Hi everyone, i am Jake and I havent posted in here for a while because of the busy school term (i am only 13)

I have been running a balloon twisting and magic business in Australia for just over a year, and average about one event every fortnight (which i think is quite good ) i recently did an event for a fundraising group run by children (and their parents) that is raising money to go to cambodia. They really enjoyed the magic and balloons and they want me back in a couple of weeks

But this time they would like me to teach a few magic tricks and balloons, in a time frame of 90 minutes.

I remember watching a video of someone ( i think it was flowerclown) who wasat a party teaching the children balloons, and at the end they all got to make a crazy hat out of up to 5 or so balloons. I think this will be a good way to end it, but i still need  two magic tricks and maybe one or two more balloons.

What are some (very) simple magic tricks that use stuff around the home that i could easily teach the kids?

Any tips for teaching the kids the balloons? i think i will keep having to remind myself they are only 9 years old and have never twisted before!!


Thanks in advance,

Jake

A client has requested a peppa pig design for her child's birthday party.

In the last half hour i have been coming up with a few ideas and this is what i got... Nothing groundbreaking but something that kinds resembles peppa.
The artwork really lets me down

Any tips on the artwork? (I can never get it right unless i am copying from another balloonists photo veerrryyyy slloowwlllyyyyy.....

I recently got a couple ( bit more than a couple) of different types of prints.

Zombie
Spiderman
Spider eyes
Hulk
Captain america
Thor
Tiger
Zebra
Leopard
Gold leopard? (Part of the safari assortment)
Aliens
Smiley faces (not yellow, different colours)
Ladybug
Monster eyes


Now most of them i know how to use.
Zombie, for, well, a zombie (got lots of inspiration from the balloon blast video show and busters itwist episode)

Spiderman and hulk for cody Williams super hero hats

Spider eyes for a simple red back spider.

Tiger for the body of andrew mcdonalds little tiger (ballon magic 59)

Aliens for ken stillman hat, out of the world hat.. .etc

Ladybugs for ladybug bracelet (buster balloon)

Monster eyes for drooling mutant hats etc

But i don't have any idea how to use the thor, captain america, zebra, leopard and smiley faces.

If anyone has any pictures or youtube links that use them it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jake

Mark byrne is trying to raise funds for future bad to the balloon dvd's.
Alot of us would have his early dvds and would know how awesome they are


If you put in some money you can pick up some of his future dvd's

Here is the link if you would like to help him raise some money:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bad-t ... ?c=gallery

I dont know if it is the same in uk/usa, but in australia easter this year is march 31.

I am struggling to think of any easter designs other than an easter bunny and easter eggs. Does anyone have any ideas (or even better, tutorials) on easter sculptres?

Christmas is easy, with so many mascots, but i am finding easter quite tricky.

Thanks in advance,

Jake

I am looking at purchasing some  back editions of balloon magic magazine.

What is your favourite edition? Which edition has the most usable designs on it?

Which editions ahould i get?


Thanks,

Jake

Hello everyone,

Recently i made a facebook page for my balloons and magic business.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Majake-Tr ... izard=true

I would be greatly appreciated if you checked it out and gave me some advice on how i good improve it.

Also, if you have a facebook page, you could post a link to it so we can all see it

Thanks,

Jake

I am wondering weather it is possible to get a restaurant gig if I am only 12.


Over the last few weeks I have been practicing some more complex designs, nothing massive, but better than line work stuff. I also have mad hatz 1 in the mail to me.
I normally do magic and balloons at birthday parties, but I would love to have a consistent weekly/fortnightly gig where I can hand out business cards and practice some better stuff.

Few questions:

Should I wait until I am a better/older/faster balloon twister, or is what I currently know good enough?

Does Anybody have any techniques for getting a restaurant gig, I am not worried about tips or being paid much at the moment, just the consistent job

When and how do you approach a restaurant?


Any other advice?


Thanks,
Jake

I finally found a good place to buy balloons in australia

I would reccomend buying balloons from jay jay the balloon guy: http://www.balloonguy.com.au/Balloons.htm

I have 5 reasons for this shop:

1.the shipping is pretty cheap, it only costs $11 to ship any number of balloonsfrom sydney at his home to me in queensland
2. His prices are better than any non wholesale place in australia. At $11 for any bag of 260Q, the only shops in australia that are cheaper are wholesale qualtex warehouses.
3. He offer a wide range of balloons (160, 260, 360B, geos, hearts, rounds, prints, 321s tipped, 321's non tipped)
4. The shipping is fast (ship same day as order) and the slowest he has ever repsonded to a email of mine is 5 hours! Great customer service

5. the number 1 reason why he is better than any other balloon distributoe is beacuse He offers custom 5" rounds assortments. You choose any number and any type of imprint and he'll make up an assortment just for you. (For example 50 aliens, 20 monster eyes, 15 zombies, 10 smiley faces and 5 spider eyes) this is amazing.

And I was talking to him today and he has decided to also offer custom 260Q assortments... Now that is amazing.
He will count out the exact number of balloons you want ad long as it total to a multiple of 100. (50 red, 70 mocha, 30 black, 20 pink, 15 purple, 15 green)
This is amazing for restocking your...um stock... He offers this at no extra cost... Still $11 for 100

The price may be a lot higher than balloon merchant or larocks, but for austrlia it is great.

*he also offers 5% off orders over $500 and 10% off orders over $1000... Which I find quite pointless, but it might help someone.


I also posted this on the magic cafe, its not a scam or anything (and im not jay jay the balloon guy... He lives in sydney) i was just sharing the knowledge i recently found out

For those of you who haven't read my other posts, my name is jake and i am a 12 year old children's magician/ balloon twister living in Queensland, Australia

My current balloon stock is currently pretty small
I have around 800-1000 260's of various colours (character and carnival assortment plus pink)
And about 50 5 inch rounds

My normal quarterly balloon order goes along the lines of 750 carnival assortment, 400 character assortment , 100pk of pink and  100pk of five inch rounds. In australia using this website (http://www.balloonguy.com.au/Balloons.htm) this costs around $150

I was wondering how you (or how i should) build my balloon stock so it contains more colourful rounds and 360's and 160's and hearts and 321's and geos and 5 inch prints?

Being a 12 year old... Im not the richest person in the world, so buying them all at once is not really an option. Which of these would you reccomend buying first?

I was thinking getting a few bags of prints in my next order and then see how that goes.

Which of the other unique balloons that i mentioned would you use the most often? What designs do you use that use those balloons?

Having a bigger balloon stock ( i imagine) would mean more possibilities and better looking balloons. Is it really worth it though?

It all began on at a local ice cream shop 10th birthday.

There was a lady twisting balloons... And being a cool 11 year old boy i didnt think much of it. Skip forward a massive 5 months and all of a sudden i am interested in card tricks, i show my friends and family and it is a lot of fun.  
5 months later i start thinking i could do something with my obsessio- i mean hobby.
I decide i am going to be a childrens magician at birthday parties. I think back to the day at the ice cream shop and i think i could add balloons to my show.
And another 5 months later (now) i have taken the normal (common) path of balloon making

Dollar store balloons-->one balloon animals--->youtube--->discovery of qualetex--->2 balloon animals--->more youtube--->3 balloons animals--->dvds--->more youtube

I am a 12 y.o balloon twister from the sunshine coast, Austrlaia (just north of brisbane)

I have done 4 parties in the 5 months i have been twisting and i did one yesterday

I do mostly 2-4 balloon figures... And love making hats

I hope to learn a few more figures as well as how to get more parties

Thanks to marvelous_mysto for advising me to join the forum!