Let Peter and Roary entertain you! (Magic Moments Magical Entertainment for Children)

Member Name: mumto3

Product:	Magic Moments Magical Entertainment for Children
Date:	06/04/09 (304 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very entertaining - great interaction with children - can't fault this entertainer

Disadvantages: None!

My daughter recently turned five and as she is now at school we decided that she could have a party for her birthday with some of her friends. We have had little parties for family at home before but decided to try something a little more ambitious this time.

Shortly before Christmas my son had a Christmas party at nursery and part of the entertainment was a magician. My daughter also attended the same nursery and had seen the magician perform while she was there. My daughter's birthday is in February and so we started to talk about her party in about December. When asked what she might like for her party the only request my daughter made was for the magician and Angelina Ballerina plates!

My Husband and I discussed this and felt that it might be too expensive as we would need to hire a hall and provide food and other entertainment for the children. I rang a few venues in our area that offered kids party packages and they all cost between £5 and £10 a head. At some places there were no age restrictions but height restrictions instead which caused a problem for us because I have a young son aged one and he was too short and my nephew is nine and was too tall! By the time we got into the New Year we were no closer to finalising any details and I was starting to get concerned.

Eventually I went back to thinking about the magician. I had seen the very end of his act at the nursery parties because he is on before Father Christmas arrives and I like to be there for that bit. I found out from the Nursery that his name was Peter Barrett and I remembered that his act was called Magic Moments. I went to www.google.co.uk and put in his name and was taken straight to his website www.magicmomentsparty.co.uk . I instantly recognised Peter and his rabbit Roary from the party and was pleased to note that he was advertising a mini disco for the children too. I sent an email straight away asking Peter to quote me for just a magic show and also for the magic show and disco.

I got a reply within a couple of days with a price of £80 for a 45 minute magic show and £120 for the show and disco. After some more discussions and a very generous offer from my Father in Law we booked Peter for the party. Obviously the price may depend on where you are and may have gone up since we booked.

I spent a few weeks worrying what it would be like as I had not seen the act before and knew even less about the mini disco. I had only chosen Peter as he had done the Nursery School parties for at least the last three years and I felt that if they trusted him and he kept being asked back then he must be ok.

I needn't have worried, the whole party was excellent!

Peter arrived at the hall we had a booked over an hour before the party started to get all his props and disco set up. I was a little late arriving but he still managed to get everything sorted out in time. As soon as the children started arriving Peter went into action. It was so nice for me because normally I am trying to look after my younger children and sort out everything else. I had already set everything up at the hall before everyone arrived and then Peter took over.

While everyone was arriving and the more nervous children were getting used to their surroundings Peter played some music and did some games with the children and tried to encourage all of them to join in and have a dance or race about.

Once everyone had arrived Peter asked all the children to come and sit on the floor to see some magic. For the next 45 minutes he kept a room full of people adults and children alike thoroughly entertained. The tricks were very basic and obviously aimed at young children but the way he spoke to the children and engaged them in the act was excellent. Peter states that his act is aimed at children aged 3 to 7 and I would say this is exactly right but my nine year old nephew was kept just as entertained as everyone else. The adults at the party also enjoyed the show mostly because of the funny interaction between Peter and the children and the way the children was so completely enthralled and believed what they were seeing. Peter made sure that the birthday girl was the centre of attention but also involved all the other children even trying to bring out some of the quieter ones but in a very sensitive way. By the end of the act even the most timid were shouting out the magic words and getting involved. The finale of the show is the appearance of Roary the Rabbit and all the children are invited to stroke Roary.

After the magic show was over Peter asked the children to go and sit at the tables and have something to eat before the disco started. While the children were eating Peter played well known Disney songs to keep them entertained. Before I spoke to Peter to book the party I had thought about what I wanted from the day and how I wanted the party to go. For example I wanted the food about halfway through the party to allow time for cutting the cake for the party bags. When Peter told me what he normally did with the children it was almost exactly how I had it planned in my head.

After the food Peter played some party games with the children. I was a little worried about children being excluded from games because they were 'out' or having to provide lots of prizes for children who had 'won'. When we discussed this before the party Peter said that he never excludes a child from a game because the age group he usually entertains are too young to understand that. He said that what he liked to do was to make the child do a type of forfeit like tell a joke or pull a funny face but then the game would carry on with them still included. I liked the sound of this very much and on the day it worked perfectly. Whilst playing musical statues the children were moving on purpose because they all wanted to sing a song into the microphone. Peter made sure that every child got the chance to do something and they all really enjoyed themselves.

After the games there were some silly dances, the sort that everyone does at parties, like agadoo, Superman, the Hockey Kockey and the Can Can. The children were starting to tire by this point but they all kept going and were all trying to do the different dance moves. When the end of the party arrived all the children were asking for more songs and trying to get Peter to do some more games or magic with them.

I would definitely say that Peter earned his money, he kept 21 children entertained for almost two hours and we had no crying or tantrums or anyone wanting to go home. I was really worried that I would have children running riot and not be able to control them but not one child misbehaved. Even the older children were so taken with the entertainment that they didn't find it boring or babyish. I have found out now that he has been doing the nursery school party for the last 13 years!

We all thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment and it is a party I will remember for a very long time. I am hoping to have Peter for another Party when my younger children are a little older. I cannot fault the service, communication or pure entertainment value of this children's entertainer.

I would recommend Peter Barrett and his Magic Moments to anyone hosting a party for children aged between 3 and 7, he is worth every penny!

Summary: A great Children's entertainer - worth every penny.