Part 2

Funny Story:
I was making balloons at a festival and it was getting late on and some lads were a bit worse for wear and for a laugh one lad asked me for a balloon wand with a double heart on top.
My last 20 balloons had been wands and i thought i would have a bit fun.  I took out a 5" round and heart and blew op the round and made it very obvious that i was rolling this around my hands and pitching the side. i said something like it needs a bit more air.
I went to add more air but instead let the air out of the round and blow up the heart.  I will never forget the reaction by one of the lads it was like a reaction you would see from dynamo.
I did not have the heart to tell him i switched the round.

Sad Story
I pr-made a balloon Zoo for a friend of a friend and they came to collect with their 2 or 3 year old and though nothing of it 2 hours later the dad was knocking on the door the kid was sobbing his little heart out.  The dad was putting him to bed and stood on the monkeys tail and bang went the balloon. I quickly made a replacement and the dad was the hero again as he had got a new balloon.

Marketing Tip
I don't Really have any tips as i am just starting out, what i have done is just do as many jobs as possible regardless of what they were paying or i had to pay to trade just to get some reputation built up.  Also to try and make anything the customer wanted.

Joke
I don't tell jokes but just talk to kids and be a bit silly when the balloon farts then blame them or try and get the boys to have a pink balloon or pretend i miss heard what they asked for.

Those entering the Star Prize competition can post there funny stories etc here. It is not too late to enter part one of the competition with a head band design.
Part one can be found here, star-prize-won-t6016.html

Thanks for moving this over for me Graham

funny story
 i was twisting balloons at a preschool fair, and the line was and had been 20+ since the moment i arrived. I was halfway through making a pirate hat, when a man (aged about 35) came to the front of the line... Grabbed 2 balloons out of my busking bag and chucked $2 into my hat

I told him he probably wont be able to blow them up. He said he will be fine and walked away

I continued twisting, every in the line feeling a little but awkward...

Just as i finished, the man came back with two uninflated balloons "you were right" he said as he took my pump out and inflated the balloons all the way

I watched him as he left, he had two little girls and he was trying to skip the line and get them a balloon. I watched him twist the balloons, one twist, two twist.. Three twi- POP!. His balloons had popped


I got a profit of $1.90 from it... But it was so unusual for a grown man to skip the line and pretend to be a twister. Has this ever happenned to any of you? I assume he thought "if this 12 year old can do it, why cant it!!!"

Other stories to come....

OK now im caught up on to section 2

Funny Story: i was working at van fest last year with a friend of mine both doing circus skills in the day. in the evening however the weather turned horrible so we headed inside and thought lets do some balloons in the back of the hall. we were there for about 20 mins just making things, trading techniques and ideas and such. realizing we had filled our table we started handing things out to the people around us. well not long after that the requests came in. so we asked for drinks in return ( twisting is thirsty work and since we were not actually working this was allowed ). soon we started making a hat each. these hats got bigger and bigger until they both were about 4/5 foot around. all sorts was on the hats from animals to curly q's, cars and bikes, fish to flowers. at the end of the night we was about to pop the balloons as we couldn't take them with us when 2 of the biggest men came over. they both had to be at least 6 and a half foot tall and build like a brick wall. looking a little worried as to what they wanted they stopped in front of us and one said " Ill give you £20 for the 2 hats "
i was so surprised i just said sure and handed them to him, he paid up and they put the hats on and walked away.
there is just something about seeing 2 huge men walking through a crowded hall with massive balloon hats that tickles me

Sad Story:as I've only been twisting for just under a couple of years I've not had any sad stories to date. there have been times when a parent comes back with a crying child and a burst balloon because they swung it about and it caught something sharp. in those cases i just redo the part or all of it that has popped. if it was a fiddly model id ask them to wait to one side till the queue died down a bit. always stopped the tears

Marketing Tips: not having done this as a proper career yet i dont really have any tips. all i can say is always be smiling and jolly, no one likes a frownie balloon twister. make sure you have a wide range of designs you know and practice. 1 tip i do have is to always carry your business cards on you. you never know when you will need them, because the best advert you can ever have is people seeing you in person doing what you do

Jokes:things like attaching a lead to a dog saying "your dog does tricks, watch .roll over" then twist the dog  over. always gets a giggle.
offer a fully inflated untied balloon to someone to hold and let it go just as they go to grab it.

