Would You Like Fries With That Poodle?

Yours truly presenting his balloon lecture
at a children's entertainer convention.

How to twist up to 100 balloons per hour and nobody waits in line.

For some reason many balloon twisters get defensive when they read this article I wrote. They spend more energy figuring out why it won't work instead of actually giving it a try. Odd.

Imagine you've been booked to entertain hundreds of families, mostly children, and you decide that the entire group must wait in line while you amaze and amuse them ONE AT A TIME! Sounds absurd? It is, but that's exactly what the vast majority of balloon twisters do at every gig.

Nobody likes waiting in line, especially parents with children eager to get a balloon. Waiting makes people edgy, irritable and generally unpleasant. So why do balloon twisters force their audience to stand in a line? I suppose because everybody else does it that way. I think it's mainly because balloon twisters don't see what they do as entertainment. They think of themselves as balloon factories, no more than  a refreshment booth at a festival or a fast food restaurant... you want fries with that poodle? For them, the emphasis is on the balloon not the entertainment factor.

Years ago I got a great gig... twisting balloons in the food court of a large mall every Saturday and Sunday, about 5 hours each day. I averaged about 70-100 balloons per hour, or 700-1000 balloons each weekend. It was hard work, but incredibly fun! I was paid directly by the mall, and they even covered the cost of the balloons. This gig lasted about 3 years. Here's what happened...

OK, So I Cheated a Little

The one-book version of my
Learn Magic instant author kit
in black and white with a color cover
which also includes 9 extra color covers.

I developed an instant author kit, called Learn Magic, which I sell to other magicians. It's a pre-written instruction book for young magicians that has blank sections on each of the 44 pages and cover.

When purchased, the buyer has full re-sale rights which means they can add their name and contact info to the pages and cover, then print them and sell them as their own magic book. Of course, they can't sell them as an instant author kit, just as a buyer of a clip art collection can't turn around and sell that collection as clip art.

These are popular to sell after shows, as a BORS item. BORS - Back Of Room sales. Many magicians often double their fees by setting up a "souvenir stand" and selling items after the shows. This is a good way to make money from clients looking for a free show to be donated. Agree to do the show but only if you can sell stuff afterward.

When I originally designed this book, I used color photos. This took a lot of time, and I learned a lot about photography in the process. So far so good. The hands you see in the photographs are mine, since they were readily available and I knew the tricks I was teaching.

My friend Ken Scott (one of the best children's entertainers in the country) bought a copy of Learn Magic and had great success selling them after his shows. One day at a convention, I think KIDabra, he related a funny story where a child, having just bought a copy, asked Ken why his arms weren't hairy like the pictures in the book. Funny, but it got me to thinking... The kid's got a point. If a magician wants to sell this book as their own, color photos of my hands and arms won't always match theirs. The magician may be a woman, or African American, or non-hairy. I had a problem...

Oh What a Difference a Backdrop Makes

Backdrop from www.MagicBackdrops.com

I love doing shows with my backdrop!

It really helps give everything a more professional appearance, and makes it easier for me to charge more for gigs.

This particular backdrop is from Jeff Jones at Magic Backdrops in Raleigh, NC. He's a real nice guy and his company makes these very useful and portable systems. It literally sets up in about 30 seconds with a bit of practice. Figure a minute the first few times you use it.

I first saw this backdrop system when I was doing a lecture at the KIDabra convention a few years back. This is the international association of family and childrens entertainers, a very good group to hook up with.

The lecture I was presented focused on building backdrops yourself for as little as $30. The main topic of the lecture was not the curtains you see in front, it was about the structural support behind. Also covered were unusual backdrops, stage settings, etc. I even showed how to use an inflatable pool as a backdrop.