Beefed-Up

Coloring
Book

by Jim Kl
eefeld

T he Magic Coloring Book is one of the most widely available magic

props. In fact, it is so common, it’s sold in large quantities to teachers,
churches and the general public.
Chances are, almost every kid in the country has already seen the
trick at least once, if not several times. If you get booked for a show and
begin to display that old familiar red and blue cover, you will be hard-
pressed to get a good response out of it. I have even seen performers
stumble and falter because so many kids yelled out what was going to
happen in the routine.
Make Multiple Covers.
Here are several ideas you can use to help The Magic Coloring Book trick is quite
prevent cries of “Seen it!” from youngsters. inexpensive, so buy several. Also buy
several regular coloring books with
Change the Cover. different covers. Get versions to go with
After you buy your Magic Coloring Book the seasons or special occasions. Remove
from the local magic dealer, buy another the regular book covers and glue them
regular coloring book from a bookstore or over each of the coloring books to create
toy shop. Remove the regular cover and many different looks. Make a Santa one
glue it over the magic book cover. for Christmas shows, a spooky one for
Halloween shows, and party one for
birthday gigs.

28 The Funny Paper

 Add a Scribble Page. Change the Pictures.
Make a photocopy of one of the black- Find different coloring pictures and get
and-white drawing pages. Get some two copies of each. Make one set black and
crayons and scribble all over the page, white, the other set fully colored. Glue these
making it look like it was done by a pictures over the corresponding pictures in
messy two-year-old. Glue this over the the book. Now when you open your book,
corresponding colored page. Now when the children will not see the same pictures
you show the blank pages, stop at that as every other magician’s coloring book
special one and say, “Don’t anyone color trick.
on this page. You can get pictures from
I want to do other coloring books, download
that myself.” and print them from clip art
Have all the web sites, or make your own
c h i l d r e n using pen and ink or computer
pretend to drawing techniques. You can
throw colors even customize them to your
at the book specific show, such as having
while you do cartoon-type
the same. Flip drawings
through the of you,
book showing your props,
all the regular or items
colored pages pertaining
(presumably to the theme
done by the of your
children) and current
stop at the s h o w .
one scribble G l u i n g
page that you papers over
supposedly every page
colored. The makes the
children will book twice
be amused as thick,
that “their” but it will
coloring was still work
done well and and nobody
your coloring was terrible. will notice
the extra
thickness.
Crayon Color the Pictures. Be sure to
Make photocopies of the black test the
and white pages. Use real crayons paper you
to color in the pictures. Use the use to make
same colors as the printed pages. sure that
Use spray adhesive or glue-stick to glue when you glue them down, the regular
these papers over the printed color ones. pictures do not show through.
This will give your book a hand-colored
look, rather than the printed-color look. Add a Paint Vanish.
It not only gives your book a different Glue a liquid vanish bag (like Tenyo’s In the
look, it helps prevent some children News) between the last page and the back
from calling out that the book pages cover. For the routine, display the book with
were already colored at the factory. This uncolored pictures, then display three or
is a very nice touch to your routine if it four small bottles of “paint.” These can be
also incorporates the Vanishing Crayon small clear containers with colored water
trick. in them. Pour the “paint” into the book,

