Costumes & Accessories (2) / Party Supplies (3)

Magic Party

Table of contents

Introduction

Did you know that a group of magicians is called 'a misdirection of magicians'? And if you consider yourself to be a potentially skilled magician, then this magical party would be the very event with which to entertain your friends. Below you will find all the information and tips you need to organize a magical bash, so be sure to make some notes. But first, a little background on the art of magic.

 

Derived from the Latin word "Magi", magic as a performing art has been around for millennia but has only come into the spotlight in the 18th century. This is largely due to the work of one man, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, who opened the first magic theater in Paris around 1840. His show featured mechanical object which moved and behaved with human quality and was a huge success.

 

Some years later another name would feature in performance magic history and become one the most well known. We are of course referring to Harry Houidini who was born Ehrich Weiss and used Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin's name to create his stage name. The son of a rabbi, Houdini was an expert lock pick and was renowned for his skill for getting himself out of very tight situations (such as stray jackets). But those weren't the limits of his talents as he managed to successfully collude with the audience and make use of stage props to create illusions that would baffle people around the world.

 

Now, for those of you considering delving into the world of performance magic, you will have to take "The Magician's Oath" of which the wording is as follows:

 

"As a magician I promise never to reveal the secret of any illusion to a non-magician, unless that one swears to uphold the Magician's Oath in turn. I promise never to perform any illusion for any non-magician without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain the illusion of magic."

 

And that being said, it's time to start organizing our party!

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Magic Party Invitations

Below you will find some useful ideas for Magic Party invitations. Should you require any of the materials or items necessary, just ask your parents to help by purchasing them from a retail store in your area or from the internet. And remember, including the following information in your invitation will ensure that your guests will have all the information they need.

  • Party Name: Think of a magical name for your party, like “Jean's White Rabbit Party”

  • Salutation

  • Date & Time

  • Venue/Location

  • Dress Code

  • Contact Details

  • Additional information…

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Magic Design

Convince your friends to come with an invitation capable of doing the job. Making your own magic design is easy and will only require the use of a computer and a printer. If you don't have a printer, simply ask a friend to help you out or get in touch with your local printing store.

 

To start off you will need some images that you feel represents the theme of performance magic. This can be anything from a rabbit coming out of a top hat to some playing cards with a wand flying over them. Whichever image you choose or design, be sure to include the name of your party in an appropriate font. Next up you will want to add the details of your party (along with some suitable decorations) to the inside of the card. If you are having trouble with the layout of the card, use a template suitable to the purpose.

 

When you're done, get your cards printed out and get ready to deliver them.

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Top Hat

For this invitation you will need to get a magician's top hat for every guest you wish to invite. These can be purchased from your local magic supply store or from the internet. Once you have them, simply create a paper-based invitation and slip it into the top hat. Alternatively you can either have the invitation embroidered or printed in nice silver or golden letters.

Magician's Cards

For this invitation you will need a couple of playing cards for each guest you wish to invite. Additionally you will need to get some glue as well as a stencil in the appropriate font. Once you have all the items you will need to glue a couple of playing cards together to make them look like magicians cards fanned out to a poker-player's cards.

 

Once the glue has dried on your cards, use the stencil to trace the invitation details onto the cards (using a marker of your choice). Once that's done, you are ready to deliver.

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Magic Party Dress Code

You will simply need to state “magician” under the dress code section of your invitation.

Magic Party Decorations

Just in case you are stuck for ideas for decorations for your magic-themed party, here are a couple of our ideas. All of these items and more can be found in your local retailer or on the internet.

  • Balloons

  • Streamers

  • Giant Playing Cards

  • Giant Dice

  • Toy Rabbits in Top Hats

  • White Tipped Magic Wands

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Magic Party Guest Arrival & Announcement

Get your parents to announce your friends as they arrive with a line like “Ladies and gentlemen, it's the great ” where is the name of your friend.

Magic Party Favors

Party favors are those items that will ensure that your friends remember your party for days, weeks, months and years to come. As such it is important to get them something that you know they will have a use for or enjoy. Here are a couple of our ideas:

  • Cards

  • Top hats

  • Coins

  • Wands

  • Toy rabbits

  • Dice

  • Key Chains

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Magic Party Activities

Often the best part of any party is the one where you and your friends get play together. Here are a couple of ideas for magic party activities:

Magician's Whisper

Everyone who wants to participate should sit in a circle and one person should be chosen as the originator. When everyone is ready, the originator has to whisper something into the ear of the person immediately to his left. That person then has to whisper it to the next person and so on. Each person is only allowed to whisper once and may not repeat what has been said if the person he or she is whispering to didn't hear.

 

When the message reaches the person immediately to the right of the originator, that person has to say aloud what he has heard (and he is also the next originator).

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The All-Knowing Magician

Get one chair on which someone is sitting with their back to everyone else and place something under the chair. Now, one of the kids behind the person on the chair has to take the object behind the chair and then return to their position, taking care to conceal the object.

 

The person on the chair can then turn around and has to guess who took it in three guesses. If one of the guesses is right, that person gets to go again until he gets it wrong, at which point it is someone else's turn.

What am I?

Gather everyone around and let one person think of an object, be it a plane, a monkey or even a building. When that person has thought of something, he or she then has to say to everyone else, “What am I?” At this point everyone has to try and guess what that person is by asking questions like “How tall are you?”, “What color are you?”, etc.

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Magic Tricks!

Well, it is a magic party after all and as such it would only be fitting for everyone to do a couple of magic tricks. Take turns to show off your skills to each other. If someone doesn't know a trick, teach them according to the magician's code. And to ensure that everyone learns something new, why not get a DVD that teaches you have to perform some of the more difficult tricks?

Red Light/Green Light

Everyone knows this game, and if you don't then you are about to learn.


One person is chosen as the traffic light and the rest of the kids have to line up about 20 feet behind him or her. Without turning around, the person who is the traffic light has to say “green light”. At this point everyone should run to the “traffic light” and try and touch him or her. But be careful, as soon as the traffic light says “red light” then everyone has to stop. Those who don' t stop are out.

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Food & Drink

Now, what kind of food do you think magicians eat? We think they eat the normal kind, although we have never really seen one actually eat something (strange)! Here are a couple of ideas for foods and drinks. To make things more interesting, come up with some inventive names for these dishes with your friends' help.

  • Sandwiches

  • Chicken Wings

  • Pizza

  • Burgers

  • Chips

  • Tortillas

  • Candy

  • Soda

  • Fruit juices

  • Milkshakes

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Reader ideas