the planet filled with beautiful women. They
all look like Zsa Zsa Gabor. Maybe you could meet your future wife there. Oh,
nevermind!
"And here's our planet Earth, the big blue marble. Do you know why Earth looks
so blue from outer space? Right, it's covered with water. Next up is Mars, the red
planet ... followed by Jupiter, our largest planet ... and the sixth is Saturn. Did you
know Saturn has been engaged six times? Well, it has six rings!
"Next is Uranus, then Neptune, and finally the smallest planet, Pluto."

52 DAVID GINN
Now I turn the giant pictures face down with Pluto on bottom, holding the pile
with my right hand. My left hand pulls one at a time off the bottom and puts it on the
top. Unknown to the kids, my right hand has slid back the Pluto Planet card, retaining
it on the bottom. That way, I take the second picture from the bottom each time. Yes,
it's a giant card force! (Note: This techique is fully explained on my video It's All the
Same Trick, along with five other possibilities and routines.)
"Wesley, I'm going to shuffle through the pictures like this to mix them up," I tell
the boy, "and I want you to say STOP whenever you want." After a moment he does.
"Let's see which one you stopped me on." I turn over the pile to show Pluto. "Oh,
it's Pluto. Would you hold the Pluto Planet picture so everyone can see it? Good." I put
down the other pictures and pick up the envelope.
"Wesley, I have a robot at home, and he is very smart. His name is Mr. Roboto,
and he can read people's minds. In fact, Wesley, I think he's read your mind already
and knows which planet picture you selected. His prediction message is in this
envelope. I'll look to see if he's right." I look.
"Yes, it says Pluto! Let's give Mr. Roboto a big round of applause!" The audience
kids naturally clap, but some always say, "Let us see."
"What? Let you see?" I reply. "Why,
you might strain your eyes. I'll take it out
of the envelope and look again." I do this,
with the back of the picture toward the
audience. "That's right. It's Pluto! Let's
give Mr. Roboto a big round-"
Less applause. "We want to see! Let
us see!"
"Oh, you don't believe me? Maybe
you'll believe Wesley here. Uh, Wesley, I'll
show you Mr. Roboto's prediction, and you
tell me-YES or NO-does that say Pluto?"
I let the boy see it. "Yes!" he says.
"See, I told you. Now let's give Mr.
Roboto a big-"
"LET US SEE!"
"What? You don't believe Mr. Roboto or me or Wesley? I can't believe this! Okay,
I'll show you. But remember, I told you, Mr. Roboto's prediction says-" and I turn it
around, "P-L-U-T-O! And there it is!" Boy, do the kids laugh now.
"What do you mean it's not Pluto? It's Mickey Mouse's dog-and HIS NAME IS
PLUTO! So let's give Wesley and Mr. Roboto a big round of applause! Of course it's
PLUTO, Mickey Mouse's dog-who do you think they named that planet after anyway!"
There it is. It's quick, easy, educational, fun, and even clever! Want an alternate
ending? Try a blow-up of a Mars Candy Bar wrapper (I did) or a Saturn automobile.
The Venus de Milo statue might even work. But let's face it: the children love Pluto,
Mickey Mouse's dog.

CRASH COURSE ON KIDSHOWS 53
m
9.
..•..••••••-••• The
....-•..•••••••moy-. Big
..••••••..•••••••,-.•.-•••--•••
Black
••..•••••••••••••• Hat
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Let me share with you how I have embellished a trick with comedy, props,
costuming, and more to take the basic premise from a trick to a routine. In the 2000-
2001 school year I did this ten times weekly in my "Every Book is a Magic Book "
assembly program. And I'm still using it in shows this year of 2003!
Let's rewind: In the spring of 2001 at a convention I purchased a big black "mad
hatter " type of top hat, soft and plush and big from a clown vendor. Amazingly, this
hat had a five inch compartment in the bottom, hidden by a double folding flap of cloth
... and it came with a small plush WHITE BUNNY to pull out of it!
My plan in the beginning was to dress a kid helper like a magician .. . and of
course he would need a top hat. Well, this was/is the hat!
But I would need more: a magic book (to teach him from), comedy magic wands,
and a whole bunch of silks tied together for a production.
And a live rabbit production to top off the whole routine.
