Balloon Chat

Uncategorized Boards => Interview a "Balloon Chat" Member => Topic started by: Dillingerentertains on September 12, 2011, 03:51:15 PM

Title: Who's Who On Balloon Chat
Post by: Dillingerentertains on September 12, 2011, 03:51:15 PM
hi after being at the Twistian lecture day in Birmingham I got to thinking who's who I recognized 1 or 2 faces but had no idea who the majority of the guy's were & because it was a lecture we had very little time to mix or introduce ourselves + Martin Duffy & I pooped out for lunch & missed that opportunity as well so to cut to the chase I thought I would start a topic of who's who on balloon chat the idea is to post a recent photo & short blog about yourself so I will kick it off
                                DENNIS
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Dillingerentertains on September 12, 2011, 03:55:13 PM
Hi
I'm Dennis Dillon AKA Dillingerentertains I live in Newcastle upon Tyne my real job was as a hairdresser I ran my own shop from 1978 till the early 90's I then went full time as a magician (mostly close up) /entertainer.
I was treasurer & then president of the Newcastle magic circle I took up twisting (very basic ) in the late 80's then really got into twisting about 5 years ago after meeting Mike Decker  

     http://www.dillingerentertains.com/ (http://www.dillingerentertains.com/)
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: nippy99 on September 12, 2011, 08:55:43 PM
Hi everyone,

My name is Darren (aka nippy99) and my company is called MagicWorks Ltd (http://www.magicworks.ltd.uk (http://www.magicworks.ltd.uk)) - I started magic as a hobby back in 1994 and it has got out of hand since then! I mainly perform children's parties but also do many weddings and corporate events performing balloon modelling and close-up magic. I spent around three years as a full-time entertainer but pre-empted the credit crunch and took a 'normal' job again so back to part-time.

Here is my ugly mug...

[attachment=0:3qkicw5x][/attachment]monkey11.gif[/attachment:3qkicw5x]
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Dillingerentertains on September 12, 2011, 09:08:37 PM
good to see you Darren
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Thelma Levett on September 12, 2011, 09:19:53 PM
Just to clarify.  Which one is Darren? :D
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Thelma Levett on September 12, 2011, 09:35:09 PM
Sorry Darren I couldn't resist it.  
Nice idea Dennis - Here is my picture and intro.
I started working with face paints and soon discovered the joy of balloon art.  I offer full party plans including "The worst magic show in the Midlands" (its just a giggle) and entertain at weddings,.  My main obsession is balloons of course.  I like designing new models and have started to play with decor and fashion.  The main problem I have is finding the time.
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Dillingerentertains on September 12, 2011, 09:49:59 PM
ELO trouble lol great catch up @ kiddology Thelma
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Graham Lee on September 12, 2011, 09:51:22 PM
My name is Graham Lee and many years ago I was an electrician, went self employed when I was 21 and have always worked for myself. I got into installing burglar alarms and then had someone come to entertain at my daughter Kelly's 5th birthday party, her name was Dawn and I would like to thank Dawn for changing my life as I went off to the library to get some books out on magic and then started to do some shows while also doing some electrical work and the entertaining got busier so eventually I went full time. Met David Grist when we both travelled together for The Millennium Jam, David also changed my life again without realising it. We then started the care & share days and balloon chat followed. After all these years I still have the same buzz, love and excitement for balloons and entertaining. Apart from my family I also have three very special friends in my life who without there support many things that I have achieved would not have been possible, Mike Ingham, Pearse Halpenny and Thelma Levett.
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Dillingerentertains on September 12, 2011, 09:57:26 PM
nice intro Graham :-) photos not bad either;-o
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: CharlesDolbel on September 13, 2011, 02:28:06 AM
The intro is good, but the pics look phoney to me...    :roll:
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Dillingerentertains on September 13, 2011, 10:44:30 AM
hey CharlesDolbel post your photo (& intro) so we can see what photos should look like;-D
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Neil on September 13, 2011, 10:04:10 PM
(Charles - that's an awful gag!)  ;)

