Back in 2012 I decided to create something exciting for children’s parties and invented my alter ego – Ozzy Wizzpop. So began my journey into showmanship with a quest to seek out the secrets of magic, the finesse of puppetry and the skill of balloon modelling. An accomplished showman is all well but kids can be a tough crowd. The challenge here remained to forge my new found skills into a thrilling engaging performance. After a few trial shows I quickly learned what worked and what didn’t and became ready to throw my hat in the ring of children’s entertainment. I studied my trade from the greats of the industry. I seeked out every text I could dealing with the enigma of children’s entertainment. Some of these ultra rare books arrived from across seas, dating back as far as thirty years yet still so relevant today. I soon began to learn of the psychology of children, specific appealing comedic elements and how to tailor showmanship for children. I was still very aware that my real education would come from the trenches, gaining experience from continuous performances. If the children think your naff, they will in no uncertain terms will tell you so. Fortunately from early on any signs of heckling did not feature (phew – no one wants a five year old telling you that your ‘poo’).
