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. There are many, many ways you can perform: at fairs, at festivals, at private parties, at corporate events. When I first started making balloon animals, I would do magic shows, and it was an add-on sale. I would do my magic show. At the end of the show I would stick around for an extra 20 minutes, half-hour, making balloon animals for all the kids. So it was an easy way to break in with that. If you want to find work, if you’re just starting out, you can online, you can research local fairs, local festivals. You can look at sales flyers, see if anyone’s having a grand opening. A lot of times, they will want to hire people to attract families. So a balloon artist is definitely in demand, so that’s a great way to get your foot in the door. Even just give them a call and say, “Hey, I make balloon animals. How about I show up and do that at your shop?” So, that’s a great way to do it too. And always be sure to have business cards printed up that have your contact information. That way as you’re out there doing it, you can hand out your card, so that people can call you afterwards if they’re having a party. So definitely, if you do a good job, you’ll get work after it. Another way, having a brochure or a flyer, you can have pictures of your work on there, too. You can post them around town or hand those out as well. So that’s a great way to sell yourself as a balloon artist. I found my first job doing magic shows, and what I would do is, I remember the first time someone called me to a magic show. And I said, “Hey, I also make balloon sculptures. So after the party, after the show, I’ll make a balloon for all the kids.” And they were like, “Sure!” So it was an easy way to make a few extra bucks on the magic show, too. The kids, really, they bought it, and the adults loved it too. So, it was a great way to get started.
