More Seuss Adventures

Last Monday, March 2, was Dr. Seuss's birthday and Read Across America Day. An elementary school in Ashburn VA had booked me almost a year in advance for that date. As fate would have it, it snowed the day before and school was cancelled for March 2nd.

Thankfully, we rescheduled for Monday March 9th.  I was able to present three assemblies at the school all on the books and stories of Dr. Seuss. The photo at the top of the page gives you an idea of what my stage set-up looks like. My two tables are draped with custom made Dr. Seuss covers. This is actually the set-up from a couple years ago. I still use the custom draped table covers, but there are more props involved in the show.

New this year has been the story, Horton and the Kwuggerbug. Everyone loves Horton, but until
recently, I only thought there were two Horton stories, Horton Hatches the Egg and Horton Hears a Who. Turns out, that in between those two books was Horton and the Kwuggerbug, but it never got published into bookform. So a few months ago, this story and a few other 'lost' Seuss stories made their way into a book by the same title.

The image to the right is a painting of a Beezlenut Tree, the tree which is the focus of the story about Horton and this shifty Kwuggerbug. This is actually the conclusion of the routine. It starts with the image of only the tree and then the bug and Horton's trunk appear on the picture. I really like sharing new stories with audiences who think they know everything there is to know about Dr. Seuss. I always have people (students, teachers, and other adults) come up to me and tell me they learned something new about Dr. Seuss in the course of my show.

Horton and the Kwuggerbug Book also contains a number of 'Lost Stories'. One is about the boy Marco, who often appears in Dr. Seuss stories. AND this book has the very first GRINCH story, except, this original Grinch is far far different from the one who appeared in How The Grinch Stole Christmas. 

Last year, I featured The Sneetches story along with other stories in my show. The Sneetches is a great story but I found it to be rather difficult to effectively illustrate with magic. I like to tell the stories from the books using magic. I had created several different Sneetch routines over the years, but none made it into my show because I didn't feel it was quite right. Then suddenly, I stumbled upon the solution. It was so great because the idea allowed me to share the basic story with the kids and have fun with the magic at the same time. I was quite proud of the outcome.

I have been asked if I will do another new Reading Assembly with a Seuss theme next year? I can't answer the question at the moment. I had originally planned on stopping with 2015. But I've since found a couple more stories that I know will translate wonderfully into magic routines and allow me to share with kids and teachers. For me the real reason behind this is to encourage kids to read. By sharing the stories of Dr. Seuss and other fun facts about the stories it helps to peak the interests of the kids and they then want to find the books and read them for themselves. The key to reading when you're young is to be interested in the material. IF you are not interested, no amount of forcing will turn a kid into a reader. Trust me, I know, I was one of those kids with terrible reading comprehension. I could read the same paragraph a dozen times and not recall what I read. Then one day I found magic and reading about magicians changed the way I thought about reading. Now I love to read books of all kinds. And because I missed so many of the great Dr. Seuss stories as a kid, I can now enjoy them fully and help others to find enjoyment in them as well.

The Easter Magic Show

It's been a long time since I offered this show. My Easter Magic Show was something I offered a long time ago to groups and churches that were having Easter Egg Hunts and needed some entertainment in between the various 'hunts'.  Naturally I'll do a routine or two with eggs, I also have a fun flower routine and something with a rabbit, though I do not use a real rabbit. I stopped using live rabbits a number of years ago as I would encounter kids who allergies to rabbits. So instead I found great rabbit tricks that used images of rabbits but not the real thing.

I generally think of the Easter Magic Show as a show for younger children, because they are the ones who usually attend the egg hunts. But if you're in the Northern VA area and are interested in having a magician as part of your Easter activities, check me out on the web at www.DeanAlanMagic.com

What I Learned From Dr. Seuss

For the past 15+ years I've been presenting a Dr. Seuss Magic Show at daycares, libraries, and elementary schools. It is the single most popular educational show I have. The story about it's origins is one I've told friends before, but I'll briefly share it with you.

I received a call one day from a daycare asking if I did any Dr. Seuss magic tricks. I told them that I did not, but I could put something together if they wanted to book a show. I told them I'd include one trick related to Dr. Seuss. The trick I came up with was simple and based on a classic kidshow magic trick. I think the original went by PetShop Pranks, or Barnyard Follies or something like that. It was a Supreme Magic item. I simply used Dr. Seuss images in place of the animals. Easy as 1-2-3.

