Now performing at a restaurant near you…assuming you’re in Schaumburg
June 18th, 2010 by admin
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be appearing at a new restaurant in Schaumburg! (As a Chicago magician, I’d love to perform in a Chicago restaurant, but as Schaumburg is closer than Batavia, at least I’m moving in the right direction.) The restaurant I’ll be doing my close up magic at is called Mad Mark’s Mystic Pizza. It’s a fun place to work and I’ll be performing my magic on Friday, Saturday and Monday nights from 5:30 to 8:30. (Monday nights is Kid’s Eat Free night!) Since no one hires magicians to perform at kids birthday parties or as corporate entertainment on a weekly basis, it’s the closest thing to consistent income that I get, which is always nice. If you’re in Schaumburg, stop by!
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Giving back to magic
June 17th, 2010 by admin
As a Chicago magician I perform all over Chicagoland, in restaurants, at birthday party shows and as corporate entertainment, for both close up magic and stage magic shows. Having performed and studied magic all my life (and now as a magic product reviewer) I have had the good fortune of learning from a variety of magic sources, from lectures to books, DVD’s to magazines.
And I’d like to give back.
I’m not claiming to be an expert or to have reached the pinnacle of being a magician, but I have noticed that I find myself performing close up magic for kids quite a bit, but there isn’t a lot of information out there about how to best do so. Most close up magic is geared toward adults and most children’s magic is designed for the stage (birthday parties, schools, libraries, festivals and the like.) I’ve learned a lot about designing and performing effective close up magic for kids, and I think other magicians would benefit from my experience.
I’m not sure how best to do this. I could put together a magic lecture, or even go all out and write a magic book, but I may start by pitching the idea to a magic magazine, like Genii or Magic. I’ll let you know how it goes.
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The secret identity of a birthday party magician
June 4th, 2010 by admin
As a Chicago magician I sometimes feel like a magic superhero of sorts. OK, OK, while I don’t have actual super powers (other than being able to find your card faster than a speeding bullet! HA!), I do sometimes feel like I have a secret identity.
“Mild mannered birthday party magician, James Sanden, leaves the kids party quietly, drawing no undue attention to himself. The children and their parents are not suspicious, unaware that once James steps into his phone booth (OK, 2002 Hyundai Elantra) and puts on his jacket and tie, he becomes…CORPORATE ENTERTAINER! Astonishing executives at cocktail parties and hospitality suites across Chicagoland with close up magic and his corporate magic show!”
I guess I just find it funny; performing in my cartoon character vest, making silly faces and bonking myself in the head with my inflatable wand, the children laughing and giggling at my antics. Because this exact same silly person, once I put on my suit and tie, can astonish and amaze sophisticated adult audiences. In one guise I know what 6 year olds find funny, but an hour and a costume change later I can do the same for for an audience of theatergoers. (Different jokes, of course. At least most of the time.)
(For the record, the reverse isn’t true. When I perform in my suit and tie, people will ask if I “do birthday parties,” but I’m never asked in someone’s backyard while wearing my silly vest if I ever perform at trade shows.)
However, I do include strong magic tricks in my birthday party show, as well as humor aimed at the adults. Not just because I like to entertain everyone watching, but also because I hope to spark an idea. If I can get a grown up to think, “Wow! That was amazing! I wonder if he could perform at my company’s holiday party?” then all the better.
In fact, if I could make at least one adult in the audience of every children’s birthday party have that same thought each show, well, THAT would be a great superpower to have.
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Birthday party show at a wedding?
May 26th, 2010 by admin
As a Chicago magician I perform close up magic at wedding receptions and occasionally will perform my comedy magic show at the rehearsal dinner, but I’m also happy to perform my kid’s magic show as well!
While most people only think of kid’s magic for a birthday party show, there are lots of venues suitable for a children’s magic show. As a performer my main goal is to provide a service to my client through entertainment. Sometimes this means providing corporate entertainment to make a cocktail party fun, exciting and unforgettable for the guests, but sometimes the client’s needs are a little less straightforward.
In the case of a bride, sometimes the need is to find a way to occupy a energy filled pack of children. The bride already has so much to deal with, she shouldn’t have to worry about keeping the kids happy (or about losing her rental deposit should they destroy something.)
When I perform my children’s party show at a wedding it allows the bride to relax, knowing the kids are taken care of, will be entertained and will have great memories of her special day, and not because they got into the wedding cake before anyone else.
The job of a wedding magician is to do everything in my power to allow the bride breathe easier. Trust me. It’s more powerful than any magic trick I know.
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My first magic store
May 22nd, 2010 by admin
I’m performing my birthday party show tomorrow for a kids party and the mom wants me to teach magic instead of making balloon animals. I’m happy to offer magic lessons at children’s birthday parties, because I want the parents to feel they are getting exactly the kind of magic show that they want for their child.
