Although magicians guard their secrets closely, they like to keep alive interest in the art of magic. Houdini, the greatest magician who ever lived, had his own magic shop. In this time-honored tradition, 25 year veteran children's entertainer, Gandalf the Wizard-Clown (featured on CNN and The Wall Street Journal) has developed the following tips to guide the beginning magician.

1. The magician's credo: Always keep the magic a secret. Magic loses it fascination if the audience learns how the magician does the trick.

2. Practice! Practice! Practice! Parents, brothers, sisters and relatives are the best audience on whom to test your new tricks. Also practice in front of a mirror.

3. In order to be a good magician you need to learn how to distract your audience. The easiest way to do this is by talking. Magicians call this "patter."

4. Always try to maintain eye contact with your audience. For this reason, I prefer keeping rooms or auditoriums well lit.

5. If you choose to wear clown make-up avoid this look for children between the ages of two and four. Pre-schoolers are often afraid of clown make-up.

6. When choosing a stage name, be careful that you are the only magician using this name.

7. If you are making balloon animals as a party favor a. Never give a balloon to a child under three years of age. Toddlers can choke on balloons. Wait until after the show to give away the balloons. I always make balloons before the show. Watching balloons being inflated often bores kids.

8. Don't allow people to take advantage of the fact that you are a beginner. If someone asks you to work for free so you can get to hand out your card or flyer, you don't need to. Remember that you can get exposure while getting paid for it.

9. Often you'll find a "wise-guy" in the audience. Don't let hecklers ruin the show for you and your audience. Two solutions are: a. Ignore them completely b. Ask them to help you with a "gag trick" that will catch them off guard, like a breakaway wand or fan.

10. Have fun. If you have a good time performing, your audience will enjoy it too.

How to avoid party pitfalls during this summer barbecue season

(New York-AP) -- There are some tips to avoid pitfalls when putting on a weekend barbecue or outdoor party. Anyone who scheduled a party for yesterday now knows about checking the weather forecast before hand. Party hosts probably had their guests huddling inside rather than in the backyard, because of yesterday's rain. Bad weather, mosquitoes and sunburns can ruin a party.

A party clown - called Gandalf the Wizard-Clown - has several tips for a successful outdoor party:

Be sure children are not sitting in direct sunlight Have bug repellent or citronella candles around the perimeter of the yard.

Make sure your house and yard is big enough to accomodate all your guests.

Remember children may end up in your child's room or running through the house. Have breakables put away.

Consider a restaurant, or community room at a Y-M-C-A, church or synagogue for a party. Even a public park might be better than your house.

If you have live entertainment, don't feed the children before hand. It makes them lethargic, or in need of a bathroom while the show is going on.

Plan on feeding adults while the children are watching a live show.

(Copyright 1999 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.