When a Punch turns PC Magic

Are children too sophisticated for magic tricks and Punch & Judy? Sylvia Thompson asks magician Neville Wiltshire. A veteran of children's parties and the summer festival circuit, Wiltshire has been doing magic tricks and putting on Punch & Judy shows for almost 50 years.

The large man wearing the blue suit with big yellow buttons and a brightly patterned tie looks a bit like a ship's captain but the moment he puts on his purple and black jester's hat, the children's faces light up with excitement. Neville Wiltshire's Magic and Punch & Judy Show has begun.

Today's venue is the children's section of the Central Library in the ILAC shopping centre on Dublin's Henry Street. Wiltshire begins his 50-minute show by introducing his magic wand and his special magic words which he wants the children to remember. Then he performs his first trick by pulling strings of sausages out of his wand.

Soon he has the young audience - aged from about two to 10 - enthralled with his magic colouring book. All the black-and-white pictures can be coloured in "by magic" if the children throw him up some of the colours from their clothes. Then, with some more Wiltshire magic, the colouring book is empty. He asks the children to throw back some more black-and-white and the book returns to its original state. Even the adults are impressed. This is good old-fashioned magic and the children love it.

The Punch & Judy Show receives a more mixed response, but the children are nonetheless very vocal when called upon to help Mr Punch. Traditional pantomime responses of "look behind you" alert the puppet to the arrival of a dangerous crocodile and when Mr Punch tries to get his baby to walk in a straight line, the children shout at him every time the baby falls down.

A veteran of children's parties and the summer festival circuit, Wiltshire has been doing magic tricks and putting on Punch & Judy shows for almost 50 years.

"The first show I gave was at a parish fête in Avoca, Co Wicklow, in 1950 when, as a boy, I dressed up as an Indian. Then, later as a student at Trinity College, I began doing Punch & Judy shows," explains Wiltshire, as he packs up his mobile Punch & Judy stage at the end of the performance.

"I had never seen a Punch and Judy show but there were Victorian scripts in the library at Trinity. I've changed the scripts a lot since then - there used to be a hanging scene and Punch used to beat his wife and throw the baby down the stairs. It's all much more politically correct nowadays."

But have the children changed over the years? "The age of the children who come to my shows has changed. I get a lot more three- and four-year-olds. When I first started, you would rarely see children under six. I think it is because children are now at playschool at two and three and they start having parties earlier. The age of cognitive-awakening - when they can sit down, listen and follow a story is coming down."

But do children nowadays laugh at different things from the children of 30 years ago? "No. The children laugh at things at a younger age but they don't laugh at different things. I haven't changed any of my magic tricks - although I have speeded up the pace a little.

But is it more difficult to keep the attention of young audiences? "You've got to be in control. You may have noticed that I didn't say to any of the children who were moving about - 'don't stand up'. I said 'sit down'. If you use positive statements, it will always work."

That degree in psychology obviously comes in useful even when Wiltshire is not at his day job. The magic shows are his hobby; he works in personnel.

Despite the media bombardment that children get these days, Wiltshire is convinced that kids are just kids.

"If you watch children at play, it hasn't really changed. Grown-ups might like to think that their children are more sophisticated but I don't think they are. They'll still laugh at the same things children did 50 years ago."

Neville Wiltshire will perform at the Castlerea Agricultural Show in Castlerea, Co Roscommon on August 5th; at the Clonakilty August Festival, Clonankilty, Co Cork on August 25th and 26th; at the Mohill Arts and Summertime Festival, Mohill, Co Leitrim on August 27th and at the Swords Heritage Festival, Swords, Co Dublin on September 8th. Admission free to all shows.