As I prepare for the show, though, I’m reminded of learning magic when I was growing up. I wrote about how it all got started with a Burger King magic show, but that was only the beginning. As soon as I saw that show, I knew I wanted to be a magician. I immediately started asking for and getting magic kits for birthdays and Christmas, but my favorite magical pasttime growing up was always going to the magic store. Chicago magicians have a number of magic stores to choose from, but I’m from Colorado, where there aren’t as many. When I was growing up, there was really only one that I ever went to…
Zeezo’s Magic Castle!
I remember going into the shop as a child and asking to see the latest close up magic tricks, always hoping whichever family member I made take me there would buy me something new. (I didn’t graduate to stage magic tricks until much later.) I remember getting disappearing boxes and taking them to show and tell, buying sponge rabbits and making them disappear for anyone I could get to watch. One fall Sunday we went to our regular brunch restaurant and I recall performing for a scarecrow displayed in the restaurant lobby. (There was a microphone and speaker in the dummy. Some kind adult watching from across the room patiently pretended to watch me perform trick after trick.)
It was great growing up as a kid magician.
Sadly, Zeezo’s Magic Castle is gone now. Many of the brick and mortar magic shops have gone the way of the dodo, replaced by internet magic sites. There are a few real stores left, and I recommend them all (particularly Magic Inc., Midwest Magic and Ash’s Magic Shop, two of which are conveniently located in my neighborhood.) Becoming a competent magician is greatly aided by the mentors available in such shops. Youtube offers nothing in comparison.
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The value of a birthday party show isn’t just in the price
May 19th, 2010 by admin
As a Chicago magician, as you might expect, the question I’m most frequently asked is “How much?” And price is obviously a legitimate concern. But more important than price, I think, is value. Not just, “Am I getting the best price for a birthday party show?” but instead, “Am I getting the best show for me and my family at the best price?”
I wrote about this before when I talked about my birthday party show package, but sometimes a kids party magic show with balloon animals isn’t the right solution. If the child is older they may not want balloon animals with the magic. Which is why I also offer magic lessons, including a magic kit for all the guests. This way, not only do all the kids leave the birthday party show with memories of laughter and astonishment, they leave ready to share the magic with their own friends and family.
The only way to find out which package is right for a kids party is for me to ask the parents questions. I find that by asking questions about the age of the birthday child, what he or she likes, what concerns the parents have, etc., the parents not only feel more comfortable with me, but they’ll be more confident in the choice they’re making. The same applies to my adult performances. Sometimes people need a corporate magic show, sometimes they need close up magic and sometimes they need both. My job is to determine their needs and offer them a package suited to them. When I do so the client invariable goes away happy.
And hopefully hires me again next year.
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The first time I fooled my dad
April 26th, 2010 by admin
While I’m a Chicago magician, I actually grew up in Colorado. Unlike the Chicago magic scene, though, there weren’t a lot of magicians around me when I was growing up, so I studied magic mostly on my own. (Ironically, while I perform magic in birthday party shows, I never had a magician at any of my birthday parties.) Growing up I didn’t do the kind of comedy stage magic I do now for corporate entertainment. Mostly I performed close up magic, which is still my favorite kind of performance. And I remember the first time I fooled my dad.
I did a very simple effect that’s in most beginner’s magic books. It was a classic of card magic where the spectator picks a card and then the magician finds it. Up until that point in my magical history I don’t think I fooled my family much with my magic. They mostly went along with it. Not that I knew that at the time, of course.
This time it was different though. When I found my dad’s card, he paused. Instead of the usual compliment, “Nice trick, son!” he uttered those now oh so familiar words…
“How’d you do that?”
I knew then that I had actually fooled him. And I realized that I hadn’t fooled him much prior to that point. But rather than being sad about my earlier “failures,” I was thrilled. I was thrilled because I had accomplished something I had never done before. I had a power my dad didn’t have. It was a remarkable feeling.
I still have that feeling all the time when I perform, whether I’m at a kids party, doing close up magic at a cocktail party, or my comedy stage magic show after dinner. I work hard to make sure to temper my performance, though, so it’s still entertaining and funny, and not just about fooling the audience. But that moment where the audience reacts in astonishment always echoes and I can remember back to that fateful day at the dining room table when I first fooled my dad.
I love being a magician.
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How a birthday party show is like performing magic at a trade show
April 21st, 2010 by admin
As a Chicago magician there are a variety of events where I perform my magic. I perform close up magic at cocktail parties and in hospitality suites, I perform my stage comedy magic show for corporate entertainment at banquets and in variety shows, and of course I perform my birthday party show at children’s birthday parties. What’s interesting is the similarity I’ve found between performing at kids parties and at trade shows.
