I think i'm getting quite good at the twisting now. Yeah sure, I am always looking for new ideas/models to be in my portfolio but I would like some advice where to go next.

I have started to do some gigs/parties as a sole twister but I feel that I would like to be able to offer something else. Maybe a routine or such.

Trouble is, where do I start. How do you develop a routine from scratch. What else can you offer a client?

Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Darren

Hey Daren,
Not sure you got my message so here it is again.
Where to start you ask. Well, you can do a 10 to 15 minutes magic show.
First off check around and see if you can find clowns that hold meetings/get togethers.
Around here we call them Alleys. You can also do a search for a magic shop and purchase a change bag, dove pan and magic coloring book. Most anyone can work these three magic items. Keep in mind it's not just the magic. You must have good patter. You can try and come up with a couple of skits and link them together so that you transition smoothly from one magic trick to the next. I have entertainers insurance which I get through World Clown Associated. However, I believe they just deal with US and Canada. However, I'm sure there is someone out there for that.
You can even look at some of the old classic, Charlie Chaplin etc. I know that David Ginn had some video tapes out on magic. There was also Bev Bergeron Aka Rebo the clown he worked with Walt Disney Word , Red Skelton, Merv Griffin, Lucille Ball and a few others. The one I would recomend is Rebo Nose Clowning. You would need to do a search to find them.
I hope this helps some. Please feel free to ask any other questions of me and I will try to help. Enjoy the day.
Happy Twisting
Twisted Sister

Hi Darren, you can ABSOLUTELY entertain with just yourself and your balloons. I have several balloons that I make that are literally scripted performances.

This developed over time in the restaurants I work at. I decided I did not want to be a boring twister, I wanted people to enjoy watching me make my balloon art.

It started with just throwing in jokes, puns and one liners while twisting. I discovered that other things like storytelling, mime, slapstick, and balloon "tricks" started to make their way into my balloon routines.

Throw in some well-rehearsed "ad libs", hit a few kids and parents with balloons along the way, shoot balloons across the room at random, and suddenly you've got the makings of a show.

I currently have about 12 VERY impressive balloon sculptures that are actually scripted routines.

I wrote out at least one of my routines on the MBD2 forum in a thread I called, "Flair Twisting". Alot of the other members added many of the jokes, puns and silliness they use when making balloons to the same thread. It's worth looking at if you are interested in learning how to entertain with balloons.

I will post my routine from that thread in the next reply.

From my "Flair Twisting" thread on MBD2.com, taken from 2 separate posts and reposted here.

Please Note, the flower that this routine is for is NOT my original design, and I am NOT giving instructions on how to make the flower. Just what to do with the balloons to make it fun to WATCH me making the flower.

Ok, here is my routine for the Fancy Flower:

Please remember that this is after I've done all the shtick where I determine what the child is going to get, it's going to be a surprise to them. At this point, they still don't know what I'm making.



Fully inflate 260 Purple Violet 260 (Thanks, Qualatex! I hated Quartz Purple) and tie nozzle to nipple, completing the two steps of tying the balloon and connecting the ends to form a loop at the same time. Ask table/spectators if they knew that balloons could talk. Hold knot in left hand and run your right thumb along the balloon until you reach the middle. Hold the balloon up in front of your face like a HUGE set of lips. Rapidly move your hands so the "lips" open and close while saying something like, "WOW! This sure is a BIG balloon!". This gets a big groan from everyone. Ask the child to stand up and hold their arms straight out in front of them like a Zombie, with fists closed. Make the figure 8 and hang the loops on it on the kid's arms instructing the child to keep them from untwisting. *They now have one hand through each loop of the figure 8, with their arms extended.



Take out Pink or Rose 260 and fully inflate, tying nipple to nozzle as before. This time, stretch the balloon as if mimicking lips again then say, "No really, they actually do talk". Then make your figure eight and put the balloon in front of your face like glasses and say, "Hi, my name is Elton John"! This will also get a groan, maybe a guarded chuckle. Add this figure 8 to the child's arms asking if they have ever played "cops and robbers" before today.



Pull a Goldenrod 260 and tie as before. Insist that balloons really can talk and twist into figure 8. Fold the figure 8 so the loops are arranged upper and lower with the "hinge" in the back. Hold the arrangement up in front of your mouth like a duck's bill and say, "Aaaaflaaaaaack!!!" (might not make sense in the UK, it's a spoof on a popular American Television Commercial). I know it's totally stupid and ridiculous, but you WILL get full, all-out belly laughs. Thread this last figure 8 onto the child's arms. Ask mom or dad if they would like a set of cuffs to take home with them.



*NOTE: if doing this for adults, you can assure them that "These are regular handcuffs, just like you would find in any bedroom".



I then continue on making the flower. For the center I use a 5" yellow smilie face. Inflate to about 2.5 inches and cut the nozzle as close as you can get to the knot. Hold up to the spectators and say, "Hey look! The Wal-Mart Guy!!" (Another American Reference that might not go over well in the UK). Everyone likes this one. Twist the smilie into two globes, with the face in front, and the knot buried in the twist. Make the front globe a little bit bigger than the back globe and twist so that the smilie face is centered on the front, not off to one side or too high/low. Retrieve the 3 figure 8's and continue as described in my second post of this thread.

***The second post is below:

Put your hands through the loops so that you have 3 halves on each side with the intersections in the middle. This part is similar to Charle's butterfly action of "reeling in a fish" but I pause a moment in this position before doing the twisting action. I take a deep breath and focus all my attention on it as if I was a martial artist about to break a board with my hand. I huff and puff a few times. I am fishing for a chuckle here, and I will wait for quite a while before someone begins to laugh because it's so stupid what I'm doing. When someone finally laughs I say, "Don't laugh, this is the hard part!" Then I do that reeling motion VERY quickly and give a sort of growl/roar afterward as if I had just done something very strenuous. The timing on this is a bit tricky to get the right reaction but I hold that pose for a split second then recover as if I just came out of a trance or something. I then carry on and complete the flower as if nothing happened and my actions are the most natural thing in the world.

***NOTE: Since I wrote this post, I have added a few more aspects to the routine.

When twisting the stem into the flower, I focus all my attention to twisting the nozzle around the center of the flower, so I don't notice it when the other end of the balloon starts flying around and hitting the recipient in the face. Then I realize what's going on and I apologize, turning the flower around in my hands so the "loose end" is now hitting their brother/sister, parent, or someone from the table next to them. I apologize profusely, tell them I did not mean to hit them with that balloon, but in fact I meant to hit them with THIS end of the balloon as I'm hitting them with the flower petals.

Finish off the stem with a pinch twist and a loop twist "leaf", and heartily smell the flower (giving it "action") before finally giving it away.