CHRISTOPHER T.

MAGICIAN
 Boring
Legal
Stuff

Beyond Look, Don’t See

Copyright ©2014 Christopher T. Magician (Christopher W. Barnes)
Jersey City, NJ

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any

form without the written permission of the author.

Printed in the United States of America

 To

J. David Barnes

He opened my bedroom door one day and caught me in a rather

compromising and embarrassing position. Yes I was right in the
middle of choreographing the high school musical. I was mortified;
maybe he was too, but he didn’t let on. He smiled with a sigh … or
sighed with a smile … and then started closing the door to grant me
my privacy.

But he stopped. He poked his head back in and spoke candidly.

“You know,” he said, “you’re so good at math and science, I always

hoped you’d grow up and become a scientist or engineer … maybe
cure diseases … something like that. But this kind of stuff makes
people happy too. So as long as you’re making people happy, then
I’m okay with whatever you end up doing.”

And with that he was gone, and I was once again alone with my
cassette player and the original Broadway cast recording of Grease.

Dad, I still remember those words to this day. I hope this book
makes you happy that I’m still trying to make people happy with all
this “kind of stuff.”
Beyond Look, Don’t See
Introduction: Look! It’s a Wheel! 8

Say Anything 13
“Carrots to Skunk” 16
Misplaced Magic 22
“Cowboy Rope Trick” 30

SPOTLIGHT: Three Ways to Improve Any Effect 42

Fail First 46
“Tootsie Flop” 50
Security Guards 62
“Hou & Dono, the Houdini Hares” 66

SPOTLIGHT: Repeat, Repeat, Do It Again 77

Choose Your Own Adventure Magic 80

“20th Century What?!!” 86
Wrong Rhyming Words 95
“Nest of Soxes” 103

SPOTLIGHT: Detour the Journey 122

On Your Back 125

“Right out of Today’s Headlines” 129
Forced Sucker Trick 136
“The Incredible Eventually Vanishing Wand” 142
Invisible Magic 150
“The Floating Ball (Seriously)” 154
SPOTLIGHT: In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lamb 163

Audience of Mimes 165

“Fake Snake Cake Bake” 170
Carrot Topping 178
“Pop-Tart!” 185
Wrong Magic Wand 201
“Bananas & Eggs” 206

SPOTLIGHT: Theatre Magic 220

Look, Don’t Show 226

“Tastes like Crayons” 231
Teach-A-Trick 242
“Color Me Fooled” 248

SPOTLIGHT: Pick It and Stick With It 259

Basement Box Routines 263

“The Magical Mister Flea Tour” 269
Magic Wand Collection 281
“Wand-erful Birthday Wishes” 287
Premature Magic 296
“Not Another Thumb Tip & Silk Routine!” 303

SPOTLIGHT: The Routine Start List 314

Post-Mature Magic 322

“Grandpa’s Magic Wand” 325
Talent Show 332
“Birthday Card Monte & the Pop-Up Present” 340
Healthy Competition 348
“Ballerina Roulette” 354
Child Vs. Magician 362
“Christopher’s Four (sort of) Ring Routine” 368

SPOTLIGHT: Do Funny 380

Challenge Magic 384

“Sawing Barbie” 389
The Child Magician 399
“Christopher T. Assistant and the Card to Banana Caper” 406
Reading Instructions 419
“CTM & the Mystery of the Twenty Dollar Bill” 425

SPOTLIGHT: Art Inspires Art 436

Something to Do 443
“Broccoli Story” 447

End Game 458

Inside the Box 467
“When I started this clown thing, I thought it would be
nothing but glory. You know, the glory of being a clown. I
tell you, it’s hard, tiring work. But when I see the smiles on
their little faces, I just know they’re getting ready to jab me
with something.”

- Homer Simpson
 LOOK! IT’S A
WHEEL!
I distinctly remember being in my late single digits when my parents gave me the order to clean
my room. “And don’t just shove everything in your closet! Clean it out too!” they insisted.
There sat young Christopher crisscross-applesauce (back then in 1988 it was ‘Indian style’) in
my closet with three piles of clutter surrounding me. It was there looking out into my empty
bedroom that I spoke to my TV audience (long before the days of HGTV, mind you),
explaining how to properly organize sundry whatnots into three groups: items used regularly,
items used rarely, and garbage.