What I didn't expect was when I arrived and everyone, kids, teachers, and parents were all dolled up in Cat in the Hat Hats and various other costumes related to Dr. Seuss. Most were home made items, but many of the hats looked store bought. It was then that I found out how popular the Doctor still was and that his birthday was actually 'Read Across America Day'.

The following year, I added more material to the show until I came up with an entire show of Dr. Seuss routines. But again, they were more just magic tricks with a Dr. Seuss covering. It wasn't until I brought the show to elementary schools that all that changed. I began to delve deeper into the stories. I researched how the stories came about, the origins, the stories related to other stories and so forth. It was then that the show really became an educational show. And it was then that I really learned how to make a really strong themed show with a great message.

Prior to the elementary school version, I was merely taking standard magic tricks and repackaging them with Dr. Seuss pictures and so forth. But now, I was using magic to tell many of the stories. Not every story is easy to illustrate with magic. And some took many years before I hit on the right formula. An example was last years The Sneetches routine. I worked on getting that book into my show for more than 5 years but I just never had the right routine. Finally, last year I stumbled upon a brilliant concept for the routine which perfectly illustrated what was happening in the story. It was a hit.

The show today is a mixture of story based routines and some of the older magic with a Seuss theme. The difference between now and then, even the older routines are educational because I share many of the important aspects of the stories and characters while I do the magic.

The photo at the top of the page is a routine called 'Gustav The Goldfish' which can be found in the book, The Bippilo Seed and Other Lost Stories of Dr. Seuss. In my routine the entire story is acted out in a similar way as it appears in the story. When the routine is over, I share how this story never made it into print while Dr. Seuss was alive. The reason was because Dr. Seuss's wife Helen Palmer asked him if she could have the story for her own, and she changed it a bit, added different illustrations and renamed the book 'A Fish Out Of Water'. Many people were familiar with that story and not Gustav, but now they learned where it came from.

Dr. Seuss took simple and sometimes silly stories and rhyming words to convey often complex subjects. But no matter the message, his stories were always fun to read which in turn helped young readers to build up their reading skills and helped them to find joy in reading. 
And because of his example I've really learned how to take any magic trick and turn it into a themed presentation and not simply for kids. Messages such as motivation, success, time management, and so forth can be taught by using magic as the vehicle to get the message across. One of my Seuss programs even has a lesson in perseverance and this directly relates to Theo Geisel's own life.


Thank you so much Mr. Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)!

Virginia-Maryland Summer Camp Magic Shows Announced!

Each Summer for the past 15+ years, I've brought out new shows for Summer Camps. I always have a new preschool show and one show for school agers. This year, there are actually 3 programs. The third program is actually a workshop.

When I began my career performing magic full time, one of the first programs I developed was called The Pre-Hysterical Dinosaur Show. It was a huge hit for years and then the dino-craze kind of died off, much like the dinosaurs themselves. So I retired the show about 4 years ago. But I've recently discovered a new resurgence of interest in the 'giant lizards'! So, I'm bringing the show back with some modifications and upgrades. The new show will be called Jurassic Magic. Please note, this show is for preschoolers ONLY!

The show will run 45 minutes and will have magic, puppets and lots of fun things for the kids to enjoy.


The next show in the line-up is The Ultra Magic Show. This show is being designed for school aged children. I'm going to bring back a couple of the strongest routines from my past shows out and introduce a LOT of new material. This show will be 45 minutes, like all my programs and will have magic, more magic, and even more magic! I'm probably going to produce a short promo video for this show, so watch for that in the coming weeks.

Whenever I create a show, it usually takes a couple months to develop. The bigger the show, the more time it takes. The Ultra Magic Show, won't be big in regards to size, but it will be BIG in regards to content. So the planning has already begun.

The past two years I've taken out a version of the Underground Magic Theatre Show, but this year, the Ultra Magic Show will be replacing it. The time needed to set up the UMT show makes it very difficult to do and as much as I love doing that bigger show, it's not practical. Now, having said that, this new production may turn out to be bigger than I'm anticipating, lol. Time will certainly tell.

