MOBILE phones, expensive trainers, CDs and DVDs and all the trappings of 21st century life are commonplace among children today. So do they view traditional party entertainers as old (top) hat? PAULINE HAWKINS investigates.

A MULTI-COLOURED shirt and bright waistcoat are tools of the trade for the aptly-named entertainer Reg Rainbow.

Of course, this isn't his real name -- his friends and neighbours know him as Reg Heasley -- but to hundreds of children across Lancashire his stage name conjures up hours of fun and games at birthday and Christmas parties.

Reg has been a children's entertainer since he was a youngster but only turned to the work full-time after being made redundant from his job as a recreational officer for a group of old people's homes 13 years ago.

"Magic was a childhood illness and I never really got over it," he said. "Working with children has always been a love, but old people aren't that much different."

When Reg was made redundant in 1988 he secured a Government enterprise allowance to become a full-time children's entertainer.

"They paid me £40 a week for doing what I enjoy most," he said. "It was a hobby and something I really fancied doing full-time. I had done it for umpteen years before that and as a child I used to entertain my peers."

Reg, who lives in Turner Street, Barnoldswick, grew up in Northern Ireland and came to England to study. A religious man who is now a member of Clitheroe Community Church, he used to be involved in organising Sunday School camps and was responsible for the evening entertainment.

Over several years he has built up a portfolio of magical tricks and games for the children and still realises the importance of changing and updating them to keep them fresh and appealing to ever more sophisticated youngsters. But he feels it's the parents rather than the children who bow to peer pressure when it comes to going one better at parties, and there is a certain amount of keeping up with the Joneses involved.

"Children haven't changed that much -- it's the grown-ups," he said.

Reg's party fun and games are aimed at children aged up to 11 years but the majority of those whose parties he attends are aged four, five and six. Again, he sometimes finds that parents are not as aware of their children's feelings as they think.

"If I am doing a seven-year-old's party and they have got older brothers and sisters, the parents will sometimes say, 'so-and-so is into videos and computers, he won't be interested in what you do'. But he will be absolutely fascinated. The adult's conception of children is very different to what they are -- they still want to be children.

"We tend to treat them as being a bit older than they are because they learn so much these days -- far more than we used to do."

Reg is fortunate that he has a 10-year-old son, James, who learned at his father's knee and is also a keen entertainer.

Reg tries out new magic tricks and entertainment routines on the youngster, a pupil at Gisburn Road Primary School, Barnoldswick, and if son is happy, father is too.

Reg doesn't conform to the stereotypical image of a magician in a black top hat, white shirt and tails, preferring his colourful and friendly image.

"You can't be called Reg Rainbow and not be colourful," he said. "I am not a clown. I don't wear makeup but I am pretty wacky. I don't like to see somebody doing a party who looks like they are wearing the clothes they wear every day. That doesn't look right to me." Reg, a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, uses magic in his shows and includes balloons, singing, ventriloquism and puppets -- but most of all, his young audience.

"The emphasis is on total audience participation," he said. "A lot of entertainers have a written script but I don't do that. I play off the audience as much as anything.

"There is nothing to beat live entertainment. Children aren't used to it because they get so much other entertainment with video and computer games. It's just a change."

Bosses at Barker's Garden Centre, Whalley Road, Clitheroe, agree as they have booked Reg and other entertainers to delight visitors this weekend at a special garden party event. Reg was there today from 10am-noon and will be there tomorrow during the same hours.

Phill Horrocks, one of the garden centre's co-ordinators, said the idea was a bit of fun for everyone and parents who might otherwise not visit because their children would be bored.

The garden centre is open tomorrow from 10am-4pm.