Oddly enough, explaining to my pretend audience how to properly clean a closet made me a
better closet cleaner. I mean, it’s hard to be good at something if you don’t know and can’t
explain why you do what you do.

Dinner guests have often acted as my live Food Network cooking show audience. Secretly, all
the members of my gym are mere attendees of my how-to-properly-workout seminar. Yes even
alone in my shower, I’ve revealed my secret tricks to a successful shower session (try saying that
three times fast).

I’m not joking, I can be pretty nuts. But I’m also not joking if I insist that when I do my
‘lectures,’ my food tastes better, my muscles burn harder, and my two thousand body parts
squeak with cleanliness.

So of course after I experienced my first ever magic lecture featuring David Ginn, Samuel
Patrick Smith, and Steve Taylor, it was only a matter of time before I was giving my own
imaginary lectures to my kid show magician attendees. My audiences over the years have
learned the hows and whys of what I do for young audiences as well as the many tricks of the
trade I’ve developed in my shows.

By ‘my audiences,’ I suppose I really mean me. So much of the information in this book arose
out of my imaginary lectures. It’s amazing the ideas that entered my mind simply by pretending

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to impart my wisdom on my listeners. Keep in mind most of the time I had no wisdom in the
first place, but by imparting even what wasn’t there, a great deal of wisdom seemed to appear
from the process alone.

During some of the lectures, I figured out why it is I do what I do at given moments in my
shows. With that information in tow, I suddenly had the ability to repeat those ‘what I do’s to
create more ‘given moments’ to entertain my audiences. Often, in examining why it is I do what
I do, I realized I had no idea whatsoever. It’s amazing the amount of dead weight I’ve eliminated
from my performances based on that knowledge.

So before we delve into the twenty-five kid show magic techniques filling these pages,
techniques that will draw tons of laughter and interaction from your young audiences, the most
important lesson I can impart to improve your kid show performance:

Enact your own imaginary kid show lecture.

Heck, in doing so, you might just find you have enough material and ideas to fill a book!

My goal in putting this book together is to provide material for non-beginners. I truly hope even
if you’ve been performing kid show magic for fifty years, you still come across some new ideas
in these pages. That’s not to say that beginners can’t learn from the techniques, but there are
some basic concepts you may need to know moving forward…

KID SHOW MAGIC 101 STUDY GUIDE

Look, Don’t See – verb – (luk dōnt sē)
To look away for some reason, so the audience sees
something happen that you, the magician, doesn’t. The kids
therefore have to tell you what has occurred, resulting in a
funny interaction. If you’ve read any book on the art of magic
for children, you’ve encountered some form of this concept,
either named differently or left unnamed. That
aforementioned ‘for some reason’ is vague, and we will tackle
the concept with more specificity in this book. Many of the
techniques in this course will help provide clarity and answer
what that ‘some reason’ might be.

Magician In Trouble Syndrome – noun – (mǝ∙ji∙shǝn in trǝ∙bǝl sin∙drōm)

A tragic condition in which a magician constantly
experiences pain, both mental and physical, yet receives not
pathos from his young audience, but laughter and joy instead.
The ailment seems to be an inherent trait of the children’s
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 entertainer and will make appearances throughout the
techniques we will be discussing.

Kids In Control Syndrome – noun – (kids in kǝn∙trōl sin∙drōm)

Also known as ‘Empowerment,’ a condition in which
children feel important and in control of both the grown-up
magician and the magic show. Often, the Kids In Control
Syndrome can be the number one factor leading to the
Magician In Trouble Syndrome. Many of the upcoming
techniques will feature kids taking a bit of control to cause
some mischief for the magician.

Personification – noun – (pǝr∙sä∙nǝ∙fǝ∙kā∙shǝn)

The act of establishing human-like qualities to non-peoples,
either animals or inanimate objects. Simply naming a
handkerchief Mr. Hanky will draw children in and allow
them to relate to an otherwise unfamiliar object. As a bonus,
just like David Ginn encouraged kids to ‘Clap for the
Cardboard Cat,’ giving personality to a prop allows the
magician to ask for applause, not awkwardly for himself but
perfectly naturally for his personified guest star.

