Thursday, February 3, 2011

Year of the rabbit..

Every year is the year of the rabbit when you are a children's entertainer and  have a pet rabbit that you bring along to shows, not just the Chinese Year of the Rabbit.

I've had pet rabbits for the last ten years. I bring them along to my kids parties. I used to do magic'tricks with them but now I just let the kids pet them instead and everyone is still happy about that. Rabbits require special care and each one has their own personality just like people do. My last rabbit loved people (he would always lick my hand when I or especially other people petted him). Cinnamon, the rabbit I have now has a shyer personality but occasionally he licks people too. Cinnamon has a calm disposition and almost never gets mad over anything. He also loves to eat timothy hay. No matter how much timothy hay I load into his cage he eats it up right away, and in a few hours after he is fed he stands on his hind legs as I walk by and stares at me as I walk by to let me know he is hungry again.     

Thursday, January 27, 2011

The million dollar balloon dog

Balloon dogs have become such a hot commodity that balloon artist Jeff Koons who makes larger then life balloon dogs (actually they are stainless steel sculptures of balloon dogs) and sells them for 4 figures and up is suing a San Francisco art gallery for making balloon dog bookends that retail for $30 because  Koons believes thay are infringing on his trademark. Though it is my belief that people who buy a 30 dollar balloon dog bookend probably would not have the money to purchase a 4 or 5 figure balloon dog and that people who have the money to purchase a balloon dog sculpture for thousands of dollars  by a famous pop art probably would not choose to buy a balloon dog bookend instead.

Besides the balloon dog was around before Koons started making balloon dog sculptures. I think it is kind of like someone making a pop art sculpture of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny and then suing anyone else for an infringement of a trademark if they decide to make anything that is Santa or Easter Bunny related. Well I am glad that Koons didn't decide to go after the thousands of clowns, magicians, and other children's entertainers who make balloon dogs on a regular basis at children's parties.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The most popular balloons

The most popular balloons for boys have always been swords so then they can do play fight with them. However, Spiderman balloons since I learned how to make them is popular too. I usually don't make Spiderman balloons at parties because it takes a little bit longer and usually there simply isn't enough time.

For girls the most popular balloons are dogs and flowers. Nowadays, a lot of girls like tiaras if there is enough time for me to make them.


  

Monday, January 24, 2011

Butterflies and princesses and super heroes make the world go round (for kids that is)

Here are some samples of my facepainting. In the beginning I only used to paint something on the child's cheek or hand but then I took some facepainting classes so now if there is some extra time or there are not that many kids at the party then I paint the whole face. The girls like princesses and butterflies, the boys are wild about the superheroes with Spiderman usually being the most popular.








Friday, January 21, 2011

Cool balloon hats

 Here are some cool balloon hats that I created a few years ago. This includes flower hat, Santa Claus hat, and a Carmen Miranda hat among others.







Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Kids parties at schools and daycares

While most people prefer to hold their children's parties on weekends there are advantages to having a children's party during the week, especially if it is held at the birthday child's school or daycare.

First of all, it is usually free so you don't have to worry about renting out a hall or restaurant. Also since you are not holding the party in your house or apartment there is no extensive cleanup involved either before or after the party. Basically all you have to do is bring the pizza (or food), birthday cake, soda. snacks, and paper goods and that is that.

You typically don't have to worry about sending out invitations as the children in your child's class (or daycare if it is a small daycare) will be the attendees. Also another advantage is that duuring the week a lot of children's entertainers usually give some type of discount during the week  as weekdays are less busy.

Typically you have to get the teacher's permission or the school's permission to hold the party and typically the party will be held in the morning 10 or 11 AM so right before the kids' lunch or usually in the afternoon around 3 - which is right after the children's naptimes.     

Monday, January 17, 2011

Cools balloons I was working on at the balloon convention

Here are some cool balloons I was working on at the Florida Super Jam in Orlando (yes, right near Disney). I was there for 48 hours max. My plane was supposed to take off on Wednesday morning from JFK Airport but that didn't happen due to the snowstorm. I had to take a  9 PM flight from LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday instead. When I got into Orlando that night it was in the 40's. (Apparently the weather got unusually cold a day or two before my arrival).

I attended a lot of classes, went balloon jamming and learned a lot of  new, cool balloons. Here are some pics.


Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Heading South to make balloons

For the next two days I will be headed to Orlando, Florida for the Florida Super Jam. I will spend two days jamming with other balloon artists and taking classes on balloons. I am looking forward to learning new things and also escaping the cold, snowy weather of New York. My flight leaves tonight at 9 PM. I was supposed to take an earlier flight leaving at 9 AM this morning but my flight was cancelled due to the snow storm. (At least Jet Blue let me know the night before instead of my getting there and finding out and having to wait all hours at the airport  for another flight)

When I come back I will have a lot of interesting pictures of balloons to post on here. I try to make it to a balloon convention every year. Last year, I went to the Twist and Shout balloon convention in Oakbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), Two years ago I participated in Balloon Manor, where I helped build a haunted house made out of balloons, and three years ago it was another Twist and Shout balloon convention in the suburbs of Boston. These classes and conventions are a good learning experience for me.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

When should you invite over the entertainment at your children's party?

When should you invite over the entertainment at your children's parties? Keep in mind that guests almost always arrive late. The general rule of thumb is that people show up an hour late, and you don't want the clown or other performer to show up when there's no kids or maybe just a few kids at the party

If your party is an early party (like in the morning) chances are most of your guests will be there within 30 minutes after the party starts. If yours is a Saturday evening party and you know your guests are the type to show up late then allow at least 2 hours after the party starts to have the performer start. Also keep in mind that if the party is not in your house but it is held in a center you have to allow enough time to decorate the place and just get things ready for the party before you have the entertainer show up.

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Monday, January 3, 2011

Neither rain or snow keeps the entertainment away

On Sunday December 26 I received a call from a potential customer who was looking for a clown to entertain at a children's party in lower Manhattan because her entertainment had just cancelled.  There was a blizzard outside  Reluctantly, I agreed to do the party. I decide to leave my rabbit at home just in case I got stuck and had to take public transportation.

Driving there was tricky enough. It was hard to see,  and the snow was piling up. However, there was less traffic then usual due to the harsh weather conditions. I got there in an hour and did the party. The customer was grateful and happy to see me there.

Driving home was the hard party. The snow was coming down harder and piling up. I drove from lower Manhattan to the Williamsburg Bridge to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. The BQE became more and more slippery as I continued driving. Something told me to get off at Queens Boulevard instead of taking the BQE to the Grand Central Parkway so I did. When I was not even a mile along on Queens Boulevard the battery light and brake light lit up my dashboard. I decided it would be smart to pull over so I pulled onto the side streets of Queens Boulevard and parked. My blinkers were no longer working at this point.

From there I walked about 4 long blocks to the subway. My head was covered in ice by the time I made it to the subway. Once I got out of the subway I could only hope the buses were still running. There was a bit of a wait and a long line of people but luckily the bus did appear. A woman let me stay with her under her umbrella as we waited for the bus.

The bus took a long time because there were a lot of stuck cars along the way. I was glad that I had parked my car because otherwise my car might have been one of those cars stuck on the streets as the blizzard continued to pile snow on the streets of the city. When I got off the bus the harsh winds and ice made it feel like I was being attacked by sharp needles on the way home.