Britain's brightest independent magic magazine

Issue 22 - September 08

Review

Magic For Older Children DVD

Pat Fallon
Available from: www.practical-magic.com
Price: £17.50 + £1.50 P&P  

For the last 21 years Pat Fallon has been a professional magician making a living with everything from children's parties to a full stage illusion show. One area that Pat maintains many magicians avoid, but with which he has had considerable success, is magic for older children. Exactly what age 'older children' refers to is not, as far as I remember after watching the DVD , specifically stated, although he does at one point mention children of the 10-12 year old age bracket. However, based on the advice that he gives, I would suggest that he is talking about shows for children aged 7-8 upwards.  

The first hour of the DVD is taken up with a performance by Pat for a group of school children in which he presents 12 routines. The audience are hugely well behaved and compliant, which for the viewer is actually a great relief, since sitting through an hour of children making a constant racket is extremely tiresome. Instead they are attentive and seem captivated by the magic that Pat presents for them.  

The 12 routines are a collection of perenial favourites. 20th Century Silks, Magic Painting, Needle Through Balloon, Anti-Gravity Glasses, Cards Across, Silk Blendo, Cut And Restored Skipping Rope, Topsy Turvy Bottles, the Die Box, The Houdini Seance, a thumb tip silk production and Ken Brooke's Potty Prediction are all presented in Pat's own inimitable style. Reading that list of effects I can imagine one or two readers will raise an eyebrow - Magic Painting for 10 year olds? A trick featuring a seance? A sucker trick like the classic Die Box? How can these be suitable? The answer is simple - it's not what you do but the way that you do it that counts, and Pat has a way of putting these effects across that enables older children to both appreciate and enjoy them.  

So what is Pat's style? He's a sort of raconteur. Most of his magic is accompanied by at times quite lengthy and involved stories which he illustrates with the magic. These are not fairy stories or other 'unbelievable' tales, but more accounts of everyday situations which the children can identify with and which places the magic into a logical context. Pat is quietly spoken, and he uses a lot of 'adult' jokes and lines (i.e. jokes that adults would understand, not questionable material!) which shows the kids that he is not patronising them with slapstick humour more suited to the younger age range. I would imagine he finds it more difficult to use this style so extensively if he is with a rowdy group, but on the DVD we see how effective it can be when the audience will allow him to entertain them in his preferred manner.  

The explanation section of the DVD is mainly just a round up of tips and advice from Pat on his way of performing the chosen routines. Many he does not explain the workings of because they are dealer items, but anyone who has been in magic for a while will not need full explanations in any case. As is so often the case, DVDs on children's magic do not offer material that the viewer can go away and make up, you either have to have the dealer item in the cupboard or know where to go and buy it.  

The final section of the DVD is a discussion in which Jeremy le Poidevin of Practical Magic puts a few questions to Pat about the general principles of entertaining the older child. Pat admits that there is no one big secret, it's more a combination of smaller things which need to come together, and he explains how the elements of dress, performance style and attitude, and overall audience control are all key to a successful performance.  

If this DVD does one thing, I suspect it will be that it will help to de-mystify the performance of magic for older children and may perhaps encourage those entertainers who have up to now turned down such shows to take the booking and give it a go. Since much of the secret is not to do with the tricks themselves but more to do with the performer's attitude and presentation of that magic, it may well not be that hard a transition for viewers to make and this DVD will help them to make it. ML  

What's Hot: Proof that entertaining older children need not be that bad!
What's Not: Most of the magic you will need to purchase or already have in the cupboard
Star Rating: ****    

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