Here is how it ended up ... and how I have now presented it in some 500 school
programs since September of 2001.
• • •
"When I was about eleven years old, I read this book from the library." I hold up
my copy of Joseph Leeming's Fun with Magic. "I probably learned every trick in this
book when I was 11-12-13 years old. Except there was one I never got quite right ...
here it is ... Pulling a Rabbit out of a Hat.
"But I had this thought: if I had the help of someone who could really follow
instructions ... and I read these instructions to that person ... maybe I could finally do
this trick today."
At this point I select a quiet boy (occasionally a girl) who is sitting down, mouth
closed, hand raised. In an elementary school, I often get an older student, say 4th or
5th grade, because he is tall enough to be seen if the kids are sitting on the floor.
Let's call him MICHAEL.
"Michael, stand right there on my left," I tell him after learning his name. "And
you'll play the part of the magician, while I read the DESTRUCTIONS ... I mean, IN­
STRUCTIONS! Now, one thing, Michael: you look fine and all, but you don't look like a
magician. I mean, you don't have on a tuxedo or bowtie. So I'll let you borrow some of
my magician's garb, starting with my own magician's cape."
To my left, on a table, I have the Big Black Hat. It is loaded with the beanie
bunny and string of silks in hidden compartment, but the black cape fills the upper
80% of the hat. So I step over and with a flourish whip the cape into the air and out of
the top hat. Kids think this looks neat.
I bring the cape to Michael.
"Now Michael, this may NOT be just a cape. It may be Harry Potter's famous
CLOAK OF INVISIBILITY. Let's see. Hold still. Don't move." Saying that, I toss the cape
over the boy's head so it covers him from head down below his waist. This cape is a thin
material-which means he can see through it-so I've never had a boy get scared.
Immediately I shout: "Michael! Where are you? He's gone!" I wave my hands all
round the boy without touching him, feeling nothing, as if he is really invisible. "Hey,
Michael, come on back ... where are you?"
Suddenly I jerk the cape off the boy while glancing away from him. A moment
later I look back and see him ... and I jump back, acting startled. The audience kids
think this is funny.

54 DAVID GINN
"Oh! Well-HE'S BAAAACK!" I tell them, often getting a laugh. "Maybe I'd better
just put the cape on Michael the right way." So I put the cape around his back and start
tying the strings at his neck. "Remember," I tell the audience while tying the cape in a
bow knot, "he's not Zorro, Dracula, or the Little Vampire!"
With the cape secured, the hat comes next.
"Now Michael will need a magician's top hat ... and I have one right there." I
bring out the hat and quickly show it empty to the boy and the audience. Then I put it
atop his head. "Let's see if this fits," I say, and pull the hat over his head, all the way
down to his chin!
Audience children go bananas over seeing this! And I make it a point to look at
them, not the boy. "What? Something wrong?" I turn to the boy. "Michael? Where are
you? Oh, I see, the hat is too big for your head!"
I lift the hat up, uncovering his face, and perch it on the top and back of his head.
"Sorry about that. I guess my hat is too big for your head. Anyway, let's read
the book and figure this out. Here we go."
I pick up the book and read from page 85:
"It says here: When a professional magician produces a rabbit or a number of silk
handkerchiefs from a hat, he first shows the hat empty. Well, we already did that.
Let's see: Then he waves the magic wand over the hat three times. Oh, I forgot the
magic wand."
I reach into my bag and bring out a comedy wand. I use Supreme's Tipple Topple
Wand here, but any comedy wand (Breakaway, Fishing Pole, Rubber Wand) will do.
"Here, Michael, you hold the wand." I hand it to him, it falls apart or whatever,
and we do comedy with that a few moments, trying to fix it or make it work. Finally I
say, "Let's just do the best we can with it," and he holds it like it is.
"Now, it says here," reading the book again, "to wave the wand over the hat three
times." I take the hat off his head. "Here's the hat. Now you wave the wand over the
hat three times." As I say that, I turn the opening of the hat away from the audience
and the boy. I slip my hand inside and quickly pull out the first silk of the tied string
WITHOUT LOOKING, because that will give it away.
The boy waves the wand any way he wants over the hat.
"Now, it says for you to pull something out. Go ahead and try, it probably won't
work."
