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I seem to end up doing a lot of festivals and community events. Some day I hope to do more shows with more entertaining and less machine twisting, but in the meantime here are some of the techniques I use to liven up line twisting.
One time at a river festival, a psychiatrist was chatting with me. He said "You and I are in the same business - making people feel better. And my rates are lower."
Bearing this in mind, I’m always looking for a place to liven things up. Here are some bits that I've developed (or borrowed). If you see something here that you've been doing for years, let me know, and I'll credit you in a future column.
The first thing I try to do is to not have a line extending back. It is much more effective to have the line in a semicircle in front of me, for a few reasons. I can interact with more people. The children will be less likely to be bored. It also allows parents who are accompanying their children to be closer to me. They get to see that I'm more than a balloon machine, and they also interact. If you're worried about losing order in the line, give out numbered tickets.
Larry Moss has also written about lines.
If a line is not too long, I put on a little show. I'll make animals, and drop little clues about what I'm making. If I'm making a frog (by my choice, not by request), I'll say "Here's a big clue. This animal is green." As I'm adding the eyeballs (which I do before the figure is recognizable) I'll give the second clue. "He has some white on him also." I'll offer more clues until I say "Enough!. No more help. You'll have to figure it out by yourselves." Then, if no one has guessed, I'll mutter "Ribbet" under my breath. When someone finally calls out "A frog!" she has to jump, say ribbet ribbet, then do both at the same time: "Okay, you've shown me you can walk the walk and talk the talk, but can you do both at the same time?" She will. "Very good!. There's one more part to the frog test. You have to stick out your tongue and catch a fly!" Give the frog to the person who guessed it, and (usually) no one even complains "I was first."
Cats have to meow and snarl. Rabbits have to hop and wiggle their noses. This works for inanimate objects too. "Show me what you would do if you were an airplane, or a car, or a rocket ship." On July 4th, make a fireworks hat, and tell a group of kids they have to explode. They will. Ask the kids to act out or pantomime what they want instead of telling you. There is no limit to a child’s imagination.
I'll ask questions to prod them on. Often a very polite crowd of children will not speak up. They'll raise hands. When I see a hand in the air, I say "Yes, you may be excused." When it becomes 'obvious' to me that the child wanted to answer, I say "This isn't school. You can come right out with the answer."
When I make my next animal, let's say a rabbit, I'll say as I'm inflating a brown 260 "Here's an animal that lives right here in (whatever city or town you're in).. Your first clue is..." and often someone will come up with "It's brown." "Excellent," I respond. If there are children who are too young to play the game, I make them balloons and then continue with the game.
Sometimes I ask the children to whisper a suggestion in my ear.
Remember, if you make the child look cute, parents will love you.
Next time, you'll learn the Penguin rule - how to get a group of kids (and usually a few adults too) waddling around like a flock of penguins.
