Why Kids Heckle Magicians (And the Secret to Winning Them Over)

There’s a reason some magicians don’t perform for kids.

Kids are honest.

Brutally honest.

An adult might politely clap when they’re not impressed. A seven-year-old will look you dead in the eye and yell:

“I KNOW HOW YOU DID THAT!”

They don’t.

But they’ll say it with the confidence of someone who’s been studying magic for 40 years.

And honestly, that’s one of the things I’ve grown to love about performing for kids.

I didn’t start out doing children’s shows. I started as a close-up magician. At the time, I lived in a small town where people weren’t exactly lining up to hire close-up magicians.

Birthday parties, though?

Those existed.

So I jumped into children’s magic.

And I quickly discovered that entertaining a room full of kids is an entirely different skill.

You need patience. Energy. Improvisation. And a willingness to accept one of the fundamental truths of live entertainment:

Fart jokes are gold.

Especially in kids’ shows.

And, if we’re being honest, in some adult shows too.

Know your audience.

Over the years, I’ve performed at birthday parties, schools, daycares, bar and bat mitzvahs, sweet sixteens, family events, career days, and just about every kind of celebration involving kids.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered something that completely changed the way I perform for them.

Kids Don’t Just Want to Watch the Magic

They want to matter to it.

Think about how much of a child’s life involves adults telling them what to do.

Sit down.

Be quiet.

Wait your turn.

Don’t touch that.

Then the magician arrives and sometimes does exactly the same thing.

“Sit there and watch me.”

But what happens when instead we tell them:

“I need your help.”

Everything changes.

I’ve learned a tremendous amount from incredible children’s entertainers like David Kaye and Danny Orleans. One of the biggest lessons is understanding that when kids speak up during a show, they’re not necessarily trying to ruin it.

They want to participate.

They want to contribute.

They want to show you that they know things too.

So when a child yells, “I know how you did that!” I try not to immediately hear it as a challenge.

Sometimes what they’re really saying is:

“Hey! I’m here too!”

And once I understood that, my approach changed.

Instead of making it the magician versus the kids, I put them on my team.

Make Them the Magician

This has become one of the most important parts of my children’s shows.

The kids aren’t there simply to watch me perform magic.

We create the magic together.

They make choices. They say the magic words. They help with impossible moments. Things disappear, change, or appear right in their hands.

Sometimes they even make the magic happen when I apparently can’t.

I love that.

Because now I’m not the only magician in the room.

They are too.

And something interesting happens when kids realize that.

They stop trying to beat the magician and start rooting for the magic.

They want it to work because they helped make it happen.

Does this mean every child suddenly becomes a perfect audience member?

Absolutely not.

They’re still kids.

There will always be that one kid.

If you’re a children’s magician, you already know exactly which kid I’m talking about.

But I’ve found that when children feel included instead of managed, the entire energy of the room changes.

For the Parents Reading This

This is why I never want one of my children’s shows to feel like something your child could have watched on YouTube.

Live magic should be something they experience, not just something they watch.

I want the birthday child to feel important.

I want the outgoing kid who desperately wants to help to have a moment.

I want the quieter child sitting toward the back to know they’re part of this too.

And yes, I even want the kid who has apparently figured out every single trick before I’ve actually performed it.

Because underneath all the silliness, laughter, magic, and occasional fart joke, there’s something I care deeply about:

Kids deserve to feel seen.

I’m not there just to show them what I can do.

I want to show them what we can create together.

That’s where some of my favorite moments happen.

For the Magicians Reading This

If you’ve avoided children’s shows because they intimidate you, I understand.

Give them a chance.

Children’s magic has made me a better performer.

It teaches you patience. Timing. Improvisation. How to read a room. How to redirect energy without crushing it. How to slow down when necessary and how to throw the plan out the window when the moment calls for it.

Most importantly, kids taught me something that applies to every audience I perform for:

Connection works better than control.

I don’t want an audience working against me.

I want us on the same team.

That philosophy has followed me from birthday parties and school assemblies to weddings, corporate events, private parties, and the Magic Castle.

And after performing for both children and adults, I’ll leave my fellow magicians with one final professional observation:

A room full of excited children and a room full of drunk adults are surprisingly similar.

Both interrupt you.

Both insist they know how the trick works.

Both occasionally wander somewhere they shouldn’t.

Both appreciate a good fart joke more than they’d probably admit.

And both are much more fun when you stop trying to control every second and invite them into the experience.

Maybe that’s the real secret to performing magic for kids.

Don’t perform at them.

Perform with them.

Give them a voice. Give them a moment. Let them help create the impossible.

Because sometimes the best thing a magician can do is make someone else feel like the magician.

-Jonathan Molo

The Man in the Purple Suit