Captain Amazing’s International Appeal!

Hi all,

Being Singapore’s first superhero for kids is a lot of fun! I get to show kids some magic, make kids laugh and make sure they have a fun time!

But recently I’ve had the chance to be more than just Singapore’s kids superhero!

Just last month, the kids of Jarkarta got a chance to see Captain Amazing and his puppet friends stage a special party for a cute 2 year old girl. Full blog on that with pictures coming up real soon so look out for it!

So what are the possible reasons for Captain Amazing’s or Mighty Magic Factory’s international appeal? First and foremost, all our performers make it a point to speak good English! That way, we can be understood by most people from anywhere around the world.

Second of all, Mighty Magic Factory conducts itself with the utmost professionalism. From the moment we get a call from you to the moment your party ends, we make sure we give you our fullest attention to detail and commitment to making your party a hit!

Thirdly, our performers have years of performing experience under their belt. Each of us knows what to do and how to adapt our shows and ourselves to different environments to suit different kids.

I myself have a few international elements in my birthday party show. Today I performed for kid’s from Korea. The kids were amazed by my Magic Box of India! They also get to meet Koko Nut, my monkey friend who is partially Jamaican and Tuffy the Unknown Creature from an Unknown Place far far away! All this was held at a condo in sunny Singapore!

                             

Until next time,

Captain Amazing

Agent 81 Says Mix And Match Your Birthday Party

As mentioned before, the Action Packed is the current favourite birthday party package offered by Mighty Magic Factory. Inclusive of two shows, interactive stage games, party bag giveaways, cake cutting hosting and not forgetting our signature balloon bomb finale, this HOT package is great value for money.

However some parents may still opt for the Basic Adventure, not because of their tight budget but simply due to the already packed itinerary they have for the party. Some parents book condominium function rooms or private function rooms for their child’s birthday party. Sometimes they might not be able to book their party venue for their desired number of hours. So if you face this problem but you still want to have more than just a Basic Adventure, then Agent 81 says ‘MIX & MATCH‘!

‘MIX & MATCH‘ simply means adding extra fun to the whole party! There is a whole range of such ‘add-ons’ made available by Mighty Magic Factory. ‘Add-ons‘ like Face Painters, Caricature Artists, Mascots (Wizo The Magic Genie), Party bags, Bouncy Castles, Costume Changing Station and not forgetting our signature Mighty Magic Factory Balloon Bomb Finale! (Note: Balloon Bomb is included free of charge with any booking of either the Action Packed Adventure or the Mighty Adventure.) Of course all ‘add-ons’ are available to book for any party packages and Agent 81 says ‘The More The Merrier’! Who doesn’t love a fun filled birthday party with lots of activities and surprises?! If you are ensure of which ‘add-ons’ are suitable for your event, do give Mighty Magic Factory a call or simply drop us a line and our friendly consultant will be there to help you!

Today, yours truly Agent 81 hosted a ‘MIX AND MATCH‘ Basic Adventure for Josiah (birthday child).

Serene (parent) was really interested in the Mighty Magic Balloon Bomb Finale but her booking time of the function room did not permint her to have an Action Packed Adventure or a Mighty Adventure. So she paid a small diifference for the Balloon Bomb Finale but that small price added a whole lot of difference to the party.

So if you want to have more fun for you child on his/her birthday party then simply, ‘MIX AND MATCH‘.

Agent 81 has left the building

Kinetic Gal Hosts a Great Party for Six Year Old Birthday Girl in a Private Estate in Singapore!

Kinetic Gal hosted an action packed adventure for a spunky gal who turned six today in a private house function room. Lauren, our birthday gal today was really excited for her party and everyone had great fun. Her mum took into considerations the party environment and had two function rooms booked rather than one. This was great, because the children were able to enjoy the party in one room, while the food was served in a separate one.

Lauren’s parents had some basic decorations for her party done in the function room which made the function room great.

Balloons are really a great addition to any party and as you can see, they add a lot to the party atmosphere. If you are organizing a party you can do some basic party decorations of your own too (see an article on budget decorations here) or get the party experts in for decorations.

I did a little briefing for the parents about the party and how it would flow before we started the shows and games proper.

Birthday girl Lauren having her white Mighty Magic Factory birthday cap before we begin the adventure!

The Juggling Show!!

The highlight of the Juggling Show: One and Only – Blindfold Club Juggling!!

Games and Prizes : The Kids’ Favourite!

Kids having fun shouting and screaming: “The rabbit is there!!!!!!!!!!!”

Mighty Magic Factory “Super-Duper-Mighty-Crazy” Power ID Card!

