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Recently I was asked to entertain some children, ages two through four, at the Mother's Day Out department at my church. They mostly wanted some fun balloon entertainment. So that is why I put together this fun balloon routine. I remembered a balloon book by Tom Myers called The Giant Tazmanian Maneating Devil and I remember seeing Pat and Pas from France some years ago perform a stage routine that had a similar large bird. I've taken inspiration from them and added some unique twists of my own for this comedy balloon routine.
I place all my prepared balloons in a free-standing laundry bag and I'm ready for my show.
Next I twist together two of the ends 4" from their ends and the other two ends the same way. I hold it up to my face and say, "Look, sunglasses!"
Then I gather all four of the 4" ends together and twist-connect them. (It will be a rocket shape.) I place it on my head and say, "Now it's a hat. No, that's not special enough."
Then I add the black round balloon (the secret egg) inside of the rocket shape by wrapping the nozzle to the bottom. I wedge a penny in between each of the four 4" bubbles to give it weight. Then I tell the audience, "Look, a rocket!" I toss the rocket almost straight up into the air and it should land on its feet (the four bubbles). (This may take a little practice.) Then say, "Look, the rocket made a lunar landing!"
I Then take the third #350 and tie the nozzle and nipple end together. I ask the audience, "What letter is this?" They will say it is the letter "O". I twist it in half and ask, "What number is this?" The audience will say "8". I place the figure 8 (the wings) into the center of the rocket shape and tell the audience, "Look, an airplane!"
I take the black #350 with the 4" nipple end and twist off a 6" bubble and twist-connect it to the top of the rocket. Now I tie the nozzle to the middle of the wings (the figure 8). I curve the nipple end of the #350 and wedge it into the rocket shape to look like a swan. Then say, "Wow! A swan." "Wouldn't it be great if it did something special?" Then I reach in and pinch and burst the black round balloon thus releasing the white balloon (the egg). "Look, it laid an egg!" (If you want, you can say a few comical lines like, "Well I'll swan" or "I guess the yokes on me.") By the way, the reason I use black balloons is so when the white egg appears, it will be such a contrast that it will boggle their minds.
To make the beak I take the yellow #350 and twist off a 2" bubble and two soft 10" bubbles. (I squeeze the balloon before twisting off each bubbles so they will be soft enough to twist.) I fold-twist the two 10" bubbles (the cheeks). Then I twist off a 8" bubble and a 6" bubble. I then tie the nipple end to the 2" bubble. This makes the beak and I arrange the bubbles as shown below.
Next I straighten the swan's neck slightly and twist off a 4" bubble on the nipple end. The 4" bubble will be the top of the big bird's head. Next I twist-connect the beak at that twist. I inflate a white 6" heart to about 4" and twist in half to make two bubbles for the eyes. I twist-connect the center of the eyes to the 4" black bubble. Then I use a marker to draw on the eyes.
I Then take the fourth black #350 balloon and tie the ends together to make a loop. Then I twist off a 12" bubble and fold-twist it. This will be the bird's foot. I take one of the fully inflated black #350 balloons (leg) and twist off a 2" bubble on the nozzle end. I twist-connect it to the center of the foot. I use the fifth black #350 and the last fully inflated #350 to make another leg/foot in the same way.
I poke the nipple end of the big bird's legs into the wings (the figure 8) to complete the big bird. By manipulating the ends of the legs, I can make the bird walk across the stage. For a whimsical effect, I sometimes rotate his feet so that his toes point outward. I can also make the big bird squat by bowing his legs outward.
