Sunday, Private classes.

I would have liked to have gone to a few classes, Tonya McNeill, Rebecca Kanar, David 3 ring and Don Caldwell. Unfortunately they were all on at the same time; in fact all the classes seemed to be scheduled for AM with nothing at lunchtime or PM.

This is all set by the individual instructor and is nothing to do with the convention organisers, thinking back Rebecca’s class may well have been mid-day?

I chose to attend Don Caldwell’s 45 minute balloon show followed by a question & answer session and I have to say I chose well, it was very entertaining with Don sharing his years of experience with everyone and seemingly not holding back on passing on all the gems from his show and with the answers that flowed from the questions from the participating audience.
The two hour session simply flew by and if you get a chance to see Don I would suggest that you take it with both hands.

Did I mention that Don’s coming over to the UK for the David Grist memorial lecture in May, so what better chance to see him in person in the UK?

The Sunday afternoon we just sat around the hotel chatting with Willie Monroe & Just Marie, what a pleasant afternoon it turned out to be with Marie showing me some of her artwork from her laptop and Willie just being a fun person to be around.

Then it was off for the burlesque, balloonalicious show which if run in Europe would just be part of the main festival but over in the good old USA this had to be at a completely different venue with no connection with twist & shout. It was held at The Maverick Theatre, Fullerton which is a very intimate theatre only holding 80 people and it was a sell out, they could easily have sold double the tickets as many were still in town from the convention.

Todd & Tawney did a very good job of holding the show together between acts while giving the stage crew enough time to set each act but not holding proceedings up too much which helped the show flow nicely.

TO BE CONTINUED

Skip Banks was the first act on and is credited with being the very first person to get inside the big six foot balloon, he did act as know which is now a classic and well worth looking up on you tube.

Next was Mistress B with her very provocative act called “Penis” This was done to music with Mistress B wearing a black leather outfit and thigh high leather boots, she had a very unusual way of inflating the balloons through the front of her bra, enjoyed the act, very funny.

Willie Monroe was on next with his yo-yo act and a balloon sketch which involved a doughnut balloon & 260 with a male & female volunteer from the audience which involved the audience member temporarily becoming pregnant, a funny piece at the time but later we were to hear that the lady volunteer was upset and left the theatre during the interval. This I’m sure would have saddened Willie as I’m sure it was not his intention to offend anyone after all we were at a burlesque show and surely the two people that walked out during the interval must have known what the likely content of the show would be?

George the giant was on next and from memory got to the semi final of America’s got talent. He was a side show entertainer with an act that was definitely not for the faint hearted, his first spot involved biting the head off of a balloon chicken and putting the balloon up his nose & out through his mouth. During one of his spots he also put a skewer through the side of his face and pulled it out of his mouth and then for the interval you could go up and staple dollar bills all over his body.

After the break Mistress B returned with another act which you may have guessed from the title of her first piece called “Vagina” her second spot was just as much fun as she was in the first half, great fun to watch.

Brian Asman with the act that he performed last year at The Millennium Jam, centred on a sad rain coated individual that has received a blow up doll that he has to put together from a brown cardboard box with instructions. Brian plays this part to perfection and there are many highpoints dispersed throughout the act.

George the giant returned for a second spot with some sword swallowing and the breaking of concrete blocks over his chest while he was lying on a bed on nails, he performed these well with some light hearted patter thrown in along the way.

There were I think four burlesque dancers between the acts, from my notes they were;
Penny Star Jnr
Dizzy Von Damn
Fever Blister
Lili VonSchtupp

When some of the ladies were on the stage for some reason chicken fillets sprang to mind, they all seemed to be very extensively covered in Tattoo’s.

My favourite due to the comedy interaction with the audience I believe was Lili VonSchtupp who did an act with about 6 different poodles all disobeying her commands, and the very last dancer was good but unfortunately I did not write her name down, so perhaps others that were there may be able to help me out with details.

The evening was good value for money with some excellent company thrown in as well, a special thanks to John & his wife for the lift to & from the theatre which was a 20 min ride away from our hotel.

