Kids are great! One of their many assets is that they're a great audience for magic. Their jaws drop when you wave your hands and the supermarket door opens. When I did that for my son for the first time I thought he'd faint. He was positively awe-stricken. I was expecting him to kneel down and worship me as a white god. My favorite trick of all though, was the disappearing nickel.
It's almost too easy. You put a nickel in your palm and tell your kid (my daughter in this case) that you're going to make it disappear right infront of her eyes. Now kids aren't stupid, and they're likely to say something like, "Piff! Piff! C'mon Dad, nobody can really do that! I wasn't born yesterday!" It's important to little kids that you know they're worldly and not to be trifled with.
So you say to the kid, "No, I mean it! It's real magic! Just watch the nickel closely and it'll vanish right infront of your eyes. " The kid gives a skeptical look. "Here it goes...keeeeep watching...!" The kid's face gets closer to your palm. "I feel it starting to disappear...It's starting to ...yes, there it goes...Oh my God, it's...it's...!" Then sudden;y, "HOLY COW! WHAT'S THAT BEHIND YOU!?" Huh? She turns to see what you were pointing at and you pocket the nickel! When she looks back again the palm is empty. Klong! The kid is flabbergasted! Nothing to do now but sit back and receive waves of awe and adulation.
Gee, I miss that. Kids have a way of making you feel like a king. BTW, the kids in the pictures aren't mine, I got them off the net.
You got your kids off the net?
ReplyDeleteTo true!
ReplyDeleteAny younger than 5 or so, however, and the "magic" is lost... they simply assume that you CAN do anything! (It doesn't appear incongruous to them.)
I remember getting my first magic kit when I was 6 or 7 and being so disappointed. "This is for kids to make it LOOK like they're doing magic," I said to my mom. I want to do REAL magic!
Erk, that was meant to read "Too, true!"
ReplyDeleteSo true! And with our kid the next stage was his becoming obsessed with doing magic tricks for us. Getting adults to say "Hey! How did you do that??" was probably his first experience of outstanding competence and power.
ReplyDeleteYou're ready for vegas with that act, Eddie!
ReplyDeleteSee ya
Steve
I think kids love that stuff too , it makes the world a mystery and anything is possible, like the tooth fairy etc... I think kids benefit from that stuff. it makes them more creative, cause their imagination can run wild!
ReplyDeleteHey Eddie!
ReplyDeleteDo you think I could take some of the credit for your Fry and Laurie post? Just kidding, of course.
You know, when I was a kid everything was magic. I used to say, "hey, mom! That birds flying! It must be magic!" or "Hey, that vacuum sucked up all the dirt! It's Magic!" and especially, "Dad's Hair is disappearing, but just in that one spot! MAGIC!" But now-a-days the only magic I see is if I can file my tax returns on time.
I ain't gonna fall for it next time!
ReplyDeleteKing of the Shaggy Dog story! Nice anti-climax, Eddie!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could build up anicipation like that.
You should ahve disclaimer at the top of teh page: I have never met people depicted in this blog. All images are culled of the internet or scanned from library books, excluding my own drawings, which will be denoted by remarks of modest self-deprecation.
ReplyDeleteYOU GOT YOUR KIDS OFF THE INTERNET !!
ReplyDelete