Here is how I have this going so far can anyone make it into a skit for a childrens birthday party for a 6 year old and yes the parents as well, any help would be appreciated.
I will use my cute goat named sniggles... at first he is shy, wouldn't come out of his case, has to be coaxed, then he peeks out and rushed back into the case and coaxed again once he comes out everyone wants to know about him he lives on a farm and is always butting into everyone's business. He was invited to this birthday party and has to watch his manners because everytime someone says something, thats right, he butts in. Now I have to keep this going for 5*-7 minutes. This is my first attempt at this age group. A few childrens magic tricks and a short story as well if time allows and the attention is still there. Thanks for what ever help you can supply.

N J

NJ - you have two opposite concepts going.... either he is shy and needs to be coaxed, or he always butts in (which is the opposite).

I think you are going with the butting in because he's a goat. No problem. I would suggest putting him in character from the start. Not shy. Start to introduce yourself, and BAM! He butts in....interrupting. You calm him down and tell him to back into his case... you continue to talk and BAM! He comes out again....interrupting... where it goes from here is up to you, but perhaps this will help you bridge the gap easier.

The shy, coaxing bit is fun to do...and kids find it fun to clap big for the character..so they are encouraged to come out. You now have another introduction for a shy puppet character.

Having both these characters in the same show creates conflict which will be good for drama. You can develop routines where the shy one has a problem with the goat because they are intimidated.... and the Goat has a problem with the shy one because they never want to come out and play.

Go back and forth between the two - resolve conflicts - perhaps they end up "playing together" (off stage...in the case) during one of your magic tricks or other things you do. and then they end up best friends...

Just some ideas.

Ax

AX the shy or closed part is when he is first involved but once he becomes involved he goes the route of the buttinsky, maybe I am choosing the wrong word but as most children when they first meet someone they are shy, when they get used to those people they then can't say enough their courage explodes, they want to say something for every topic that is mentioned and won't wait for the person talking to end their speech before sniggles butts in. Something of some kind of dialogue would be very helpful here......

This is one of my favorite shows to do magic for. They are young enough not to be know it allish, yet old enough to maintain a great attention span.
I do not know when your show is, or how much you are willing to spend on magic,
or how long it is.
But, If you have a little time, I can suggest some great somewhat cheap tricks you can get, probably even off of E-bay.
The whole magic coloring book routine, including appearing crayons and reappearing crayons. I can even tell you how you can make the appearing crayons and disappearing crayons if you E-mail me. I think the coloring book sells for $10.
Another great trick is called run rabbit run. I've seen this as cheap as $40.
The needle through balloon trick is about $10.
These are all super easy to do.
Depending on how much you are willing to spend on magic, I can suggest some great tricks.

Consistency in character is one of the strongest elements of a great show. It's better not to have a character transition from one personality to another. Especially in a simple routine....it weakens them. Nothing memorable...nothing iconic.

Think about the strongest characters in TV or Movies, Or Muppets, etc. Everyone knows that the character in one word is consistently _____. Puppets are especially simpler symbols of such character traits.

Think of strong characters on TV - Lou Grant is ALWAYS tough. Seinfeld is ALWAYS laid back. Gilligan is ALWAYS silly.

To put it in puppet terms... Mortimer was ALWAYS goofy. Charlie was ALWAYS cheeky. Jeff Dunham's Walter is ALWAYS grumpy. Etc. Miss Piggy is ALWAYS pushy. Oscar is ALWAYS grouchy.

This is one of the secrets to strong characters.

Before you can write for a character you need to know who it is. What's the background? What's his preferences? Why does he have them? Then you can throw any situation at the character and you'll know how he/ she will react to it.

Hope this helps.

Ax

AX
It all makes sense and I wholeheartedly agree maybe he's not shy,but stubborn and just doesn't want to come out and has to be coaxed a few times till finally agrees with some differences. I try to convince him to come out and meet the kids and he'll not want to due to the fact that i lied to him and told him that there would be other kids there and when he finally stuck his head out to take a peek he didn't see the 'kid's', he went back in and told me i lied to him because i told him there was other kids going to be there and he said he did't see any other small goats. Everytime I tried to explain to him the differnece between children being call kids and the word kid being used as a baby goat he would butt in and say something contradictory. Does this make more sense to you or am I still baaaaarking up the wrong tree?

Absolutely, stubborn works better in my mind. It stays in character. I like your "kid" joke too, with him thinking you lied to him. Sure that works as an opener. Still...work out his background story, more than just being a goat. His feelings, his family, his likes and dislikes, give him some special character flaws (butting in, stubborn, is a good start), now give him some "tics" (some things that he does that other characters don't do)....

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterTics

I know you are after a quick routine but learning these things will create a "character" with each of your puppets. Think of your Routines as situations in which you place your characters and you begin to see how to write the routine to be more than a string of goat jokes.

Also to write an appropriate routine, look at the audience. Is there a special occasion like a birthday party? An award ceremony? What is their age group, what are their likes and dislikes? Who and what are their cultural icons, heros, favorites? What's "hot" and what's "not" with this age?

Another approach is to brainstorm and list all the traits you can imagine, and all the puns, and all the related ideas that come from the character / puppet / animal etc. List them all and use them in the routine, perhaps just to touch on. Don't overdo the use of puns, and don't just mine google for jokes and plug them into your routines, but use them like salt and peppa' to give your situational routine some pizzaz. Keep pushing forward.

Ax

Great stuff in this list, Steve and N Jay! Thanks for sharing!

AX
Wow what a site you sent me to TVTROPES.ORG I couldn't get away from it, it captured my attention for over an hour. Let us continue to add to this page it seems there is a lot to address here. Whether its school assemblies, library shows, scout meetings, anywhere where kids meet would be a great venue for this....everyone should go to look at the site, but be careful it could happen to you too. The site has so much to offer.

You know AX this os something I never gave consideration to shame on me because a tic could or should i say will leave the audience remembering the vent figure longer by giving them a special tic to remember them by.

While addressing children of all ages its necessary to know the age of your aud. and play off of them. I came from the musical stage some years back, and should know the acting steps but everything was done for me, I had a director and choreographer now I am the director and choreographer, a whole lot different. When I was in the choir I had a music director now its up to me...
So now I need to find a mentor or director...no one in my area.Boo Hoo Hoo!!!

But getting back to the subject at hand putting on a great show for kids,(of all ages) How long should a routine be? I was told 1 min for each year, is that correct? So If its a 6 year old Then 6 min and something else like a magic trick or two, what type of magic do kids of that age like? I would think the simplier the better. Would a story be too much at this time? I think I chatteded enough didn't even realize how much I have done.

Thanks guys for letting me bend your ears and hope I opened a large bag of tricks.
N J

Oh Before I forget I will be going on my 3 day tour to gilligan's Island, on Friday. So please except my oppology if I don't respond after friday to any of these postings...But I will when I get back on the 8th or 9th...so please keep those cards and letters comming.

Something Else just came to mind I have a boy vent figure that I want to be the kids Ann Landers He will answer questions that might be bothering kids. They send in their cards and letters to my vent figure and he responds to them. Anyone have any Ideas as to what most kids what to know and looking for funny replys... Almost like kids say the darndest things, it would be kids ask the dardest things...What do you think?...


One other thing its been a long time since many of you have visited my blog to vote for the vent of your choice for 2009 either from the list I have or your own selection..if you can't go directly google it...
http://www.ventriloquiallyyours.blogspot.com VENTRILOQUIALLY YOURS
I know that the vents whose names have been posted or those of your own would very much appreciate...please pass the information around to all your vent friends.