Hey what is the average time you spend on vent for 6-8 year olds? What type of vent humor do they like? Fairytales, Jokes, knock knock. How do you take a childrens story change it into a 5 min rountine same age,non religious, I think I will add a magic trick a red nose and green derby and blow a balloon or two. But the problem is in the age and the funny stuff for that age...Help!! I am picking the brains of all the experts here at the forum.

N J

A great source of jokes for that age would be riddle books at your local library. I like riddles because it gives the listener a great chance to participate and they are generally funnier than knock, knock jokes.

Ex. Why does an elephant paint it's toenails red?
I don't know.
So they can hide in cherry trees! Have you ever seen an elephant in a cherry tree?
No!
See how good they hide!

You can also get by with some funny versions of the birthday song, but don't tease the birthday child.

Sports are good topics for that age.

and Superhero jokes are great. You can do a search for Spiderman jokes, etc. That might be more for the boys.

That age loves magic, so stop by a magic store and get some tricks. The Dollar Tree even sells tricks in the toy section quite often and you'll never guess how cheap they are! Inexpensive, too!

If you do balloons I'd recommend that you make up a story with them. That will take up more of your time until you've developed the show.

I agree with Tony. Look at what kids are interested in now days. Right now, my main theme/set/costuming is along the "Hero" theme. This is a basic theme that I can use pretty much anywhere. Just tweak the patter for your puppets/illusions, etc. and you can use this for any show!

Tony also mentioned magic. Here's an easy, fun one that the audience (even adults) really enjoy! You'll need the 'change bag'. You can find these in a variety of different magic stores/websites. Anyway, I have purchased quite a few different 'grow-your-own' shapes from our $ store. One that I use is the 'balloon dog'. I put that in the hidden side of the bag. Asking a volunteer to come up, we stretch the balloon, asking the vol. to let go, of course, they LOVE to let go before I'm ready! Then, I tell them that I'm too lazy to create this myself, and we put the balloon in the other side of the bag. Next, as I secretly have switched the side of bag over, I take a step forward towards the audience (so that I cannot see what the volunteer is doing) and tell them to reach in and take out the most gigantic, humongous balloon dog they have ever seen! Of course, they pull out the teeny, weeny balloon dog. As the audience is laughing, I 'think' they are just really enjoying the 'big' dog! Then, I notice it, make a big deal about it and say I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. Proceed to blow up another balloon (because the 'other' one has disappeared!). I then begin to tie the balloon dog as I'm talking. The patter I USUALLY use is that there is no 'big me/little you'. We're all Heroes! Give the volunteer the balloon dog to take home! Of course, this is great for Birthday Parties, as well!

I used this for an audience of 60 adults Wed. night. It was great!

Sorry this is so long, hope it makes sense.

Shari

To s-t-r-e-t-c-h this routine even more you could have the small balloon be a mouse. Then tell the story of the lion and the mouse as you create a lion balloon. The mouse is a hero, although tiny!

The only thing I didn't care for, Shari, is that you tell the child you are too lazy to do something. You have to be careful because the kids may go home and tell their parents they saw a lazy magician! Not a good reputation.

I agree with Tony. I wouldn't say I was too lazy but rather too busy.

"I have so many shows to do, I haad to find a magical way to make the balloons faster and so..."

Oh, thank you, guys. I hadn't thought of 'after' the show. Hmmm...I certainly don't want to be labeled as lazy. Thanks for the feedback...

Shari

I see Soooo instead of doing Vent I Should learn to blow up balloons and let them go, hahaha!!!! Or Make a little pooch become a big pooch ???? I am a novice at ballooning so H E L P!!!! Or make the Pooch disappear. I am learning some easy rope tricks need lotsa help mentally and morally.
N J