Jan/Feb 2006 29
 making sure it goes into the liquid vanish You can have tabloid size pages printed
section. Open the book to show that the at many print shops and office supply
paint has vanished and the pages are now stores, or print them yourself on a large-
colored. You could also vanish a paintbrush sheet printer.
into a paper pocket glued to the inside front
cover. Change the Concept.
If you are going to change or make
Make Your Own Book (A). your own book, instead of making
Buy a large blank book or journal. Using a another coloring book, make a “horse
razor knife, carefully cut out every second of a different color.” Anything that can
and third page. This leaves lots of be shown as a set of
extra room at the binding which images can become a
you will need when you glue in “Magic Coloring Book.”
printed sheets. Now trim the You can get Just put two, three, or
pages the same way your Magic more sequential ideas
Coloring Book is trimmed so that pictures from into the right order and
it will flip the same way. Print flip through them one
pages of art, one set of black and other coloring after another. Blank
white, and one set of colored. Or pages can become
print two black and white sets and books, download filled with handwritten
hand-color one of them. Now use notes, which then
glue-stick to glue these pages into and print them change to typed text.
the journal in the proper order, A notebook of written
leaving every third page blank. By from clip art web ideas can change into
starting with a blank book, you beautiful images,
do not have to use heavy paper sites, or make which can change into
and try to cover over preprinted sheet music, which
images. You can also use a wire- your own using can then be heard (by
bound drawing pad available using a remote-control
from the artist section of your pen and ink or sound system).
local craft store. For my Lewis and
computer drawing Clark Show, I displayed
Make Your Own Book (B). a leather-bound journal
Print the pictures you want techniques. that showed first blank
on regular paper from your pages, then drawings
computer. Stack them in the of animals, then
correct order and add a printed drawings of plants,
cover on heavier stock. Take the stack to an then actual replicas of Lewis and Clark’s
office supply store and have it plastic-comb handwritten journal entries. Scribbles
bound or wire-bound into a book. Trim it at can become boxes with lines, which can
home by using the Magic Coloring Book as turn into cartoons. Pictures of boxes can
a guide. become wrapped presents, then opened
presents showing toys galore.
Make Your Own Book (C). Well, there are ten ideas for beefing
Buy tabloid size paper (11x17) and draw or up your coloring book presentation. If
print your art directly on the pages. Stack you have any more like this, be sure to
the sheets together along with a heavier drop me a line. I’d really like to hear your
stock cover and use a long-reach staple to ideas.
fasten the pages into a book. Trim after the
book is stapled, using the Magic Coloring Jim Kleefeld is the author of The Contract
Book as a guide. This method makes for a Book and The Volunteer Book.
thinner, cleaner book, but takes more tie kleefeld@erienet.net
and patience. Be sure you make a rough
mockup first to assure that you get all the
images and blank spots in the right order.

30 The Funny Paper

 oNLiNe
Building Business With

CaLeNDaRS
By Margaret
Clauder

All of us in the entertainment business often find ourselves in a real

“Catch 22” situation. The more performances we have, the less time we
have in the office to answer the phone and book more shows. When we
are out, we must rely on our cell phone to check messages or return
phone calls, quite often playing phone tag with our customers. Finally
a live conversation often reveals that we are already booked on the
date and time they prefer.

A nswering phones and going through

my calendar with clients has never
been my favorite thing to do, but it is a ne-
cessity. I don’t mind selling myself, but the
other tedium of going over dates, times, etc.
only to finally find that I don’t have the time
they need after all is just not my favorite
thing. We have all been there!
With the technology available to us these
days, I am trying to work smarter! Because
more and more people are calling me while
at work during the daytime as they sit in
front of a computer, I want to take advan-
tage of that. When they call they usually get
my answering machine which asks them to
leave their request and contact information.
While I promise to return their call as soon
as possible, I also direct them to my website.
I realize that I could have all calls routed to
my cell phone, but I prefer to be more care-
ful with which clients get that number. Af-
ter all, I don’t want my cell phone ringing at
midnight or Sunday mornings!
The smartest business decision I have
made was to publish my website address in
ALL my advertising. Every single card, flyer,
photo, ad, piece of stationery, etc. has my
web address on it. Now, when someone
sees my phone number, he will also see
my web address next to it. I would ven-
ture to guess that almost 80% of the time
clients will go to my website BEFORE
they call me. I know this because I ASK
the clients when I speak to them later on
the phone.
In October of 2004, I put an online cal-
endar on my website. I had researched
a few calendars on my own and found a
couple that were free. Since I am a Yahoo
customer, I could use the Yahoo calendar
for free. I could also use another free ser-
vice called www.calendars.net I was all
set to use one of these services when I
confided in my webmaster. She advised
me to stop what I was doing immediately
and let her research online calendars fur-
ther, so I agreed.
(When she talks, I listen, for she is a pro-
fessional web designer who, after work-
ing for major corporations and designing
web sites worth hundreds of thousands
of dollars, now owns her own company.
She has won many prestigious awards