The final program in the Summer 2015 line-up will be The TOP SECRET Magic Workshop! I get requests every summer for a teaching workshop and for the most part I've been turning them down. But this year, I decided to go ahead and bring back the program. The workshop is 45 minutes and will include teaching/instruction in a number of magic tricks. I will have hand-outs for the kids, activity pages, and all the kids will get their own autographed magic poster. Oh, and along with that the kids will receive 1 actual magic trick that they can keep and take home. Most of the magic in the workshop is presented using everyday items like string, rubber bands, coins and the like. But this one special magic trick is like a bonus on top of everything else.

IF you are interested in any of these shows, go visit my website at www.DeanAlanMagic.com. You can actually book the shows direct through the website now by clicking the 'book-a-show' page.

2015 is Taking Off Like A Rocket

I must ask this question, Have you received my email newsletter yet? IF yes, GREAT! If no, then you've got to sign up. I sent out my first online newsletter today which contained info on the new Super Hero Show, News on the new Dr. Seuss Show and information on Summer Shows! It also had some additional information about my recent public appearances and something really HUGE that is in the works.

The image above is a screen shot of the newsletter, well as much as would fit into the screen. It's actually a bit longer than that. Here is how the newsletter works. For all my current customers and those who sign up for the newsletter, you will get one email per week. The newsletter will probably be the only one with images and such. The other emails will contain stories, sales and marketing ideas and general motivational stuff. Let's face it, no matter what job you have, you are in sales. Moms and Dads are sales people, they have to sell their kids on what to eat, the right way to behave, what to watch and NOT watch on TV and so forth. Yes it's called parenting, but it's also a form of sales.

Daycare Directors are sales people, they've got to sell new prospects on using their center. They've got to sell their employees on new programs and new procedures. School Teachers are sales people. You have got to be able to deliver your lessons in such a way that the students understand them, comprehend them and can retain them. You are selling math, science, art, history, reading and so forth. WE ARE ALL SALES PEOPLE in one way or another.

I'm going to show you some easy ways to do it. Ways that may only benefit you personally and other ways that my help you in your work. You might be wondering, what does it cost? My newsletter is free. The great thing about email is you can choose to read it or not. But I'll tell you this, I'll also be sharing some magic and the occasional magic lesson. That's right, I'll teach YOU a trick that you can share with friends and family. Don't worry, it won't be so difficult that you won't be able to do it. I promise it will be fun to learn and fun to try out on your friends. I probably will only teach a trick one time per month.

Why? I'll be honest, many of you are not only customers but long time friends. I like to share stuff with my friends. And if I can pick up a few new friends along the way and in turn help or teach you something, then it's a win win for everyone. This is only for existing customers and anyone else who signs up for my newsletter. Next week I have a 'super hero' story to share that I think you'll really enjoy. Where to sign up? Just go to my website www.DeanAlanMagic.com and about half way down you'll see a box for the sign up. 

I've been working on this for more than a year and have had several false starts, but it looks like it's all working now. I'm so excited for 2015 and all the cool things that are in store!!!!!

Super Hero Magic Show Begins Soon

Click the picture for full size version

I am SO EXCITED about this new show!!!! For years and years I've visited schools, daycares, libraries, community center, you name it, and the kids are wearing Super Hero T-shirts. Well, I've finally created a show about Super Heroes! But it's not just any show, contained within the show is a subtle, and sometimes not so subtle message about character. This is a preschool show, so the message is pretty simple and easy to understand.

The kids are going to LOVE this show. And I encourage everyone attending, adults too, to wear their favorite super hero tshirts! I'm going to be demonstrating some cool super powers (via magic of course) and we might even have the kids test out their super powers. Then at the end of the show, I share with everyone how to develop REAL SUPER POWERS like Kindness, Honesty, Respect and so forth.

How cool is that? The great thing, the teachers and parents can keep the message going long after the show by reminding the kids that these traits help to build up their own personal super powers!

The first week of January 5-9th is already all booked! But the good news is, there are scattered dates still open throughout the rest of the month. I'm going to run the Super Marvelous Magic Show from Jan 5-Feb 13th. So if you want to have an incredible in-house field trip during a very cold month, why not make it fun and educational all at the same time!!!!!!

www.DeanAlanMagic.com