Building Your Balloon Show
Sit down, shut up and learn something!
by Smarty Pants
THE OPENER
The true secret to building a quality stage show - balloons or otherwise - is practice. There's no special shortcut or mysterious code to developing a professional balloon show other than to do it, again and again, in front of real live audiences.
That said, my favorite season is summer reading season, where Miss Dena and I present the Big Balloon Show in libraries nearly every single day in June and July. You'd be amazed how fast a brand new balloon show shapes up when you're performing it daily, start to finish, before live audiences of kids and their parents.
Practicing your show to improve is the hard part. The easy part? Sit back and watch someone else do all the hard work - at your own local library.
During the summer months (and plenty of times during the rest of the year!), public libraries host live performances of every type - magicians, puppet shows, storytellers, clowns, and improv troupes. Put yourself in the seat of an audience member, and see how other performers do their own shows. What did they do right? What could they have improved? What can I learn from this performer to apply to my own efforts?
I've seen a half dozen shows this past summer and been fortunate to see a lot of top professionals do what they do best. Here's a few "Do's and Don't" I jotted down along the way:
DO-s & DON'Ts
- DO clearly set your stage area. Presenting a show anywhere - even a birthday party - requires you to set down show boundaries. A backdrop behind you, plus a clearly marked line to set your stage area establishes your show and focuses the audience on what you're doing.
- DO be well organized with your props. It's very obvious to an audience the difference between a performer who knows exactly where his props are, and the disorganized performer who doesn't.
- DO introduce yourself and DO have something on stage with your name on it. Another no-brainer. When you come out to present your show, introduce yourself! Let the audience know who you are! Most studies show people remember the visual better than audio, so have your name in print visible somewhere on your stage.
- DON'T bring volunteers up on stage too early in your show. In the beginning of your show, your audience is still deciding in their mind, "Do I like this guy? Is he worth my attention?" They don't trust you yet. Win your audience over on your own first - then bring in another participants into your show as a volunteers.
- DO use music as much as possible. There's nothing in your show that cannot be improved with the simple addition of music. Set your show atmosphere with music as your audience is arriving. Close your show with music that signals your show's end. Choose music that you enjoy for your show - except Journey. There is no reason Journey should ever be played in any show.
- DO keep the show moving. A routine that drags too long (longer than five minutes) loses the audience's attention and it can be impossible to win it back. DO watch how long your "bits of funny business" go on. Snapping yourself with a balloon is funny. Snapping yourself with a balloon three times, also funny. By the ninth time, not so funny.
- DON'T let your show go on too long. There's a reason why professionals always "leave 'em wanting more." Keep in mind the average television show is now only 30 minutes - subtract commercials and that's only about 22 minutes of show material. Don't be tempted to add in too many routines, or even worse, keep going with your show once you've hit your show's expected finale.
- DO ride through your mistakes. No performer is perfect. Everyone messes up. Seeing how other performers handles mistakes, malfunctions and the completely random moments of their show will give you guidance when your own show goes kerflooey...
Good luck with your efforts - next time we'll talk more about using BIG balloons in the show for Maximum Impact!
About Smarty Pants
For over a decade Smarty Pants and Miss Dena have been performing their unique Big Balloon Show in schools, libraries and even on Chicago's WGN morning news. Become a "fan" of Smarty Pants on his official Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/SmartyPantsFan