Sad story:

I was doing magic at a christmas festival and i had pre made a large santa balloon. For the last trick i had a 6 year old girl come up on stage and choose a christmas word from a bag. Inside a big cardboard box wrapped up like a present was the large santa. She opened the bag and (surprise surprise) was the christmas thing she chose. She was extremely happy with her christmas santa balloon. As i finished up the show wand she walked back to her seat, the legs of the santa cane in contact with the grass. It was now a legless santa.
The girl burst into tears and ran to her mum... I hadn't bought a spare and didn't have time to make another one.  Seeing as it was a magic show... I didn't even bring any balloons so i couldn't make her something else.

It made it awkward for everyone else and quite sad for her


Marketing tip:

I (like many above) have only recently started twisting... And hence i am in no position to give advice... However, i do recommend handing out as many business cards as possible. Everyone person who has a card is another person who will remember you....
Also, i always add in something special, if i am only hired for balloons i bring a few close up tricks to show the kids in line. if i am only doing magic, then i make a balloon for the birthday boy.

I normally perform signed business card to wallet to the host. this is a great way of incorporating both the above tips, it leaves the adult with some memory to keep and also giving a great time for them to pay me because the wallet is already out.

Joke:

Nothing beats the old classic "hold this for me"... Followed by a balloon making hilarious sounds as it flies through the air"

People also seem to find it funny when i drop balloons accidentally

Funny story:
   I was doing balloon twisting for a church event and had a line of kids waiting.  One little girl, when it got to be her turn, told me "My daddy does balloon animals, too, but he's really terrible at it!"
   One of the parents in the line told me that the girl's dad had learned to do some balloon animals for a missions trip they had gone on.  Evidently the kids where they went, were much less balloon connoisseurs than his daughter!

Funny Story:  I did a balloon show at a day care center.  After the show, while I was packing up, a little girl came up and asked where I was going.  I told her I was going home.  She said, "No, I wanted you to stay here all day!"

Sad Story:  I won't get to go to Twist 'n Shout this year.  (True story that brings tears to my eyes).

Marketing tip 1:  Wear a balloon headband  or armband when you go out and about.  I wore a ladybug the other day and was asked for business cards from several people.

Marketing tip 2:  If you want to get library shows, start making balloons from books and give them to your library.  Last year I had an overwhelming urge to create the "dressed chicken" from the Amelia Bedelia book.  I made it and gave it to our children's librarian.  She almost immediately asked if I did shows.  I hadn't before, but told her I could.  Since then, my library system has used me for about 50 shows.  Not too shabby.

     

Marketing tip 3:  When you do a birthday party, don't just give one card to the b-day child's parents.   Give them several so they can hand them out to their friends, but still have your information.

Joke:  Where did you learn balloons?  Jail.  (One time I told a mom this and she took a quick intake of breath and said, "Oh, I was going to see if you could do our birthday party, but I guess not now."  I assured her it was a joke.  I can't remember if she actually contacted me for the party or not.  Oh well.)

Joke 2:  (I'm using my Winnie the Pooh show for example only.  I actually use this before every show.)  I begin the show by asking, "Who likes Winnie the Pooh?  Raise your hand.  Great!  Now, who likes balloons?  Raise your hand.  Excellent.  Now, I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that all the kids and I like balloons and Winnie the Pooh.  The bad news is none of the grown-ups raised their hand.  Now, I'm not one to make fun of people, but I have a broad category for people who don't like Winnie the Pooh or balloons.  That category is "boring".  Should we give them another chance?  Stare really hard at the adult who brought you and lets see if they really aren't boring.  Ok, now who likes balloons...who likes Winnie the Pooh?  Excellent!  Give a hand for the non-boring grown-ups!"  (This is much funnier in real life when you see the looks on all the adults faces!)

Feeling a bit out of my depth now with this comp and I definately need to improve my headband- it looked much better in my head. Although I have been twisting for a year now i have only done friends/family stuff and and one Christmas fair so I don't have much to go but I will try.

Funny

I made a spiderman and superman model for my two nephews at Christmas. In the rough and tumble of being a superhero for a three year old, superman's ear popped leaving him looking like he had a comb over on a windy day. When I asked my nephew if he wanted me to fix it, he said, "No, he is flying so fast his hair can't keep up."

I don't really have an answer for the others.

Ok I have had a think and for me this was sad. I had made a few Santa's at Christmas and I thought I would have a go at stuffing chocolates into rounds to go with them. I spent along time and burst a lot of balloons but I finally got there. I left the room and heard a very faint 'pop' followed by a few more 'pop's until there was none left. So I ate all the chocolates! which did make me feel better for the duration it took to eat them all.