Journey – noun – (jur∙nee)

Often touted by children’s magicians as more important than
the destination (the magical climax of a given effect), the
Journey acts as the bulk of any routine and is comprised of all
the bits of business and fun supposedly necessary to make the
magic happen. Every effect consists of a set-up (e.g. “I will
make this handkerchief vanish.”) and a conclusion (e.g.
“Look! It’s gone!”). What happens in between, the Journey, is
completely up to the magician and his imagination. The
techniques defined within this course will help to build,
lengthen, and liven up even the dullest of magic tricks by
providing a satisfying Journey.

Before we continue, I’d like to point out that I am not inventing the wheel with the techniques
in this book. I am merely pointing at a wheel and saying, “Hey, everybody! Look! That’s a wheel!
It’s a useful tool!”

Many of these techniques have existed in kid show magic routines for decades. Some, like
Premature Magic and Invisible Magic, I came across somewhat independently but later
discovered the technique already existed in preexisting classic routines. Some, like Misplaced

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Magic, Wrong Rhyming Words, and Wrong Magic Wand, I extracted directly from other
performers’ routines. A few, like Carrot Topping and Choose Your Own Adventure Magic, I
still have not come across in my studies, so to date I am proud to call them my own.

Where I can certainly credit myself with originality is the fact that I do believe I am the first to
pinpoint these techniques, name them, and present them as routine-building tools.

All the twenty-five techniques in this book are accompanied by a fully scripted routine. Feel free
to use any of the routines you like, but the point of this book is to encourage you in your own
abilities to create hilarious interactive material for your shows. That is why along with the full
routine, each chapter includes many ‘Take It And Run With It’ ideas. These are starting point
ideas, there to get those wheels in your head turning, so you can see how easily each of these
techniques can be incorporated into a variety of effects.

Along the way, we’ll take some breaks from the techniques to spotlight general routine building
ideas. One spotlight is the Routine Start List. I created it when I was seventeen years old, and I
still think it’s one of the best ideas I’ve ever had. With that under your belt and the techniques to
follow, you have everything in your arsenal to create original material.

Inspired by David Kaye’s Seriously Silly, I’ve provided a list of the techniques at the end of the
book. I regularly consult his list of kid show techniques when building my own routines. That
list has proven so useful to me over the years, I can’t imagine ending this book any other way.
Once you’ve finished reading, keep the book nearby. When you have an effect in need of a good
Journey, consult the list. Ask yourself with each technique, “Can I use this concept with this
trick?” You have a multitude to choose from, so you’re bound to find a fit or five.

I’ve even built some routines around multiple techniques, the more the merrier. But keep in
mind while building your show to mix up the techniques within it. An entire show consisting of
only one technique repeated for every trick will be as tedious to watch as the same trick
performed on a loop for forty-five minutes. However, repetition of a technique can be used
successfully throughout a show. Misplaced Magic is probably my favorite, and I incorporate it
into almost every routine I do. Generally, though, the technique is used in conjunction with an
array of other constantly changing techniques.

One last housekeeping issue to deal with before we jump in…

Throughout the book I constantly refer to ‘the magician’ as ‘he.’ I considered being ultra-
modern and only using the ‘she’ pronoun, but deep down inside, I know I’m lazy (my feet are
currently on a motorized foot massager), and I knew I’d inevitably screw it up and have a ton of
editing issues to eventually deal with. If you are a female magician reading along, please know
that my laziness is in no way meant to exclude you, and the only chauvinist pig thing about me

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is my pet pig I named Chauvinist cause I thought it would be funny to shout, “Chauvinist Pig!”
every night when it’s time for his dinner.

Now that we’re all up to speed, let’s go Beyond Look, Don’t See.

Look! It’s a wheel…

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Say Anything … else, that is.

I thought I’d begin the Beyond Look, Don’t See list with the most basic of techniques. However,
despite its simplicity, keep in mind that many of the other techniques in this book would not
exist were it not for this one.

Without any effort and the absolute slightest bit of thought, Say Anything can garner
guaranteed reactions from children. All you do is describe the trick you intend to perform.

Then do a different trick.

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Only at rare times during my show do I perform the trick I originally set out to perform. More
often, I am just as surprised at what ends up happening as the audience is. Say Anything
provides the show with a twisting, turning, anything-can-happen excitement. I don’t ever want
the kids getting too comfortable.

So you’re going to make something disappear? Say you’ll make it float in the air.

Making something float? Say you’ll make it disappear.

Change colors to red? Say you’ll change it to blue.

Just Say Anything ... different.