Birthday Cake Cutting and giving out of Party Bags before our Mighty Magic Factory’s Signature Balloon Bomb Ending!!

I was really glad the children had fun throughout the party and Lauren’s parents thanked me after for a job well done. Well, all in a day’s work!

Kinetic Gal

Captain Amazing’s Tips on Making Your Child a Magician

Hi all,

The school holidays are almost here and kid’s nowadays have a myriad of ways to keep themselves occupied during their school holidays. They can watch a DVD movie, play a video game, surf the net or have some good ol’fashioned outdoor fun. But I have had parents ask me before if Mighty Magic Factory conducts magic workshops as they feel their kids would love to learn magic  and that it would benefit them as well.

Well magic is definitely a fun for hobby for kids to have. Who knows? One of these kids may grow up to be the next big star in magic, or the next Magic Superhero! Magic has its benefits too, it is not just about fooling friends, it also improves creative thinking and logical problem solving skills.  

So if you would like to encourage your child to take up magic as a hobby, then here are a few tips to get him/her started in the world of conjuring arts:

Show Your Child a Trick

Every magician fell in love with the art when they saw a trick being performed to them “live” for the first time. Show your kid a simple trick like making a coin vanish and reappear to see how interested they are in magic. If your kid wants to see more or is really interested in trying to find out how you did the trick so that he/she can do it too, then you know your kid really likes magic.

Buy Your Child Some Magic Props 

A quick way to start out your kid with magic is to get him/her their first magic set. These can be bought at most good toy stores or from magic shops. Kids usually prefer a hands on approach to learning, so while there are numerous books on learning magic, I recommend that you allow your kid’s first experiences to be with props in hand, learning to make things appear and disappear.

Alternatively, you can buy them one trick at a time. This will allow them to practice and perfect each individual trick before moving on to something new. You can also guide your child along by rewarding their perfection of each trick by getting them a new trick. This also prevents their interest from waning too quickly as they will always look forward to learning something new.

Give Your Kid a Chance to Perform 

Every budding magician needs a chance to perform their magic. If your kid is constantly hounding you to watch his/her latest trick, do give them the time to show you. It is after all, something hat they’ve worked hard on.

You can also set a date for your child’s first performance so that he/she has something to look forward to. It could be at the next family gathering or Christmas party and you can tell your kid to prepare a short ten minute performance.  However, do not give your child too much stress. He/she may be shy or lack confidence in his/her performance skill.  You should give your child encouragement and help them prepare for their big performance. Once in awhile, you should even act as an audience for your child to practice performing for.

Hopefully these tips will prove helpful to those of you who are looking to keep your kids occupied with a healthy and alternative hobby this coming June holidays.

Until next time,

Captain Amazing

Action-Packed Birthday Adventures With Agent 81

With the economy recovering rapidly, more people are starting to loosen their purses’ strings and starting to realize how to enjoy life again. That’s a major reason why people are willing to spend good money on entertainment for their young ones. Mighty Magic Factory has attracted the attention of the middle to high income parents who are looking to let their children and friends have a birthday to remember for a long time. From the Basic Party Adventure which provides a low cost solution to the basic party needs to the Mighty Adventure which offers the complete solution to a ultimate party carnival which includes games and costume changing stations. There are even options to add more exciting details to the perfect party, for example, the Bouncy Castles, Face-painting Artists, Tattoo Artists, Mingling Magicians, Jugglers and so much more.

Of course the hot favourite now is the Action-Packed Adventure which is value for money! This Party Adventure includes not only one but TWO magic shows, interactive games for all including the adults, prizes, and gift bags for all the children. Not forgetting our signature product, The Balloon Bomb! It is a finale not to be missed as it never fail to excite all the audience as sweets, confetti and goodies explodes from the balloon!

Check out the pictures that Agent 81, yours truly, has been seen captured in the following Action-packed parties. Agent 81 continues to be a popular choice amongst all, boys and girls.

As the only SUPER SECRET AGENT in Singapore, Agent 81 has a unique party presentation and special alien companion, Zorko who is loved by all with its funny antics.

Agent 81 has also proven himself to be a big hit amongst the adults too as he is able to engage the adults with his witty humour and exciting stage games.

Clients often compliment that Agent 81 is able to bring the birthday party to another level. The birthday party isn’t just a kids show, but a show for all ages.

