Transcript
Hi, I’m Jonas Cain and I’m here at the Veritas Theatre at the beautiful Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts. I am a magician and a balloon sculptor having performed and provided entertainment solutions for many, many years. Visit my website at www.jonascain.com. And today I’m going to be talking about making balloon animals. I’ve been making balloon animals for many, many years. And there are some things that you probably don’t really think of at first when you’re just starting out. When you’re at a party or especially at a big public event, there will be a whole line of people wanting a balloon. And here you are making your balloons. And maybe you’re having a bad day, balloons are popping left and right, or maybe you feel like you have to be rushed. The thing to remember is that with the balloons you have to be patient. If you rush through a balloon, it’s not going to turn out looking like the dog you wanted it to. So just be patient. If a balloon pops, especially with children around, you want to be sure to pick up the broken pieces right away. You don’t want a kid finding it on the ground and picking it up and putting it in their mouths. For young children about two or under, you might want to be leery about giving a balloon to a child that young. They might be more apt to put it in their mouths, and pop, that’s the last thing you want. So be leery of that. It might be a good idea to make it fun. Yes, it’s already fun watching the balloons being made. So maybe you might want to explain what you’re doing as you’re doing it? Maybe sort of teach them. Say, OK, we make this bubble this way, that bubble that way. They’ll warm up to you more. Another way is to tell them jokes. Maybe you’re making a dog, maybe you have a joke about a dog. You know, or maybe you could ask the kid, if they ask for a tiger. You say, oh, do you have a tiger at home? And sometimes they say yes. You’re like, wow, what a very strange kid! So it’s a great way to interact so it’s not, they’re just watching you or waiting for a balloon, but you’re interacting with them. So it makes it a lot more fun. And the last thing you want to be careful about is a lot of places, especially hospitals and schools, they don’t allow latex balloons in their buildings, because it’s a problem with the allergies to latex. So just be aware before you start bringing balloons unannounced into a school or a hospital. Or, maybe you don’t want to get discouraged if you’re not finding work in schools as a balloon artist. So just be aware that that is a common problem.