Hi all

I'm Neil and I'm a newbie having only been playing with balloons since 2008 to try to entertain my children, when I 'accidentally' attended a Qualatex training course taught by some bloke called Colin Myles....  :)  It's a long story, but little did I know how lucky I was to have such a talented and inspiring tutor.  I've made more money in the decor field than entertaining, but twisting/modelling was and still is my first balloon love.  Professionally, my proudest moment so far has been achieving my CBA qualification in 2009, and I'm generally at my happiest doing line work at children's parties or building large sculptures.

My ambition is to become half as good as most of the people here at balloon modelling, and to perhaps tread tentatively down the tried and tested path of doing some magic also.

I still have a 'real' job as a freelance software developer.  For most of the time, this means I'm a very boring, suited, desk jockey (hence the effortless facial expression in the photo)  :roll:

--Neil
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Krazy Kev on September 15, 2011, 08:58:27 PM
In the middle of changing computers so will join in with photos when up and running properly!
Kev
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: KJ Entertainments on September 21, 2011, 11:49:57 AM
Hello to you all,

I'm Dan and work with my partner KJ, entertaining children and adults alike over in Norfolk. Before my love of latex I was and still am a DJ (for my sins). I first got into balloons in early 2010 when I spoke to KJ on the phone one lunch time and she wanted to add a bit of variety to our children's parties. She suggested that I try my hand at balloon modelling. After a moment or two I decided that there were probably worse thing that I could do, so off to the local party shop I went. When I arrived there I plumped for a couple of different bags of 260s just to get me started. The woman behind the counter asked me if I had a pump, however I only had a little money on me and thought in my bravado, 'hey they are only balloons, how hard can they be?' after driving home I would like to say I set to work blowing them up and making dogs...however the truth of the matter is  I couldn't blow the *&^%*^ things up!! Not to be swayed by this minor setback I did what all DJs do at a moment like this and improvised using the air compressor meant to pump up car tyres.
KJ arrived home from work to a floor full of little models, from dogs, cats and ducks, to a dinosaur and a couple of others that looked like they were road kill :? . However I had more fun in that single afternoon than I had for a long time. from  that moment I was hooked. My better half then discovered this wonderful site for me, and with all the fantastic threads and ideas on here, I discovered that you are only limited by your imagination.
I have been to a few to the lectures and am now a member of T-BAG (007) hence the signature :oops: (I know sad isn't it). But my finest hour has to be at the Twistina lecture, where she actually took a picture of   :o MY WORK :o .

Here's to many more latex loving years, for me...for your...and most of all for all our customers.
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Dillingerentertains on September 23, 2011, 06:26:07 PM
great photo Dan
the uptake on this is a bit slow must be that you are all shy;-o would be good to see more of you's:-D

this is who we have so far

Dillingerentertains – DENNIS
nippy99 – DARREN
Thelma Levett
Graham Lee
Neil Drummond
Krazy Kev – KEVIN
KJ Entertainments - DAN
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Snurb on September 24, 2011, 07:41:01 AM
Need my laptop working to add photos. Will do when it is alive again!
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Dillingerentertains on January 10, 2012, 11:41:58 PM
so this didn't catch on then:-(
Title: Re: WHO'S WHO ON BALLOON CHAT
Post by: Graham Lee on January 10, 2012, 11:49:21 PM
Quote from: "Dillingerentertains"so this didn't catch on then:-(
Yes it is a bit of a shame Dennis but like a lot of things in life and on the forum there are those that do in the one or two/few and the millions that lurk.
Still we can keep trying  :D  Don't let the buggers get you down.
Title: Re: Who's Who On Balloon Chat
Post by: Damian Jay on May 14, 2012, 09:44:25 PM
Hi all,

I was pottering through the forums and found this (extinct ?) thread. Thought I'd add to it.
I'm Damian Jay (//http://www.damianjay.com) and only started balloon twisting to add an extra dimension to my shows. Also to eliminate the cost of giving away 'prizes' during the shows lol. Balloons are soooo much cheaper and it's a great way to give the children something that they want rather than a piece of 'tat' from the £1 stores.