Here I turn the opening of the hat toward the boy, where he cannot help but see
the colorful silks now inside. In over 500 performances so far, virtually every boy
reaches in and pulls out the string of silks, either in a clump or one by one by one. To
help this, the moment I see him grab the silk, I pull the hat away to my right (he's on
my left remember), and this move tends to display the silks quicker.
Audience reaction is good here, often laughter, especially when I don't at first see
what is happening. Then I look and exclaim:
"Michael, what is this-YOUR LAUNDRY?" That makes the kids laugh.
I take the silks, acting flustered myself, and toss them aside into my bag. Steve
Taylor, having seen the show, has suggest that I tie an old WIG onto the end of the silks
... and remark: "Not THAT kind OF HARE!" By the time you read this book I may be
doing that!
"Michael, we're supposed to be doing the rabbit trick! Now let's keep reading. Let's
see, it says here: Then the magician waves the wand in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION
three times. Maybe that's where I had the trouble . . . I didn't know what it meant by
the opposite direction. Michael, you wave the wand in the opposite direction, and let's
see what happens."

CRASH COURSE ON KIDSHOWS 55
I allow him to wave the wand . . . and you never know how or what he will do . . .
so just roll with it. "Oh, now it I see-so that is the opposite direction!"
By this time I have secretly reached into the hat, opened the hidden
compartment, and left the white beanie bunny showing.
"Well, Michael, you go ahead and reach inside the hat and pull out the rabbit. Of
course, you know he's not going to be able to do it ... because I never was able to do it,
and I am a professional magician .... "
I purposely keep talking along these lines as the boy has a chance to reach in and
pull out the stuffed bunny. If he doesn't do it right away, simply encourage him by
saying, "Go ahead and try it, thaf s the least you can do."
Most times, however, the boy reaches in and immediately pulls out the bunny.
The audience kids see it, and because I don't, THEY GO BONKERS! They laugh and
shout and howl . . . and I keep talking and not looking . . . and this creates a very funny
scene!
Finally, I turn and look at the boy and see the bunny. Often I do a classic double
take ... then I act angry (a kid did it when I couldn't) ... and I huffily close the book
and slam the plush hat down on top of it on my right hand table. I cross my arms in
mock anger (he outdid me!), and this makes the kids laugh more.
Then I pretend to jerk the bunny out of his hand.
"Michael," I say as the kids calm down, "this is NOT a rabbit. Ifs a BEANIE
BUNNY!" More laughter.
I toss the bunny aside, follmving it with the wand in the boy's hand.
From here I move the routine toward a real live rabbit production using this
same boy under the guise of "hatching an egg." This could be a rabbit egg, Easter Egg,
or even a dinosaur egg. And for you it could be most any rabbit production device you
own. You could even take the beanie bunny he produced from the hat and change it to
a real rabbit.
Basically, I leave the boy holding something (beanie bunny, rabbit egg, dino
egg), while I step behind my screen, load the live rabbit, and bring out the production
box. We put the item inside, after showing box empty, then I give the boy another
magic wand. Right now I have a telescoping wand that looks like the olympic torch,
then pops open to six feet long. With his cape on and holding this, the boy looks like
Luke Skywalker.
"Michael, this is NOT Star Wars!" I exclaim for a laugh. He waves the wand over
the box, we shout magic words (appropriate to the particular show), and I take back the
wand. 'Tm putting this away before he turns ME into a chicken!" That always gets a
laugh.

"Now, Michael, lean your ear down and listen to the box. Do you hear anything
alive inside. Is it moving or scratching or chirping or peeping? Anything?"
The boys listens, and this can be very funny, depending on the kid. He usually
straightens up and says NO.
"Nothing?"
"No."
"You don't even hear the SOUNDS OF SILENCE?"Kids don't get that one at all,
but believe me the adults over 40 will react to the Simon and Garfunkel song
reference.
"That's okay, Michael,"I tell him. "I guess it didn't work."Saying that, I
immediately lift the cover of my production box-and there's the live rabbit. My rabbit
Harry STANDS UP on his back legs right away ... and the audience kids go wild at the
sight of him!
I usually jump back in surprise, and often the boy does the same thing!