As a trade show magician, my job is to incorporate the company’s message into my presentation, choosing effects that will communicate a product or service’s benefits most effectively. To do this I study documentation on the company as well information regarding what it sells. I then take the key concepts and buzz word phrases and incorporate them into my magic show. My goal is to come up with the most effective way to reach the company’s target market.
I realized the other day that I go through a similar process when I’m performing for children, specifically when I’m choosing material for a particular birthday party show. My “target market” in this case is the specific age group I will be performing my magic show for. Having studied what’s important to children at different ages, as well as what they find entertaining, I choose magic tricks and presentations that are particularly effective for them. I also frequently contact the parents ahead of time to find out what particular toys, TV shows and music the child listens to so that I can mention them in my script. Not only does this make the child feel like the birthday party show was written just for them (which it was), it also engages them and helps to hold their attention, which as anyone who has tried to manage a room full of hyper kids knows, is not easy.
So if you’re looking for a kids party entertainer who takes entertaining children seriously, look no further. I guarantee you that the kids at your child’s birthday party will have a fantastic time!
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Why I love to be surprised in my own magic show
April 20th, 2010 by admin
As a Chicago magician I’ve performed my birthday party show for a lot of different kids at a lot of different ages. And when I perform close up magic at Fox’s on the River I’m frequently performing for families with different aged children. Despite this depth and breadth of experience, I’m still constantly surprised.
For example, this last Saturday at Fox’s I was performing for 4 adults and 2 little girls. The girls were probably 7 and 5. It was the 5 year old who blew my mind.
I was performing a magic trick with coins and had the 7 year old magically squeeze 3 coins into 2. I turned to the 5 year old and asked her to use her “magic breath” to make the 2 coins fuse into 1. She looked at me and with all the maturity and wit of a full grown adult, rolled her eyes and asked sarcastically, “Why?”
It was hysterical.
I laughed and explained I needed her help to do the magic and she said something along the lines of, “No, you don’t. It’s a trick,” which embarassed her parents, but which I thought was very funny. This continued for the next few minutes as I finished my close up magic show and thanked them for their time.
I wasn’t upset for 2 reasons. First, I perform the same magic over and over again, just for different audiences. So for me the surprise and delight come from seeing how different people react to the same magical effect. In this case I was amazed by the intellect, wit and perceptiveness of a small child. Having to deal with that kind of unexpected response is part of the joy and challenge of performing close up magic professionally. Second, it’s my job to be able to handle whatever response a person offers me. As a professional Chicago magician I need to be able to reliably entertain and adapt to any audience, whether they be polite or rude, sober or drunk, quick to follow or slow to understand, and under any circumstance. Dealing with unusual situations only makes me a more flexible and capable magician. And when you’re working in corporate entertainment, you have to be able to offer a solid, reliable magic show.
Still, the best part was when I walked by the table a little bit later and the 7 year old blurted out, “She said she liked you!” When I stepped up to the table, the mother whispered to me that the witty, urbane and sarcastic 5 year old had admitted to liking me after I left. She had even invented a magic trick while I was gone.
So even though I didn’t need to, in the end I got through to her.
Man, I love my job.
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Hire a kids party magician who loves to perform for kids!
April 19th, 2010 by admin
I realized yesterday that of all the benefits I offer in my birthday party show package, I seldom talk about the one that probably makes the most difference.
I love performing magic at children’s birthday parties.
There are lots of Chicago magicians to choose from, and of course you want an experienced professional who will put on an outstanding kids party magic show, but I’ve never mentioned that one of the best ways to insure that your birthday party magician will put on a great show is to find someone who loves performing for kids! I spend so much time talking about the time and energy I put into being a conscientious professional who presents a consistently funny and entertaining show for kids, that I forget that one of the best selling features of my show is that I love kids and I love performing!
I realized this last weekend after having performed my birthday party show at a 5 year old’s party. By the time it was done I was exhausted, but that was because I put my all into the show. There’s nothing like experiencing the laughter and excitement of kids responding to your carefully crafted jokes and comedy bits. It’s absolutely exhilarating to watch an enthusiastic crowed be stunned into silence as they witness something unbelievable. Really, it’s why I got into magic in the first place.
I love what I do. And I still laugh sometimes when I think that I get paid for it.
I feel the same about performing close up magic and corporate entertainment. In fact, it makes it 3 times as rewarding, because having 3 distinct types of shows means I get to entertain 3 distinct types of audiences, each with a unique set of criteria requiring mastery. Hearing their laughter and watching their reactions to the magic is just as rewarding as it is at a kids party, but requires a very different approach in each case. It’s one of the great challenges of being a Chicago magician, really.
And it’s one that I love.
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