Agent 81 has left the building

Kinetic Gal’s Guide to Planning the Right Timing for Your Party Entertainment

May 1st - Labour Day, saw Kinetic Gal (me!!) hosting a party for Regan who had just turned 6. Regan is really a cute boy who loves dinosaurs and it was really great hosting the party for him! He and his friends had great fun (they thanked me!! :D) and his mother was very pleased with the party too. After the party, Angela (Regan’s Mom) thanked me for doing a great job and asked me whether the timing for the party was one of the latest that i had hosted. She reflected to me that she wasn’t sure what kind of timing was appropriate for the party.

Well, in actual fact, not just Angela, many parents face the difficulty of choosing the time for the entertainer/ party host to come in to do a show. Here are some guidelines as to how to plan the timing for the pary!

The timing for the entertainment depends on various stuff. You would have to consider the guests (age of the kids), the food to be provided (if you’re providing any), whether it is a school day the next day, the length of time of the entertainment and so on and so forth.

First and foremost, it is a no brainer that you should first decide whether you will be providing lunch or tea or dinner for the party. Deciding on this aspect gives you general timeframe to work within and plan accordingly. Assuming you have decided on providing a buffet dinner, the next thing you would want to ask yourself if you wish for your guest to have entertainment and cake-cutting before dinner or after dinner.

If you wish for the entertainment to be before your dinner, do remember to indicate on your invitation card that you have hired entertainment for the party before the dinner. This ensures that your guests will come in on time, and not miss the entertainment planned for them. It would be prudent to check the rough amount of time that the entertainment will be provided for so that your guests will not be starving before the entertainment is over.

If you were to wish for the entertainment to be provided after dinner, remember to indicate that on your invitation card as well. One particular point to note is that, if the average age of the children is younger, this may not be appropriate as they tend to need to sleep early. Also, if it happens to be a school day the next day, parents may not want to allow their kids to stay so late. In that case, it may be wiser to have the entertainment before dinner instead.

This would be more or less the same for lunch with the consideration that young kids tend to need an afternoon napp at around 3 in the afternoon and so, entertainment after lunch should try not to extend beyond that. For parties providing tea (ie. light refreshments only), you would have a higher flexibility of when to have the entertainment since the children (and guests) would most probably be good with both eating before and after the entertainment.

In fact, it is due to this reason that Mighty Magic Factory provides a fixed timing for our party adventures to be hosted at. We have the time slots of 9am/ 11am/ 1pm/ 3pm/ 5pm/ 7pm/ 9pm. These time slots have been given due considerations so you can have your food before/after the party adventure as according to your plan. Indeed having a good planning of the party ensures that you (plus your kid) and the guests would be able to enjoy yourselves to the fullest without starving or having to go off halfway during the show.

If you’re still not sure when you are planning your party, you could always call the party entertainment company and ask about the timings too. This would be of a help in planning the right time to ensure that you have a great party!

Captain Amazing’s Tips On Choosing The Right Entertainer For Your Kid’s Party

Hi all,

A few weeks ago, Kinetic Gal made a post on choosing the right entertainer for your kid’s party. Well, I have also spoken to many parents who have expressed concerns on what is an appropriate show for their kids.

So having been in the birthday party industry for a few years now and seeing how different kids of different ages react, I would like to give my tips on choosing the best entertainer for your kid’s party.

Age

The first thing to keep in mind is the age of your birthday child. If your child is between 1- 3 years old, you may want to keep things simple. Children of this age are unpredictable and there is no fixed formula on choosing the right entertainer for these children. On the other hand, kids aged 9 -12 consider themselves all grown up and usually scoff at what they consider “kiddy” forms of entertainment.

But if your kid is between the ages of 4 - 8, then he/she is at an age where they are old enough to understand jokes and enjoy fun-filled interactive games or activities with lots of movement. This makes hiring an entertainer for kids in this age group easier and more worthwhile for all.

 

So what’s the best type of entertainer to choose for the different age groups? Well here are the three most common types commonly seen at parties:

 

Magicians

 

Magicians are common choices as kid’s party entertainers. Kid’s magicians tend to perform bright and colourful magic such as producing a huge bouquet of flowers from an empty vase or making colourful handkerchiefs appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.

 

 

 

The 4 -8 year olds are generally the most appreciative and participative audience. 1 - 3 year olds are too young to really comprehend magic while the 9 - 12 year olds are more interested to find out how a trick is done than enjoy the show. This is not to say that these kids will not enjoy a magic show, but rather a good kid’s magician will have to tailor his show accordingly to suit children from these age groups.

 

Jugglers

 

Jugglers are fast becoming a popular entertainment choice at birthday parties. Their sublime juggling skills combined with entertaining routines make them a hit not just with the kids but the whole family.

 

Some jugglers also involve the audience in their routines, making the show audience participative and fun for the whole family. It is also not uncommon to see jugglers who combine elements of magic into their show as well.

