Yesterday morning I did a magic show at Chevy’s on North End Avenue in New York City. It was a small birthday party for a four year old boy named Nicholas and 10 of his friends.
Bringing in a magician for a four-year-old birthday party makes a lot of sense. You could hire a costumed character like Blues Clues, Bob the Builder, Scooby-Doo or SpongeBob but the only trouble with that is that it is only an entertaining for a few minutes. Plus, I don't know of one legally licensed costumed character available in New York City. Most of these party entertainment companies send “black market Sponge-Bobs” to do the job. Some of the costumes barely resemble the cartoon character. I suppose they don't want to get sued for trademark infringement - but they end up sending pretty crummy looking costumed characters! Mickey Mouse doesn't look like Mickey Mouse, he more resembles one of those inflatable rafts that you see the unions put up to protest scab labor.
Birthday Magician Battery Park, NYC
I definitely don't recommend hiring a costumed character for the main entertainment. You may want to have them do a quick meet and greet or photo - but be prepared for screaming and terrified toddlers! Some of them will not enjoy the experience!
The same goes for party clowns, unfortunately. Now I happen to love really good, talented clowns like the professionals you see at the Big Apple Circus or Cirque du Soleil. But most birthday party clowns are not nearly as entertaining and in fact a number of them are downright scary looking - especially to a very young child. If the clown is very loud and the makeup is too much a young child will be really scared. There are some great clowns for birthday parties in New York City - and if you really want to hire a good professional birthday party clown I'd be happy to introduce you to some of my favorites,
But my personal preference, this should come as no surprise, is hiring a professional magician for your child's birthday. I've been doing magic shows all over New York City since I was 15 years old and I still love every minute of it. One day I am doing close up sleight of hand magic at a trade show in the next time doing by a birthday party show. It's all good.
Today's show was in Battery Park, at the Chevy's restaurant near Murray Street. It's funny how the birthday child sets the pace for the party. Nicholas is a quiet and sweet kid and his party was lots of fun. When I produced my bunny rabbit the kids had a great time. Later I did some balloon twisting and posed for some pictures with the kids. Then it was a quick run to the car as my neck show was in Stony Brook, Long Island. All the day's work for New York City magician!
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