Balloons, balloons, more balloons!

GREAT Idea for a balloon gag!

I joined many magicians and entertainers groups on Facebook, tons of interesting information. Just today I saw a great idea for a gag by Paul Kitchen from Kingston upon Hull in England. The Facebook group is Trix in the Stix, based in the UK.

Here's a short video of Paul's idea: I don't know why there is no sound.

I love the concept of balloons always popping out of the pocket. Reminds me of a scene in the TV Series "3rd Rock from the Sun" when Dick Solomon (John Lithgow) encounters a box of tissues for the very first time.

This series is full of perfect ideas for clown routines. Much of their comedy comes from the fish-out-of-water premise. Everything they encounter is new, and the laughs come from them trying to figure out humans and earth. This is a very common situation for clown characters, not understanding the simplest concepts.

My friend Tom Frank has a similar routine with foam bananas being pulled from his inside jacket pocket, performed to "Yes, We Have No Bananas". I hope you get a chance to see him on his lecture tour, it's a great evening and a very flexible format for a magician's lecture. There are menu's involved.

Anyway, back to the balloons from pocket idea. In the first video, Paul mentions, when it can be heard on FaceBook, that he doesn't do this routine since he doesn't have a shirt pocket when he performs. I realized I don't either, but this idea was too good to let go.

I thought, where else could the balloons come from? Pants pockets? NO, not in a kids show. Inappropriate. Within minutes every kid is going to trying grabbing balloons from your pockets, which will not end well. Sleeves, socks, then I realized... my hat.

Take off your hat, finding a balloon inside of it. Wonder where that came from, pull it out, another comes after it draped over the edge like the balloon in Paul's pocket. You don't notice and put the hat back on your head. Now there's a balloon hanging down in front of your face.

This alone will get at least 6-7 laughs if you handle it well. Pause, (laugh), slowly cross your eyes to see it (laugh), move your head around so the balloon is spinning about (laugh), try unsuccessfully to grab it (laugh), finally stretch it while pulling (laugh), let it snap back (laugh), react to the hit (laugh). Aim it so the balloon hits your hat to make a louder noise and not to injure yourself. Just to be on the safe side, close your eyes when you let it go.

Once you're recovered from that balloon snap, there's another balloon. Oh no, not again! More guaranteed laughs.

When you get to the last balloon, instead of pulling it out you lift your hat and it's sitting on top of your head. Have it hanging over your face a bit so it's visible. Great misdirection at this point, everyone looking up.

To finish the routine, bring focus back to your hat and pull a completed balloon dog out of it.

If you can't do a hat load with that amount of misdirection, you may want to go back to magician's school.

This is a great idea, thanks Paul!