TAKE IT AND RUN WITH IT 1

Multiplying Billiard Balls
Present the first ball of your Multiplying Billiard Balls as a
bouncy ball, but when you go to bounce it, it hits the ground
with a thud. “All the bounce is gone! We’ll have to use a bit of
magic to make it bounce again.” The kids shout the magic
words, and the one ball turns into two at your fingertips.
Remove one of the balls (secretly rotating it into the shell)

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 and continue to try to fill the ball with bounce, only to find it
keeps multiplying instead.

Notice now you get two reactions for the price of one. Not only do you get the initial wow from
the sudden appearance of the second ball, you also get the shouts from the kids attempting to
wise you up to what you’ve done.

TAKE IT AND RUN WITH IT 2

The Necklace Trick
Buy two rainbow beaded necklaces. Cut the string of one, so
you have one regular necklace and a group of loose beads.
Use any switch device to exchange the loose beads for the
necklace. Say Anything comes into play with how you present
the trick. Show all the colored beads and have a member of
the audience choose a favorite color. Toss the beads in the
change device, and announce that you will make all the beads
turn into the chosen color. After the magic words, supposedly
toss the loose beads into the air. The kids will both laugh that
you failed your task and applaud that the beads are now
strung together in one long necklace. Take your sort of bow.

TAKE IT AND RUN WITH IT 3

Cap In Bottle
Twist off the cap from your Coca-Cola Cap In Bottle effect.
Your goal is to wave the empty bottle over the red cap like a
magic wand, all in an attempt to make the cap change colors
from red to yellow. You’ll accomplish that goal with just three
taps from the bottle. One tap. No change. Two taps. No
change. One last hard tap, and you suddenly hear the rattling
in the bottle. Amazingly, the cap penetrated the plastic, but
the kids react to your failure anyway.

React, react, react. That’s the goal. And Say Anything will allow you to build a guaranteed
reaction out of any effect you perform.

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 Carrots To
Skunk
I performed this routine as my opener for quite some time. It acts as the perfect set-up for a
rabbit production at the end of a show, and that was my goal: eventually own a rabbit and
produce it. Over ten years later, I still have no rabbit, so the routine eventually phased its way
out. I performed it again recently and was amazed. I had forgotten how much the kids love this
wild, interactive few minutes of fun. In fact, last weekend (as I’m sitting here writing, not you
sitting there reading) I performed it, and at the end of the show the kids were still begging me to
“do that carrot trick again!” I like to believe that’s a sign of how strong and funny this routine is
and not a reflection of how terrible the rest of my show is!

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Before we hop into the routine (Hop! That’s what rabbits do! I kill me!), I’d like to take a
moment to make a quick disclaimer. Although the routines in this book are fully scripted, I by
no means ever perform them exactly as written. A magic show is live theatre, unpredictable and
full of anything-can-happen-ness. And an audience of children … fuhgeddaboudit! Memorize,
practice, rehearse and perfect, but once you’re in front of the audience, loosen up and riff a little.
If the kids throw something your way, don’t stress about forgetting a joke or missing out on a
bit. Go with the flow and have some fun.

We now return to our regularly scheduled routine…

What you’ll need:

• Set of Multiplying Sponge Carrots

• Spring Skunk
• Magician’s top hat, large enough for the Spring Skunk to fit inside

Set-up:

The hat sits, opening up, on the table. Shove the Spring Skunk into the bottom of the hat, the
spring allowing it to fit in a rather small space, though I generally use a very large hat. As long as
the children are sitting on the floor, their viewing angle will prevent them from seeing inside the
hat. Place the two sponge carrots in the hat on top of the Spring Skunk, and the routine is ready
to go.

Multiplying
Carrots

Spring Skunk

Performance:

CHRISTOPHER T. MAGICIAN
(leaning in with a whisper)
I’ve been working on a brand new magic trick, would you guys like to see it?

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 KIDS
Yeah!

CHRISTOPHER T. MAGICIAN
Okay, but you have to promise not to laugh when I tell you the name.

KIDS
We won’t.

CHRISTOPHER T. MAGICIAN
My new magic trick is called…
(reaching into the hat and pulling out a carrot, secretly palming the second carrot with it)
The amazing disappearing carrot!

(The KIDS laugh just to spite CHRISTOPHER)

That’s not funny!

(waving the carrot in the air to emphasize his point…)
I’ll have you know this is a serious magic—
(he accidentally waves the carrot too hard and hits himself on the head)
Ow!

