From age seven onward she studied her craft during summer vacations with the best: In Nanjing, China, she apprenticed with the Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe; in Beijing she studied the art of Peking Opera. Back in the US, Safire studied with a magician named Jade who later became her mentor. After college, Safire began to build her business into the successful venture it is today.

Her shows now mingle part Chinese fantasy with tried-and-true magic tricks. Because children have a relatively short attention span, the magic and story she weaves around the trick, must move quickly. There must be laughs. And there must be Ohhhhs and Ahhhhs. Many of these stories are inventions of Safire, who has written and copyrighted many of her shows.

One very big draw for children are the glitter tattoos Safire creates. Being a novice in this area, I had to ask about them. Why are glitter tattoos so important to kids? I thought tattoos came on pieces of paper and you simply applied them to any extremity. Mais non. Each one of these creations is custom painted on each little kiddy’s hand or face—one color at a time. And what are the favorite designs among children: a heart, a star, a spider with its web, a rocket ship, flowers, or a rainbow.



From Children’s Shows to Big Kids’ Shows (she doesn’t call them Adult Shows anymore because some people got the wrong idea) and from small family birthday parties and private adult parties to large corporate events, Safire adapts her stories and fantasy to the audience. “During the summer,” she says, “I do many more children’s parties&38212;that seems to be the time families like to get the children together.” But in the winter, especially around the holidays, “corporate and adult parties fill my calendar.”

Close-up, walk-around
What happens in a corporate party, I ask? “Those events are usually, close-up, walk around,” she says matter of factly. A silence descends while I try to imagine what close-up, walk around is. Walk-around I know about. It’s the close-up part that has me. Then she explains: Close-up magic involves small items, like cards, coins and things people can actually choose and touch. “It’s interactive magic at its best.”

“Ordinarily adults in a party setting are usually mingling in small groups, chatting about this and that over a cocktail. I come up to a group—normally there are four or five people—and do some magic for three to five minutes while we’re talking.” Then she moves on to the next small group. This, I learned, is called Walk-Around Magic.

Multi-talented, Safire runs her own websites (www.MagicSafire.com and www.magicminis.com), writes her stories, designs her own logos, products, and product labels. If you pick up a copy of Bay Area Parent magazine this month, you’ll see her first advertisement—a big step in marketing her business.