So it comes to the Monday and we had planned to do a little site seeing but with the weather chucking it down we were rather reluctant to venture out of the hotel.
So Robbie Firman was having to take Brian Asman to long Beach airport so we went along for the ride and Robbie was kind enough to suggest that he drove us around a few local tourist spots as years ago he lived in LA and new the area very well and didn’t need to get away till after six.
What a great afternoon it turned out to be, Robbie took us to Hollywood and we went down sunset strip, saw the now famous Hollywood sign right close up as Robbie new all the back doubles to get us really close and then he showed us a lot of the hot spots, we even stopped to have a really healthy meal in Johnny Rockets, healthy meal and Johnny Rockets possibly don’t go together but it was nice to stop and sample a traditional American diner. So Robbie a big thank you for making our afternoon so enjoyable, it was greatly appreciated.

We then rushed back to our hotel to change as Suzanne Haring had arranged for Colin & I to attend the Magic Castle, what a fun evening this turned out to be as Vera & Micha picked us up and we saw 4 shows at the castle & got a guided tour. I found the whole experience very fascinating with all the show posters on display. The history and atmosphere of the venue really did make for a great evening which was to only get better for we then went out for a meal with some of the So-Cal twisting team and Mistress B from the burlesque show.
So from a rather depressed morning looking out onto the torrential rain the day turned out to be super fun due to the kindness of some very special people from our extended family in the balloon world, what more could you possibly want.
TO BE CONTINUED

And so it came to the Tuesday and our fly home day, both Colin & I for some reason thought our flight was at six in the evening but it turned out to be at Nine, so what to do?
A long story, but the short version is that we went out for a lovely lunch with some really fab people, Don, Laura & Susan who promotes Betallatex in the USA. Time flew and it was certainly a nice way to end our visit, Don then kindly offered to drop us at the airport so save our taxi ride & fare.
What a truly great experience the whole trip was including the two days lost at the airport and it being the most stressed I’ve ever been in my whole life.
Definitely one that will stay in the memory banks for a very long time with genuine fond memories of an adventure for me.


This reporting is not as easy as you may think?
I have tried to be as honest and objective as possible and my intentions were not too upset anyone, but I’m sure we’ve all been there when we see a report on a show or event & think were they at the same show/event as I was as the reporting seems so wide of the mark.
Perhaps others will feel the same about what I’ve written down and it didn’t reflect what they thought of twist & shout but I have as honestly as possible given you my genuine observations, thoughts and I hope honest opinion on the event.

TO BE CONTINUED

and now for something that may ruffle a few feathers but is said with the best of intentions.
I did discuss this next issue with a few others and know I’m not alone when I say;

A major gripe that I do have and as yet have not mentioned is the total lack of respect for the acts during the shows, why oh why does everyone think they have the right to videotape and use (Steal) other peoples shows, this seems to only go on in America.
This has to stop and the organisers of all the American conventions need to act now or there will be some acts who will just refuse to perform on stage for them and perhaps this is one reason the evening entertainment was/is sparse?
Please just sit back & hopefully enjoy the show and artistry that someone has come to show.
When I performed at Diamond jam in 2007, it’s very off putting when you walked onto the stage and the whole of the front row and scores of others are videoing your act and for what reason,
We are all more than happy to share things in the classrooms, jam rooms and with others at the events but when it comes to your stage act it should be your stage act and not in numerous other acts just because they’ve seen it on stage at the convention.
So please respect the wishes of the performing artistes, enjoy their acts and let them inspire you to produce your own original & unique act.
So on this debatable issue?

The End.

Thank you very much Graham for such a detailed summary of your thoughts and observations about T & S 2009.

Having been to TMJ I can have an inkling of what the convention in America was like. Its really great to know whats happening in the balloon world across the pond. Who teaches what, who performs, how the American convention organises itself and its strange customs of charging per class (how quaint!).

Very interesting to hear how they cannot stop themselves videoing the shows. It makes me think twice of going over to perform there.

But the best thing is to hear that the balloon comunity is friendly and generous in America too.

Thanks again Graham

Terrific write up Graham - thanks for taking the time to do it. I've really enjoyed it.

I think I must make an effort to get along to one of the bigger balloon events.

Thanks G, a great read...........


It doesnt sound as great as TMJ but sounded a fun experience!

N

graham i echo the thanks of every one else brill reports but none so important as your last observation (feathers getting ruffled or not)
hears a thought if over a period of time you were to see (or be inspired by 6 or more acts no videoing) and you put together an act using only the things you remember or think you remember you would have an original act because nobody else would have seen the same 6 acts or remember the same things
for me a much better way than videoing/copying other people & there acts

thanks again graham hope to see you in Leeds
DENNIS

Better late than never I hope! Here are my experiences of competing in two of the balloon sculpture competitions at Twist and Shout 2009.