(The KIDS laugh)

That’s not funny either!

KIDS
Yes it is!

CHRISTOPHER T. MAGICIAN
Oh. Well I’m going to make this carrot disappear on the count of three. One … two–

(The carrot suddenly multiplies into two carrots. CHRISTOPHER looks at his hands in
shock)

Two?! No, we don’t need two carrots.

(He places the carrot into the hat, secretly palming it back out in the traditional
Multiplying Bananas/Carrots move. Apparently only holding one carrot now, he
continues)

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Okay, on the count of three the carrot will disappear. One … two–

(The carrot multiplies again)

Not two carrots!

(He supposedly places the carrot into the hat and looks inside)

Hey, that reminds me of a story. Two carrots are in a hat. One carrot says to the other, “Holy
cow! It’s dark in here!” The other carrot says, “Holy cow! A talking carrot!”

(The parents often laugh at that one)

That’s the best joke in the show. Okay, I’m going to do it this time. I’m going to make the carrot
disappear!
(another carrot appears, placing it into the hat…)
No! It’s supposed to disappear!
(another carrot, into the hat…)
You stay in there! Now this carrot will disapp– Agh!
(another carrot goes into the hat)
No more carrots!

(This accidental Multiplying Carrots can go on as long as CHRISTOPHER and the KIDS
can stand it. He eventually gets a brilliant idea and moves on)

A brilliant idea! That’s what I need, a brilliant idea. Hmm … I’ve got one! Since carrots keep
appearing, I’ll just change the name of the trick. It’s now called the amazing APPEARING
carrot! When I count to three, another carrot will appear. One … two– aha!

(CHRISTOPHER suddenly points at the carrot as though catching it in the act. Nothing
happens)

Huh, it didn’t work. I know, we should all shout, “Appear!” Everyone say, “Appear!”

KIDS
Appear!

CHRISTOPHER T. MAGICIAN
(looking at the audience and not his hand, he holds the one carrot up proudly)
And there they are … two carrots!

KIDS

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No! Only one!

(CHRISTOPHER looks at his hand and frowns)

CHRISTOPHER T. MAGICIAN
I don’t understand. Let’s say it louder. Everyone shout, “Appear,” as loud as you can!

KIDS
Appear!

(Still nothing happens, CHRISTOPHER pines at his hand. His gaze moves from his hand
and falls upon his hat. He notices something inside. He moves in to take a closer look,
meanwhile tossing the two carrots into his table to dispose of them)

CHRISTOPHER T. MAGICIAN
Hey, something did appear! Something appeared … inside the hat. There’s something inside the
hat … eating the carrots! It’s got a cute little nose. A cute fluffy tail. Two cute little ears! What
do you think it is!?

KIDS
Bunny!

(CHRISTOPHER reaches into the hat, arranging the Spring Skunk in the proper position
to make it scamper up his body)

CHRISTOPHER T. MAGICIAN
Skunk!!!!

(The skunk springs – pun intended – out of the hat and scurries all over CHRISTOPHER.
He struggles with it, trying to get it off of him. After running around like a lunatic, he
finally tosses the skunk behind his backdrop. He slowly turns, out of breath, back to the
audience)

That definitely was not funny!

KIDS
Yes it was!

CHRISTOPHER T. MAGICIAN
Well, I should have known there wasn’t a rabbit in that hat. I’m probably the only magician in
the world who has never been able to pull a rabbit out of a hat! But I can…

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Afterthoughts:

That’s the routine, short and sweet. Just like me!

Except not short.

That “but I can…” at the end is your perfect lead-in to any trick at all.

If you do produce a rabbit in your show, consider this routine. By beginning your show with a
confession that producing a rabbit is not in your skill set and then paying it off at the end with a
rabbit production, you will automatically add a satisfying, come-full-circle feel to your
performance.

Also, you may be surprised at the amount of laughter coming from the adults in the room when
that skunk makes its appearance and the struggle ensues.

I mentioned that the Say Anything technique will be inherent in many of the techniques to
come. In fact, the skunk appearance at the end of “Carrots to Skunk” uses another technique,
one that has Say Anything at its heart. Notice something was supposed to appear inside the
magician’s hand? Then moments later something does appear, only somewhere else? That’s the
basic premise for Misplace Magic. Let’s examine it further now, shall we?

But not here...

Over there…

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