If you’ve ever thought about volunteering in a children’s hospital, you might picture reading books, helping families or working behind the scenes.
But what if your volunteer shift involved walking into a hospital room with a deck of cards, a few tricks and the goal of making a kid laugh?
That’s what a hospital magician does.
At Bring Magic, our Volunteer Specialists bring Bedside Magic® to kids in hospitals. But the role is about much more than performing tricks. It’s about connecting with a child, paying attention to what they need and creating a moment that feels different from the rest of their hospital day.
A hospital magician might perform a card trick, make a coin disappear or teach a child how to do a trick themselves.
But the best moments often happen around the magic.
A child might be skeptical at first, then slowly lean in when they realize the trick actually worked. They might learn the secret themselves and immediately start practicing it. They might teach it to a parent or show it to a nurse.
Kelly, a 12-year Bring Magic Volunteer Specialist veteran, described loving those moments of leaving the room after an interaction: “I’m not even in the room and like, I’m still there, it’s [like] an impression has been left.”
That’s part of what makes hospital magic different from a traditional performance. The child isn’t just watching. They’re part of it.
A Volunteer Specialist might walk into a room where a child is excited and ready to see magic. The next child might be tired, nervous or not interested at all.
That’s why hospital magicians have to be able to read the room and adapt.
Sometimes that means changing the trick. Sometimes it means letting the child take the lead. And sometimes it means knowing that the best thing you can do is simply give them a choice.
Do you want to see magic? Which color do you want? Do you want to try the trick? Do you want your door open or closed?
Those choices can seem small, but they can give a child some control in an environment where much of their day is outside of their control.
As Kelly explained, “They are helping dictate the experience right alongside me.”
No!
This is probably one of the biggest surprises for people interested in becoming a hospital magician volunteer.
You don’t need to arrive knowing how to perform magic. That’s what Bring Magic U is for.
Bring Magic U is our 12-week training program for new Volunteer Specialists. Volunteers learn magic and performance skills, along with how to work in a hospital environment, navigate different situations and follow safety and infection-control protocols.
The training is designed to build confidence with the fundamentals so volunteers can focus less on worrying about the trick and more on the child in front of them.
Because the experience goes both ways.
“Even when I’ve had like a hard day and… I’m tired and I’ve been in a lot of meetings and I feel like my mental energy is maybe a little bit zapped.” Kelly explains, “99% of the time, I leave a volunteer shift in a better mood than I was when I entered it.”
She explained that even a short interaction can shift a patient’s perspective for a moment, and that being able to have that kind of impact brings a tremendous amount of pride.
That’s the part that can be easy to miss when you hear the words “hospital magician.”
The magic isn’t really about being the best magician in the room.
“Magic is so much more than just the tricks. It’s the experience.”
It’s a laugh. The surprise. The child who suddenly wants to learn the trick. The few minutes where nobody is talking about the hospital.
And if you’re thinking, I’d love to do this, but I’m not a magician, there’s good news.
You don’t have to be.
Bring Magic U will teach you the tricks. You bring the rest.
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Can We Do This? #03: Volunteering