I purchased the complete David Grist collection from Graham and also Twistina's dvd's took them with me when working the cruise ships and gave the real models a go. Instant hit onboard with the models and I had a lot of free time to concentrate on learning and perfecting (still doing the last bit) them.
Now in my shows I have a lot of balloon models as prizes, most are pre-made but I do make a few during the shows to 'show off' I love the fact that I'm often challenged to make something for the Birthday child. Most of the time it's something easy but sometimes it can be a challenge (like a full size Disney Princess - Belle. I posted pics on here somewhere)

So where am I today.... still learning and now working on getting my speed up for making the better models so I can make these in the shows as well. My aim is 2 -3  mins tops (depending on age and my patter while twisting) to make a model in my show.

Hers a pic of me, the front poster on my roll on table fell of just as the pic was taken lol
Title: Re: Who's Who On Balloon Chat
Post by: Pam Pearce on May 15, 2012, 04:06:56 PM
Sorry missed this - was probably on Holiday at the time as we usually are in January... For the magicians who may know we go visiting a 'young' magician called Paul Jay and Diana the princess... they retired and now live in the Gambia west Africa..

Anyway biog of us: Paul was fulltime Dj and Mc and we too wanted to add some thing to kids parties and ( log story read how we got into balloons) we met a guy in a Birmingham Market who showed him some models , we bought all wind and twists and that was it hooked... later got into decor, then I left work and went fulltime too, then CBA's ( yes a proud day for us too Neil - I was the last lady of the last millenium to get it - with 3 men), then large scultpures, then competitions, Then Care and share days, then teaching.. Ohh what a fun ride it has been (especially if politics are ignored!!) what next??

I think I was one of the few you said hello to Denis at Twistinas lecture... did you not sit by us?

Latest pic taken at a booking where we had to where Black... Paul and I rebelled and added our latest Union jack Waiscoats ( he wore the trousers too the day before as it was the Queens Birthday - store loved it)

Pam
xx
Title: Re: Who's Who On Balloon Chat
Post by: john on May 15, 2012, 06:58:00 PM
Hi, I am a new member and looking around the site I saw this opportunity to introduce myself to you all.
My name is John Bowler and I have been in the balloon industry in different guises for over 20 years now, having started as a retailer/decorator and ending up where I am now.  I have 2 different roles, one of them is as the European Manager for Conwin (Balloon Equipment manufacturer) and the second is the Chief Exec of BAPIA - Balloon And Party Industry Alliance.  In both of these roles it is very interesting and important for me to keep up with industry trends and to know what's happening and that comes from listening to everybody in the industry.   The one area I haven't been involved in is twisting, but i guess there's still time!!  I am genuinely committed to this industry and enjoy every aspect of it and hopefully from time to time I can contribute something to this forum.
Not sure if I managed to attach a photo, if not I look just like George Clooney!
Title: Re: Who's Who On Balloon Chat
Post by: Danny the Idiot on May 15, 2012, 09:07:47 PM
Hi John,

welcome to Balloon Chat!

Lovely to see you on here.

cheers
Danny   :)
Title: Re: Who's Who On Balloon Chat
Post by: FuDD on July 30, 2012, 02:10:17 AM
Hello all!!


 My name is FuDD!! I live state side in Arizona. I Love balloons, been serious about them since seeing http://www.twistedballoondoc.com/ (http://www.twistedballoondoc.com/) in 2009. Hope to get over to your side of the pond some day. What a great community you all have, so great to see.

  This past Twist n Shout was my first large convention and wow what fun!!! Cant wait to grow in this industry!!! Cant wait to meet all of you in person !!!