52 The Funny Paper

and is frequently sought out by those
who need website design help.)
She came back to me with the com-
pany www.calendarwiz.com. She felt
that, of all the online calendar services,
this one was the most compatible with
websites and was the easiest to use. It
also appears to be stable and reliable for
the future. I assure you I have no con-
nections with this company. I don’t get
a kick back or have stock in them or
anything. I just want to keep you read-
ers informed of the choice I made and
why, so that you can be more informed
to make your own decision.
If you sign up, www.Calendarwiz.com
will give you the first month free. After
that you will be charged $8 per month
for your calen-
dar. Is it worth
it? It certainly is The smartest business
decision I have made
for me. Here are
some advantag-
es I have discov-
ered after almost
a year of online
calendar use:
was to publish my
1) Upon book-
ing a show, I im- website address in
ALL my advertising.
mediately update
my online calen-
dar which takes
me about 2 minutes. I keep a separate
calendar with more detailed information
on my home computer which serves as
a back up. I am the only person who can
make changes to my calendar, for it is
password protected.
2) Before they call me, my customers
check my calendar. I often answer the
phone to an eager customer who says, “ I
just checked your calendar and it shows
you are available. I want to book you.”
Having that schedule available 24/7 is
good for my business.
3) Because libraries and daycare cen-
ters like to book twelve months of shows
at a time, they love the convenience of
the online calendar. We both save time.
4) Agents love my online calendar
because they can check my availability
when I cannot be reached.
5) As I am also an agent for some oth-
er performers, I put their calendar on
my website if they have one. Custom-
ers want to know right that minute who
is available, so those with online calendars
usually get booked first. I have their pass-
words so that whenever I book a show for
them, I immediately add it to their online
calendar. Then I call the performer and fax
him or her a contract. No more agent-per-
former phone tag! I have a few entertain-
ers who just give me their calendar link,
but their calendars are not published. I
can check their calendar instantly and
book them while I still have a client on the
phone. If you work with agents, the online
calendar is worth it just to get more busi-
ness from them!
6) Some entertainers have expressed
concern that competitors will know where
they are working and will somehow “steal”
their clients. If
so, that problem
can be solved
easily by listing
simply the city
and time.
7) Personally,
I prefer list-
ing where I am
working, for it
is like having
a calendar full
of references.
My customers can see that I am very busy
working for such and such library or school
and it adds instant credibility to my work.
They can see I don’t just do this a couple
of times per month but all the time. If they
want to see me perform “LIVE,” they can
check that out as well.
8) By listing for whom or where you are
working, customers can confirm and get
peace of mind by seeing their name on your
calendar under the correct date and time of
their event.
9) The online calendars have customiza-
tion features such as the ability to change
the header photos or graphics – even with
the change in seasons!
10) Finally, this last summer while I was
out performing library shows, I found a new,
great way to be more productive between
shows. So when time allowed, I logged onto
the library computers as a visitor. I pulled
up my online calendar, logged on, and used
my cell phone to return calls (quietly, of
Jan/Feb 2006 51
 course!) I booked many shows and instant-
ly added them to my online calendar while
away from home, even while out of state! “Believe me, if you
What a relief to have that done before I got read this book and
home! put Julian’s knowledge
Finally, I don’t see many negatives in this and experience to
system. Some have said that when potential practice, you’ll leap far
customers check the schedule and find that ahead as a kid show
it conflicts with their choice of a date, they entertainer.”—David
do not bother to call at all. My experience, Ginn;
however, has been that if they really want
me, they will try to find a time slot when I “Should prove
can book their show. invaluable to the
If you would like to see examples of both working professional
the www.calendarwiz.com calendars AND entertainer…Highly
an example of the www.calendars.net free recommended.”—The
calendar, both examples may be viewed on Linking Ring
my website at www.dfwfunnybusiness.com “Wow! What a clear, concise and well-reasoned road-
Some of the entertainers did their own map to insuring that almost anyone’s kid show will run
calendar through www.calendarwiz.com. My like a well-oiled mechanism, without unruly distrac-
webmaster also designed a few (and charged tions or interruptions.”—William Berkey
for her service). Martha Watson (caricature
artist) on my site used www.calendars.net “When something of uncommon value comes along
and did it herself. You can see the different in this business…Grab it! This book is one of those
looks of how jazzy or simple you can make things.”—Steve Petruzella
your on line calendars through viewing my
site. Have fun while you experiment with
something new which just may have great Only $25
results! 215 page Perfect Bound 6” X 9”
S & H $3.85 for U.S. Mexico & Canada
Margaret Clauder owns an entertainment $8 for International orders
company called Funny Business in Arlington, Texas www.julianfranklin.com
and personally performs at over 500 events annually. 9818 Sagemark; Houston, TX 77089-5024
Her agency works with more than 100 entertainers
specializing in private and corporate parties.

