10/17/10

Younger Audiences

Comment and Question: I did two small shows Saturday at a church camp. This day was a "Day Camp for beginners. For the ten o'clock skit I used my friend Burt. The children were rapt but did not respond much to the humor. I think it went over them. Still some were asking if I was to be there later in the day. On one show I used Choco my dog friend. He looks like a stuffed toy animal. He went over great! The children really got into the act - I wasn't sure who was in control. This experience caused me to think that I need more material for smaller ages. Any suggestions as to what works best for preschool to maybe fourth or fifth graders?
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From Mr. D: Young children respond to VISUAL humor, puppet antics & tricks, silliness, riddles, knock knock jokes, funny songs, mixed up nursery rhymes, etc.

With older children you can present more traditional conversational routines, dialogues, jokes, etc.

A few books I carry ($5.00 each) that you might consider:
Ventriloquism For Young Children (Andersen)
Funny Stuff For Kid Shows (Wade)
Ventriloquism For Pre-Schoolers (Burks)
Silly Riddles & Funny Knock Knocks (Andersen)
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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous10/17/2010

    Smaller kids often relate better to "stuffed animal" type puppets because it's often like the toy they play with or take to bed at night that they feel safe with. I think that's why your dog went so well. With little kids I always try to make my puppet "shy" at the start so as to help the kids that maybe feeling unsure about the puppet - if the puppet is "shy" they (the kids) want to help the puppet to be un-shy and so the unsure kids almost automatically join in. Hope this helps.
    PS I make the puppet shy by:
    1/ Having him say he's shy/scared from his box BEFORE he comes out,
    2/ Once he's out of his box I have him shaking nervously and
    3/ hiding head under my arm till he's finally brave enough to come out.
    Regards Geoffrey (Australia)

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