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Seriously Silly
by David Kaye
'How to Entertain Children with Magic & Comedy'
Published by Richard Kaufman, Washington DC
Price £35.00
Hard Cover 163 pages
Reviewed by Terry Herbert
I have just read a book that in my humble opinion is one of the best books
on entertaining children ever. Written by one of the most successful children’s
entertainers in The States, David Kaye a.k.a. Silly Billy, delves into the
psychology of the entertainment of children and covers everything from
understanding the differences in performing for children of different ages to
solving the many problems one encounters when performing for children.
This is a must read for anybody who entertains children whether experienced or a
novice and I cannot recommend it too highly.
There are several excellent routines in the book with props that most magicians
will have lurking in the cupboard but the meat of the book is the advice, hints
and bits of business that is the lifeblood of any children’s entertainer.
This is not to say that everybody will agree with some of David’s philosophy and
he fully accepts that in entertaining a tough kid’s audience in New York, some
of his humour can be a little controversial, but that said no children’s
magician will fail to find some very worthwhile advice and material within it’s
pages.
Highly recommended.
© Terry Herbert, June 2005
Seriously Silly is available from www.jbtv.co.uk