The Magic Circular (September 2005)

Child's Play it Ain't: David Wood
Reported by David Hibberd

There cannot be many magicians who never perform magic for children, if not as a professional entertainer, then almost certainly for family.

Most of us are keen to know how we can improve our presentation of this kind of magic.

Introduced by Terry Herbert, another packed house was reminded that David Wood had many years of experience as an actor, writer, producer and children's entertainer.

David started writing plays for children in 1967 and found automatically that his experience of magic and the techniques learnt from it, often influenced his writing so that magic was introduced into the plot.

For many years The David Wood Magic and Music Show has combined magic, music and audience participation in one and a half hours of entertainment and fun. David has appeared on BBC TV and his adaptation of Roald Dahl's stories have been huge hits, as are his books for children. His THEATRE FOR CHILDREN has been described as the definitive guide to presenting theatre to an audience of children.

David is sure that participation is the key to a successful show. Children will "do it for real" and although adults may join it, it is usually tongue in cheek. He sees himself as a Children's Entertainer who uses magic which may not be startlingly original but, having been developed and honed over the years, has become something unique to himself.

David showed that his updated version of Baffling Bunnies, originally bought from Max Andrews fifty years ago is still entertaining and effective. He clearly understands what makes children tick. Assisted by Peter Pontzen, his pianist for many years, the effective use of music greatly added to the impact of David's Wilting Flower routine. David demonstrated that he wants to emotionally involve the audience ... he wants them to care ... and we did! As David said, "a certain amount of energy is needed ... and it doesn't half make a difference."

We were all given an insight into David's thinking on magic for children and he closed by showing us Billy Day's Lovey Duck with a beautiful routine involving us all. Indeed, one of my fondest memories of the Centenary Celebrations will be the sight and sound of a Magic Circle audience enthusiastically and tunefully singing "Quackety Quack, Quackety Quack, Quackety Quackety Quackety Quack."

Absolutely marvellous.

Abracadabra (August 13th 2005)

Reported by Brian Lead

From the moment he bounded onto the stage Saturday afternoon with a delighted cry of "Hello!", as though he really was pleased to greet his audience, David Wood held our attention. Hailed as the 'national children's dramatist' by The Times, and with over 30 playscripts, screenplays and books to his credit, David Wood OBE has vast experience as a performer and actor.

In this lecture he used the traditional effects of Lovey Duck and Baffling Bunnies to illustrate his philosophies for entertaining the young. He was fortunate to have a helpful young lady in the audience who was willing to act as an assistant in the initial demonstrations before the routines were deconstructed and analysed.

Standard props such as Supreme's Pop-up Wand and Wilting Flower took on a whole new lease of life in the hands of this expert, who also passed on his thoughts about handling volunteers, asking us to question a lot of the quips which are often thoughtlessly directed towards helpers.

This was a very thought-provoking session which no doubt caused many of those present to re-evaluate their performances and look back for inspiration to the 'golden oldies'. David also emphasized the power of music to enhance the entertainment, with Peter Pontzen live at the piano.