NO to Crass Humour…

I woke up today to an urgent message from a parent who had booked my party, requesting a call from me.

I struggled out of bed, and called the parent – and no i wasn’t informed there was any changes in the party. The parent had called me to confirm that all was okay and to make sure that I would not be performing anything anywhere near similar to what the kids had just seen recently. According to what she related to me, her kid had told her that one of the friend’s magician for his birthday made the birthday boy pretend to be a chicken and appeared shit. Yes, you read that right… the magician made SHIT ie. poo, appear.

According to one of the books that i read from when i started off performing (it is one of the most recommended books for children’s magic), at 7-10year old, bodily functions which seem embarrassing (like farting) are funny to kids… boys, generally. Some people choose to use that in their show. While i know that it is funny to SOME, i know a lot of people do NOT find it funny, and in fact, find it crass. In Singapore culture, many would find that downright rude.

In any case, the parent was horrified at hearing that – and she did not find it funny. (Neither did I) I had to reassure her that my show had none of that. I had the feeling that the kids would have been making fun of the birthday boy from the last party (he had to pretend to be a chicken). This is something i strive NEVER to have in my show. The birthday child is the STAR of the day, and deserves to have all the fun and attention! Not being laughed at!

In fact, i’d go on the record and say, i do not like crass humour  (I prefer intellectual ones, thank you very much), and would never include such things (like making a kid pretend to be a chicken and producing shit) in my show. The closest I’d ever go would be letting air out of a balloon and asking: “who made that noise!” I always make it so obvious that the kids know it’s me, and the fun of it all is on me, never on them. Perhaps it’s because it’s a girl thing too, that i’m usually more sensitive to the children’s feelings… which is probably why kids take to me so easily.

Well, party time is almost here… time to go make another kid’s day!