'What! Who! How! Wait a minute!"I exclaim, picking the live rabbit up a
moment later for all to see. nThis is my rabbit HARRY!"Now I close the production box
and sit the rabbit on top of it. I take the boy's hand and put it on the rabbit's back,
whispering for him to give Harry a back rub.
"Man, I never know when that rabbit is going to appear or disappear. He's always
pulling tricks like this on me! But wait a minute-maybe Harry didn't pull this trick
on me. Maybe it was MICHAEL THE MAGICIAN!"
I reach over and quickly pull the bow knot undone on the cape.
"I'd better take this cape off Michael now ... before he flies around the room and
makes you and me and LUNCH disappear. But you know what? I think Michael did a
great job being a magician today ... so as he goes back to his seat, let's give Michael a
big round of applause!"
Now ... adapt it to you ... and make fun for children.
j10. Mr. Gecko of Hawaii]
My wife Lynne and I went to Hawaii to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary
back in 1989. The morning after we arrived, I was still in bed when I heard my wife
scream from the kitchen. I rushed to find out what had frightened her, only to be told
that a green lizard had run across the kitchen counter.
"That wasn't a lizard, Lynne. It was Mr. Gecko. He's famous in all over Hawaii."
To prove it, I later bought at-shirt with his picture on it.
"Famous or not,"said my wife, "he'd better stay out of my kitchen or he'll be
famous and DEAD!"
Be that as it may, for my 1993 Hawaii school show I created a routine for two
children in which a plastic gecko lizard vanishes from a box and appears-not in the
other box-but on the boy's back, similar to Hoppy the Frog or Super Frog. You can see
this performed live on my Hawaii video.
The box is a double back-to-back cigar box or pencil box, two boxes glued and
taped together as in G-1. In one side I have fixed a green plastic gecko; in the other side
a plastic hibiscus flower, state flower of Hawaii.
Getting two children on stage, I dress them both in kidsize Hawaiian shirts. One
shirt, the boy's, has a gecko hanging on back of it via Velcro. See the page 35 drawing. I
simply put the shirts on a boy and a girl, and the boy never realizes the gecko is behind
56 DAVID GINN

CRASH COURSE ON KIDSHOWS 63
"FIVE-0!'' I shout as I remove the fifth. By this time folks are laughing. "What's
wrong?" I ask quickly. ''You've never heard of HAWAII FIVE-0?" From older kids to
adults it gets a laugh.
Then I remove Sammy's arm and have him check it for any scars, scratches,
damage of any sort (while I quickly dispose of the box). Keep in mind that I dispose of
the spikes either one by one as they come out of the box, or all five at once when I pull
out # 5 spike.
"Well, Sammy, it looks like you made it-you're a man in the tribe!"
One more hold-out, for those who see me live or purchase this trick. Quite by accident I
discovered the FUNNIEST GAG to end this routine. You'll just have to experience it through
David Ginn, one way or the other. Remember, we magicians must keep some secrets!
II The Last Word I
Years ago I wrote a formula for success in children's magic. I published it in several
books and magazine articles. It went like this:
MAGIC+ COMEDY= ENTERTAINMENT
But magician Caleb Heppner corrected me in a Laugh Makers magazine article he
wrote. He added to my formula something I left out in print. I simply assumed you
knew it. Maybe I was wrong. Here is what he wrote, and he was right:
MAGIC + COMEDY+ PERSONALITY= ENTERTAINMENT
That is the real formula. You must add personality to the mix.
"What is personality?" you might well ask.
In a nutshell, personality is YOU. It is who you are, who you want to be, where you
went to school, how you grew up, what movies you saw, what music you heard and
hear now, it's your mom and dad and sisters and brothers and friends, it's what you
think is important, it's your sense of humor and creativity and your vast imagination.
Personality is YOU.
You are the only YOU there is, and there is no other you in this lifetime on this
planet. God made just one of you, and that is His gift to you. What you do with that
life is your gift back to Him.
Yes, it's your choice.
Please do good for the children with your personality. Remember what I said on page
one-Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. Maybe I should amend that statement
by saying that nothing you do GOOD for children is ever wasted. Because you
must understand that my point of view comes from God's love, filtered through me and
now YOU down to the children. Goodness and love go hand-in-hand, and the way we