Amazing Stephen - Magic Show & Party Dancing Games

The Most Popular Choice

Amazing Stephen's most popular show is the two-hour magic & dancing games party package. This consists of the magic and puppet show in the first hour, followed by party games and party dancing in the second hour. When appropriate, he also makes balloon models for all the children while they eat. Read through this page to find out more.

The One-Hour Magic & Puppet Show

The magic & puppet show lasts for approximately an hour and be performed for a small group of children or to the entire school of 500. It can be performed in the living room of your home, in village halls or on the school stage.

Stephen has numerous shows specialised for all ages from toddlers to teenagers. He most often chooses the right tricks for your party depending on numerous factors including space available, age, gender and what's popular with the children at that time.

For younger children, he likes to perform with puppets and present more colourful magic. While the older children often prefer the more technical tricks and the illusions such as chopping off the child's hand!

When performing for a mixture of ages, the show will feature all the comedy routines that best appeal to all ages. This will include several strong magic effects followed by funny puppet routines to keep all the children entertained throughout the show. He will keep all the children (and adults) entertained with the tricks best suited for that audience.

There will be the opportunity for approximately six children (including any birthday children) to participate within the show, and they will all receive a gift for their participation. When appropriate, he also likes to give all the children a photograph souvenir of the show at the end as a memento of the show.

The Two-Hour Party Dancing Package

In the two-hour show, I begin with playing with the children as they arrive, usually with balloons. Once they have all arrived, we start the magic & puppet show as described above. I then escort the children to the dinner table and while they eat, I make balloon animals for all the children (if appropriate). We then proceed with the birthday cake before playing popular dancing games such as the Ch-Cha Slide and Superman. Competition games like Musical Bumps & Statues and groups games such as The Hockey Cokey & The Conga. I provide all the prizes and organise all the games.

When appropriate, there are a selection of other games which I play such as Musical Birthday child, Guess the theme song, Pass-the-Parcel and Parachute games.

Stephen's sound system is powerful enough for all village and church halls, and if appropriate he has colourful light-boxes on display also.

A possible itinerary of the two-hour show is as follows (Please note that every party is different and the best activities will be selected for your party).

25 minutes prior to start time	Amazing Stephen arrives and begins to set-up the equipment. This is usually fully ready for 10 minutes prior to the party starting, but will vary depending on how far he has to travel with all his equipment from the car to the function room.
5 minutes prior to start time	Children start to arrive. Music should be playing and I am introducing myself to the children through close-up magic, puppets or if available, a balloon game.
Start Time	The children will still be arriving, so introductions continue along with the other activities until about 2/3 of your guests have arrived.
5 minutes into the party	Stephen will gather up the children and get them seated before him (preferably on the floor) and begin the show. If you choose to have parents stay at the party, please ensure that they don’t talk and disrupt the show because it makes it very difficult for the children to hear me.
The Magic Show	The show itself will last for approximately 50-60 minutes and will offer approximately six children (including any birthday children) to participate directly in the show. The tricks performed will be selected for that age-group.
Around the 60 minutes mark	At the half-way mark, I escort the children to the dinner table. I require approximately 5 minutes to put the magic show away (otherwise they will see how the tricks work) and get the disco set-up for the second hour.
After 65 minutes The Party Food	Once the disco is set-up, I escort the children to the dinner table. Depending on the number of children, I use this opportunity to make all the children a balloon animal. However it does take a minute for each balloon to be made, and so if the party has over 20 children, it is unlikely I would get to everyone in time. In this case, I will entertain the children with close-up magic or jokes instead while they eat.
After 75 minutes The Birthday Cake	The children will start to have finished their food (depending on what you have served) and now is the time we do the Birthday cake. I gather everybody back to the front and we sing Happy Birthday together and say the Hip-Hip Hoorays. This is then followed by group photographs with all the children.
After 80 minutes Choreographed Dancing	Immediately following the photographs, we head straight into the party games. This is started by two or three choreographed dancing games such as Cha Cha Slide & Superman. These are games which I demonstrate the dance, and the children repeat after me. These games are the best to start with as it encourages the shy children to join in, because they don’t have to feel embarrassed with coming up with their own dancing.
After 93 minutes Musical Bumps	We now play Musical Bumps, however this game is played differently to how you might remember it as there are no eliminations and all the children join in throughout the entire game. I provide the prizes and there is either 1 or 2 children selected as the winner depending on the number of participants.
After 99 minutes Musical Birthday Child	The next game we play will require the birthday child to talk into the Microphone and tell his or her friends what to do when the music stops. If there are no birthday children present, or multiple birthday children, then we would play my variation of Musical Statues instead. Both games have no eliminations and keep all the children involved throughout.
After 105 minutes Hokey Cokey	I gather the children into a circle and they repeat after me for the Hokey Cokey.
After 110 minutes The Conga	Immediately after the Hokey Cokey, I get the children to all turn to the right and place their hands on the person shoulders. This creates a conga line. As I guide the children around the room, I often set-up obstacles for the line to overcome.
After 115 minutes YMCA or Parachute Games	I bring all the children back to the front as we play one more choreographed dancing game or if space allows, several parachute games.
After 119 minutes Guess the Picture	A game which has been on display throughout the entire party is finally played where the children have to guess the name of a famous character, of which you can only see their silhouette. Each child at this point will receive one of my photographs as a souvenir of the show.
After 121 minutes Party Bags	It is now the end of the party and any party bags or presents you wish to give away you may do so. I do not provide these. Meanwhile, background music will be played while the parents start to collect their children
After 125 minutes Pack-up	I now tidy all my equipment away and start transporting it back to they car. The length of time this take is approximately 10 minutes but can be more or less depending on travelling distance.

Other games we can play in exchange for the ones described above are:

Pass the Parcel	If the children are really young (1-4 years) then we play this game. Older children usually prefer to play dancing games and don’t like sitting down for long periods.
Guess the TV Theme Song Game	I play a famous TV theme song, and the children have to shout out the name of the show. It is a game we play when there are lots of children squashed into a tiny room (making certain games unplayable). Or when the ages of children are so mixed and varied that it is difficult to get everyone involved. This game appeals to everyone, including toddlers and adults and is often one of the favourites.
Guess the WWE Wrestlers Theme Game	Older Boy Parties (8-16 years) that watch Wrestling usually love this game. I play a wrestlers walk-in theme song, and they tell me the Wrestlers Name.
Musical Statues	In this variation there are no eliminations. Instead I try to catch the children out by making them laugh with my silly faces, jumping out from behind them and introducing them to my talking fish!
Simons Says	This is the classic game, with a few unique advancements.
Macarena, Saturday Night, Big Fish Little Fish	These are choreographed dancing games, where I demonstrate the dance and the children repeat it after me.

The Three-Hour (and longer) Package

The three-hour package will start with everything that's included in the one and two-hour shows. For the third hour, I often bring out my Circus Skills Workshop. This will include numerous fun activities such as Juggling, Diablo, Plate-Spinning, Peddle-Go's and Stilt Walking. More details about the workshop can be read on the Circus Skills page.

If you venue is inappropriate for Circus skills, then there are more musical games we can play along with activities such as the parachute and guess-the-song. I would also teach some simple magic tricks to the children which they can practice and perform to their parents.

Each party is different and so the best activities will be chosen for your event.