 

 

As with magic shows, juggling shows require the audience to appreciate the skill that the performer is exhibiting. Younger children may not fully understand or realise a juggler’s skill while older kids may tend to get bored after a while seeing the same performer attempt to juggle different things. However a good performer will be able to make his routines entertaining enough and engaging enough to suit most kids of different ages.

 

Puppeteers/ Ventriloquists

 

Puppets add an extra dimension of fun to any party. Kids love to see a funny looking puppet animal telling stories and cracking jokes. Puppets also make the entire show look bigger as it appears that there is a cast of performers rather than just one performer doing the show. This is one of the main reasons ventriloquist shows are a hit at parties.

 

 

 

A ventriloquism puppet show is versatile enough to entertain almost all kids and even adults. Younger kids will be captivated by brightly coloured talking puppets while older kids will be able to appreciate the jokes and interact with the puppets. A ventriloquism puppet show is something that can be a fun for the whole family.

 

The days you don’t just have to settle for one or the other. Mighty Magic Factory provides multi-dimensional performers so that you can choose a magician who is also a ventriloquist or a ventriloquist who is also and expert juggler or more!  

 

Until next time,

 

Captain Amazing 

Some Tips On Birthday Party Balloon Decorations

Everyone loves balloons regardless of gender or age. But what is the best place to hang them and what are the best colours for the party? Well, here are some tips and ideas to help you decide just how to decorate for a birthday party with balloons!

Tip 1: Choice of colours

Pick your colours wisely. For younger children’s birthday parties (1-5years), a wide variety of colours are fine. If you are going with a themed party, try to go for the balloons that match that theme. There are pre-printed balloons that say “Happy Birthday”. These are great as well, as they are usually already coloured to the theme, so these can be great to incorporate with colored balloons around the room.

Tip 2: The right place

Hang the balloons in the right spots. If you are just blowing them up and hanging them, try to find the right spots around the room(s) to place them so they are not in the way or blocking anyone’s view. Corners of windows or doors, on top of furniture, and higher up on walls are great places to hang them.

Tip 3: Bunch them together

Use bunches of balloons to decorate. Try to do the balloons in groups of four or five. It is always better to hang balloons in a bunch because it makes more of an impact. This will help create a better party atmosphere around the room! Ribbons can also be hung from under the balloons to help create an even more unique party feel!

No matter what kind of party you are throwing, balloons are always a great way to go. And afterwards, you know that you’ll have entertainment for hours trying to find fun ways to pop them! So have fun picking out your coloured balloons for your next party and remember these tips and ideas when you are hanging them around the party room!

Some Tips and Ideas for Organising a Puppet Themed Party

While the recent new anime and cartoon series have invaded the children’s TV programs, shows like Sesame Street and Muppets are still core programmes children watch as they grow up. Indeed, it is rare that any child have not watched or heard of Sesame Street and/or Muppets before!

While that is so, there are few parties in Singapore that are puppet themed! Hence, if you want something novel and fun for your children’s birthday party, why not – A puppet themed party??

Decoration Ideas

Since this is going to be a puppet themed party, you can make use of any famous puppet cartoon or even shows that make use of puppets for decoration ideas! You can use famous ones such as: Sesame Street or Muppets. For example, you could go online to print pictures of famous puppet characters like Elmo and so on to stick on the wall. Using the freely available pictures from the internet, you could print banners and the likes easily. Of course, if you wish, you can allow your child to choose his/her favorite character as the theme – it is afterall his/her special day!

Balloons are a must for all parties, so for puppet themed parties, you could get Sesame Street helium aluminium balloons which are easily available at most party supply stores. You can look for balloon decorators who can make balloon characters that can stand at the door to welcome your guests. Of course, these balloon characters will be famous puppets from children shows!

If there is a table setting, you can make things more fun, by having simple sock puppets on each child’s cup. Simply invert each cup and pull a sock puppet over the cups. The puppet need not be very complicated. All you will need is a lot of socks (new socks are recommended – the parents may not be happy with the kids getting old sock puppets!!) and of course, some plastic eyes that can be bought at art stores. You can get bright and colourful socks from night market and simply stick on a pair of eyes for each one of the socks. This makes a good decoration at the table and the kids can bring the puppet home after the party too.

Door gift ideas

For door gifts, you could give each child that attends your party a puppet making kits. Kits like these for children are commercially available and are pretty

affordable and have all the items needed for making a nice hand puppet. Of course, puppets do not refer to just hand puppets! Besides being cute and lovable, finger puppets are affordable as door gifts too.

