i (we, i was married at the time) made the kids to it too.

my son liked to do magic shows, and became quite adept at slight of hand. when he was young, the old aunts and uncles went along, and pretended to be surprized, but one year, they actually were!

when they were young teens, they discovered archie mcfee (out of seattle) and invested in fun stuff like the 'can of nuts' (out pops a snake) and little packets of what look like candy, but unwrapped are plastic, (very realistic plastic) bugs. Dribble cups were popular too.

these jokes were mostly limited to summer BBQ's or informal dinners. (much to my kids disappointment)

my other obsession