Welcome Guest or Irritating Intruder?

By Mark Nilsen

One aspect of restaurant entertaining that we can't overlook is that every diner may not be aware that we are a feature of the restaurant. We are sometimes an unexpected part of the guests' dining experience. With time, we will certainly develop a following among restaurant patrons. However, for many guests on any given night, we are nothing more than a surprise.

We must make it our job to be a pleasant surprise.

As hard as it may be to believe, there will be some people who do not want to participate in our entertainment. Maybe they have an aversion to balloons. Some people may have latex allergies. Others just can't stand that "fingernails on the blackboard screetching" produced by balloon twisting. And some people may be engaged in a business or personal conversation.

But all of these people are guests of the restaurant, and they all deserve to have an enjoyable experience. In many cases, that might mean an evening free of the balloon twister.

It may seem obvious to us that we would not force ourselves on a group who declines our offer to twist for them (and I hope you ARE offering ... simply going to work without permission, despite what you may think, is rude and intrusive.) However, we must also be acutely aware of the guests around us. They, too, are affected by the commotion that may result from our working for an ajoining table.

Sending balloons sailing through the air may delight children, but can be a distracting annoyance to others. And while we may not be able to entirely eliminate squeeking, we can keep it to a minimum ... for example, we should not run our hands down the balloons to create a screetch on purpose! Just as some people are opposed to dining while cigarette smoke lingers in the air, the atmosphere created by an in-store entertainer can be equally annoying if it's handled improperly.

I perform both magic and balloons when I work, and the magic is far easier to keep restricted to the group for whom you are performing. Balloons are loud and large. They pop. And, if you're not careful, you can inadvertently infringe on another table's space while twisting a large item. It's possible for errant balloon fragment to land on someone's pasta (I've never had that happen, but I have had one go into someone's water glass!) Be prepared for such situations.

It's easy for us to indignantly proclaim, "Well, if they don't want me around they shouldn't come to this restaurant!" This type of blanket statement is an oversimplified response to a situation that is not that simple. The fact is, they ARE in the restaurant, and we don't want to be responsible for their not returning. We should make it a goal to have diners who want our entertaining to comfortably coexist with diners who'd rather not be exposed to us.

Remember our job is to help make the dining experience pleasant and unique. In some cases, this means zany antics. Still, respect is the key word. It's not difficult for us to do if we simply remember about ALL the guests.

On an unrelated note, Laura "Daisy" Dakin recently revealed her method of numbering business cards and using them as a crowd control measure (the next number is the next to get a balloon). I hope nobody overlooked this idea because it's BRILLIANT! For years magicians have been developing ways of working their BC's into the show; any time we can make our business card more than "just a card" they have a better chance of being retained and we have a better chance of being remembered.