Alternatively, if the setting is not table setting (as described above) you could have the sock puppets as door gifts too! In fact, the sock puppets can double up as a candy sock! Stuff the songs with candies and the little party favours that you have prepared for the children and tie them up with pipe cleaners. Not only do they have a candy goody bag, they also have a sock puppet to play with!

Music Ideas

Since you’re having a party, music must be a given! For a puppet themed party, consider having Sesame Street songs for the background music instead of the traditional music. Of course, that can also be extended to the birthday song! Birthday song that is sang by the Muppets can be easily found, so you can use that for the party as well!

Entertainment

For entertainment, you could have a puppet making station. If you have given a puppet kit for the children as a door gift, encourage them to open their kit and have fun doing up their puppets. All you need is a table, some chairs, scissors, glue, wool (for puppet hair!), pipe cleaners, straws and anything that they wish for the puppet and your puppet station is all ready.

Of course, to make it more fun, announce a ‘puppet-making contest’ and the kids will be gearing to go to make the loveliest puppets! You can even have different categories for your puppet competition such as: ‘Cutest Puppet’, ‘Most Scary-Looking Puppet’ and so on and so forth!

You can also have some recordings of the famous puppet voices from the shows that the children are familiar with, for the children to have a ‘Guess Which Puppet” game. Alternatively, source for songs from various puppet shows and have the children guess which show the song comes from.

Of course, nothing beats live entertainment! So, for your puppet themed party, why not consider hiring a ventriloquist for entertainment? Instead of the traditional magic show, you could get a puppet ventriloquist for the party, or even better, hire an entertainer who can do a multi-variety show (ie. Magic and Puppets all in one show!). For example, you could hire an entertainer from a quality party entertainment company like Mighty Magic Factory, which offers a variety of shows that include magic, puppet and juggling – in this way; you can have the best of both worlds!

Captain Amazing’s Guide to a DIY Magic Show for Your Kid

Hi all,

Many times, I get asked by parents at parties “How long have you been doing this?”. It’s usually their way of saying  ”Wow you seem to really know how to put up a good show!”  

Well I’ve been in the business for a few years now and I’ve picked up a few tricks of the trade. As a professional birthday party entertainer, here are some tips for parents out there on how you can put up a magic show for your kid even if you are not a magician.

Step 1 - Learn Some Magic

Learning magic these days is not as hard as it before. There are numerous resources such as the internet, the library and even magic shops where you can take your first steps to becoming a conjurer. You can even pickup books from popular series such as Magic for Dummies or The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Magic.

 

Do not choose the tricks you like to perform, but the ones that you think will appeal most to your kid or kids in general. As you would probably won’t have as much time to rehearse as a full-time professional magician, choose effects that you can practice and perfect in a short time.

 

Step 2 - Structure Your Act

Pick about 4 really good tricks for your act, an opening trick, middle, a closer and a backup trick. Your backup trick can be saved as an encore, or used in case one of the other tricks fail.

 

Props can be bought seperately at a magic shop, as a whole set or you can even make some of them yourself.

 

 

Choose something bright or colourful for an opening effect that will catch the kid’s attention. Your middle effect can be something interactive that gets all the kids involved or it could be one with just 1 kid participant doing some magic with you. And of course save your best and most amazing effect for the grand finale.

 

Now you have to work out how to present your magic to the kids. Kids won’t sit and watch for too long if the magic isn’t interesting from the start so fill in as many bits of business, funny words or jokes as you can from the introduction of a trick to the execution and the finale.

Step 3 - Rehearse

Now its time to practice and perfect your act. Try out each trick on its own first. Work out the step by step mechanics of how to perform the effect. Practice in front of a mirror to see how you look when you perform and make any adjustments you need. Once you are comfortable, its time to practice without a mirror.

 

Now put all the acts together and practice it as a whole show. This is known as rehearsal. Treat your rehearsal like a real show. Perform as you would in front of the kids and imagine their reactions, even go through all your jokes and bits of business.

 

Lastly, if you are going to wear a costume during the act, rehearse in costume as well to make sure you can do everything right.

Step 4 - Perform

Once you have perfected your act there’s just a small matter of performing it in front of a real audience for the first time. Here are a few more tips on how to get by that first show.

 

 

 

Before the show, introduce yourself so the kids are more at ease with you. Be friendly with the kids and they will usually be friendly towards you. Getting them on your side is half the battle won.

 

During your act, prepare to be spontaneous and react to the kids. Allow the kids their opinion and let them have fun, but always maintain control of your situation.

 

Now just perform the rest of your act as you’ve rehearsed and everything should be a piece of cake. Have fun!

 

Until next time,

 

Captain Amazing