Margaret Clauder
Animal Jokes and More
Hilarious! This 61 page book is comprised of ani-
mal jokes meant to be told as you twist balloons,
but are suitable for other situations as well. All jokes
listed in alphabetical order for easy reference.
Only $12 + $2 S&H.
Ordering: E-mail funnybusiness@yahoo.com
Call Funny Business (817) 265-5696
Fax order to: (817) 274-2123

52 The Funny Paper

 Hum r
The Sammy-Gram
W rks
W
hen I was about 13 years
old, I started buying
and reading Ripley’s Believe It
or Not books. For some reason,
these fascinated me. One story
I still remember was about a man—a
member of nobility, as I recall—who had
just finished a painting and stepped
back to see how well he had done. When
he saw how completely absurd the
painting was, he began laughing and
couldn’t stop, and eventually laughed
himself to death.
Why this story stuck with me, I don’t
know, since I’m neither a painter nor a
member of nobility, although rereading
some of the stories I’ve written has come
close to having the same effect on me.
The likelihood, however, of anyone
laughing himself to death nowadays
seems small. Many of us take life so
seriously that we fail to find any humor
in our day-to-day activities. Yet there is
humor all around us.
Some things aren’t as funny when
they’re written down because the subtle
nuances of situations and relationships
account for a lot of what makes us laugh.
My brother’s dry wit is a good example.
Once after a long day, he stretched on
out the couch to take a nap and put his
Day-timer under his head for a pillow.
When he saw me looking at him, he
explained, “It’s my Night-timer,” then
drifted off to sleep.
64 The Funny Paper
Finding laughter in life doesn’t mean
making light of people’s problems or showing
disrespect in times of crisis. But making
light of ourselves or finding some ironic
twist in events can often lead to laughter.
Reader’s Digest claims that Laughter Is the
Best Medicine, and who could argue with
an authority like that?
Years ago, my uncle was operating a
chain saw, trimming some branches in a
tree, when he missed his footing and fell a
very long way to the sidewalk. Rushed to
the hospital, medical personnel surrounded
him. “Mr. Smith,” the doctor asked, “are you
allergic to anything?”
“Gravity,” my uncle replied.
Like President Reagan—who, after being
seriously wounded by gunshot, remarked to
the doctors, “I hope you’re all Republicans!”—
my uncle knew (and still knows) the value
of finding humor in a serious situation.
Fortunately, most occasions for using
the power of humor aren’t nearly as serious.
Everyday life needs the healing power of a
good laugh. I once stood in line at a health
food store and noticed that the check-out
girl looked very sad. Silently I said, “Help
me know what to say to brighten her day,”
but I couldn’t think of anything. When I
got up to the counter, I intended to say, “I’ll
have a quarter-pound of dried papaya,” but
I stumbled and said, “I’ll have a Quarter
Pounder.” Suddenly the girl burst out in
laughter and said, “Thanks! I needed that!”
And so does everyone, rich or poor,
great or small. Elbert Hubbard, author of
“A Message to Garcia” and founder of The
Roycroft Shops in 1895, discovered that
humor helped him in running his business.
With the demands of operating an enterprise
of 500 employees, and hounded by serious
problems in his personal life, he wrote with
a grin: “The man who doesn’t relax and
hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then,
is in great danger of hooting hoots and
standing on his head for the edification of
the pathologist and trained nurse, a little
later on.”
Hubbard was right. A good laugh is
therapeutic, and especially so for the person
who helps others find the humor in life.
–SPS