Funny Story
I was at a friend's birthday party in a pub and of course the balloons came out after a few drinks. I bet everyone they wouldn't be able to blow them up and it was funny to see the competitiveness of the men! One pretty blonde woman kept trying and the lads were laughing and winking at each other, so I told her it was easier if you do it on your knees. I was amazed that she believed me and got on her knees blowing this balloon - very rude and very funny!

Sad story
I go to a weekend party in a castle every year and last year the party theme was space. I spend several hours making loads of space themed balloons and put them in the main hall. When I came back 30 mins later some of the older kids had been having fun jumping on them and they were all destroyed. They were all giving a firm talking to and apologised, but it really upset me for the night and I won't be doing balloons again this year.

Marketing tip
Having children! I put balloon wristbands on my kids, make balloons for friends kids and always get asked for cards - a good way to display your work! (Maybe not the only reason to have kids though).

Joke
I always use the out of control, tickling balloon joke. I tell the kids how naughty these balloons are and to tell me if they tickle anyone - always when I'm looking the other way and of course they stop before I turn back to look. Also if there's a pop, I loudly demand "Who did that"? and look accusingly at the children - cracks them up

Funny Story:  On one of my first gigs, I had a small boy ask me to make a banana.  Geez I figured this was going to be really hard or really easy.  Easy it was cause all he wanted was a blown up yellow balloon.

Sad Story:  When I was out shopping one day, a little tot and her mom were walking along the street and the tot was crying.  I hopped out of my car and since I always carry balloons asked the mom if I could give her one.  The tears stopped right away when I handed her the creation made just for her.  I guess this is a happy/sad story.

Marketing:  No real tips here, all I do is haunt the places that have ordered from me and I deliver pieces to them free of charge when there is a special occasion.

Joke:  Up to now, I have found that if I make one penquin - then everyone wants one.  If I do get too many requests, I tell the next child that I will have to make them something else because when all those penquins start "pooping" it will get too slippery for us to walk around.

Sad Story: After ballooning around 3 years I unfortunately have no really funny story to tell. But the one thing that I hate and do find sad is when I have to say no more balloons, and the child/children are really nice. Unfortunately we all have to close our lines/events at some point, and knowing how to handle really nice but disappointed children is difficult.

Marketing tip:  I twist at a local restaurant twice a week and have been doing this for coming up to a year now. It's a great place to hand out cards and show off your work whilst keeping everybody happy. There is also the added bonus of not being crowded in, as your customers are the restaurant customers and therefore remain seated. One more thing...make everyone feel special, customers remember this and it works.

Joke: This is a bit long winded but bear with me...
How do you put an elephant in the fridge? (After the answer) Open the door and put him in then shut the door.
How do you put a giraffe in the fridge? (After the answer) Open the door, take out the elephant, then put the giraffe in and shut the door.

Have you ever seen the Lion King and if so do you remember it well? Can you remember at the beginning of the film when all the animals are around the bottom of the mountain, and the big Lion is holding up Simba by the neck ready to throw him off the edge? Can you remember the only animal that wasn't there watching??
It's the giraffe you left him in the fridge!

Funny story - I run a club at school showing children how to do basic stuff with balloons. Le week I did hats and allowed them to be creative and add balloons as they saw fit. One boy made a tall red and pink lattice style number and went happily home. It was only when a member of staff pointed it out to me that I realised it resembled a penis.
Sad story - I made a dinosaur for a child looking round our school and his brother wanted one too. They were moving on so I said I would do one and get it to them before they left. Wishing to make this one different to his brothers, I used a 5 inch round for the eyes which I had left off the first. On presenting the balloon, the child burst into tears. It seems he did not appreciate the eyes so I quickly took them off, found the brother and put them on his. It all ended well but I learnt not to add unwanted embellishments.
Marketing tip - I just do this for fun but I will say that giving stuff to friends and family certainly generates interest and enquiries and so if starting a business this would be something I would consider on a wider sale.
Joke - te penguin is a firm favourite and if I am asked to make one I always ask what they will call it. I say that all penguins are named Pedro and stick on a bad French accent. I then ask again what they will call it. It always raises a smile and a few laughs and the best answer I have had is 'Penguin' (of course).

And on comp two we hav so far 10 entries,

Lee Ross
Majake
Benjamin
CindyT
Lynnae
Serensmum
Rhian
Funat60
Kj Ents
areyouhappydad

Still time to enter all four competitions, closing date is teh end of Feb.

This is your last chance to enter, the competition closes tomorrow night 28th Feb.