I have always wanted to attend Twist and Shout but in previous years it has always clashed with the Half term holidays when both myself and Twistopher (Mike)have a regular 9 day booking. This year it was held a little earlier so we were thrilled that we were able to go. We always try to take a holiday in January as it is normally our quietest time and so decided to combine the holiday with the convention. Fortunately, as we were sunning our selves on a beach in Hawaii when the snow storms hit Britain and we escaped the subsequent travel problems that delayed Graham, Colin and others getting to the convention.

We arrived at the Cerritos hotel late on the Monday evening and wondered if we were the first to arrive as there was no sign of any familiar faces or any traces of balloons. However by the time we checked in, one of the receptionists had her coat on ready to go home and was carrying a fabulous looking balloon leprechaun! The next day, we started meeting old and new faces and balloons were starting to appear all over the place. Walmart, just over the road, seemed to be the in place to bump into convention goers as we all stocked up with food, drink, and any last minute things required for competition pieces or classes!
I had to go to Walmart to buy rubber cement as I could not bring it with me because you are not allowed to take inflammable items on aircraft. I was amazed how cheap it is in the States, it costs nearly 4 times as much here. Shame I could not stock up with it and bring it home!

My trip to Walmart actually changed one of my competition pieces and caused it to take a lot longer than planned. I was going to make a rose and a couple of carnations from un-inflated balloons and I had brought a small bud vase to put them in. However I came across "Acrylic water" in Walmart. It is a clear resin and is the fake water that you often see in glass vases of artificial flowers but in a kit form. I have investigated the stuff in the UK but it is very pricey and I was not sure if it would work with my flowers. It only worked out at about £4 so I decided to give it a try as I thought that it would be a really nice effect . I also then had to buy a glass vase so that the "water" would show! I duly made the purchases and hurried back to our hotel room as time was not on my side. The "water" takes 24 to 48 hours to set and I only had 48 hours before the competition deadline!

The other dilemma was, would the resin react to the latex either damaging the balloons or prevent the resin setting? I made a small test piece by mixing up a small quantity of the resin and using a tiny cut off shampoo bottle made a mock up the vase and just put some in some stalks rather than the whole flower as this was the only part in contact with the resin. Now, I just had to see what happened! I got on and made the flowers, a lot more than I originally intended as the glass vase was a lot bigger than the one that I brought with me. Eventually the flowers were ready to be set in the vase. The test piece showed no sign of the latex deteriorating but it was not beginning to set either! I had to make a decision and I decided to risk using the resin in the vase, it had about 36 hours to set before the deadline. Once the vase was assembled with the resin, I just had to be patient and hope that it set! I turned on the fan in the room full blast and turned the heating up as high as we could bear!!


In the meantime, I had my other competition piece to work on. I have always been fascinated by Ancient Egypt and the pharaohs and decided a while back that I would like to do Tutankhamun's funeral mask in balloons. It worked out well but I did run out of time and a couple of things were not as I would have liked. There should have been a serpent and Bird on his headpiece but I could not get them looking right, (they looked too cartoon-y) before the competitition deadline so I decided to leave them off. It still looked pretty good though and considering I had nearly given up the whole thing as a bad job several times, I was fairly pleased.


The resin in the vase did eventually set (though Mike and I were melting!)and I was able to enter it in the small competition. I was pretty glad when both pieces were finished and in place in the judging room, it felt like I could come out to play at last! I had missed out on a lot of jamming time and classes but once I had committed to doing the pieces there was no going back as all of that effort would have been for nothing. In spite of missing out on some aspects of the convention, I do enjoy entering competitions as they really challenge me to produce the best that I can and create things that I would not normally have the incentive or time to achieve. Getting any awards is just the icing on the cake but I was very pleased to get a second place with the vase of flowers and a third place with the Tutankhamun mask.

After the convention was almost over, we were allowed to collect our competition pieces. I decided to to finish old King Tut and had another go at the serpent and bird. This time, I managed to get him more or less as I wanted. I then gave him to one of the receptionists at the hotel who it turned out had Egyptian ancestry and was absolutely delighted with him. I am glad he got a good home!
As I was able to bring it home, the vase of flowers now has pride of place on my mantle piece.
Twistina

Another couple of Photos.