After years of hearing people talk about it, I made it to my first IBAC. Five days of nothing but balloons and chatting with other balloon artists. What more could I have asked for? That is, other than maybe a healthy body to make the event a bit easier to endure. Endure it I did. And it was worth the effort. I'm sure the people I hung out with either wanted to get rid of me or thought I was stupid for not giving up, but I went to Chicago for a reason and I was going to enjoy myself. Thanks to Judy for keeping me alive during the week.
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The easiest way to sum up my first impression would be to paraphrase Royal Sorell.
Q: How many balloon artists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one. But all the others will quickly scream, "I can do that!"
Q: How can you tell that a balloon twister is on level ground?
A: He drools out of both sides of his mouth.
(Sorry Royal. I don't really want to steal your act, but you don't need those two pitiful jokes. I saw you. You have several hours worth of other pitiful jokes.)
That may be a bit extreme, but it does summarize my initial feelings. I walked around getting an idea of just what sorts of things I've never done with balloons. At almost the same time, I was wondering why I haven't. It's not like one kind of balloon art is harder than another. For as many years as I've been twisting, I've never seen such a large group of experienced balloon workers in one place. Sure I've met lots of people in the different cities I've been in, and I've seen the pictures from past conventions, but to see it in person makes a big difference. I happen to think I do cool stuff. (I have to or it would be silly for me to continue.) It was just so different from what I've encountered in the past.
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Don't get me wrong. When I say that I can do all the stuff I saw, I don't mean that I think I'm so special I can just pick it up and be able to do it tomorrow. Just that now that I'm aware of it, there's nothing stopping me from working my ass off to eventually create something as cool as this year's contest winners. That seemed to be the attitude of most people there. Everyone I talked to seemed to be very positive about quickly working on the stuff they were learning, and improving on it in order to go back next year with stuff to teach others.
There is one exception to being able to do what I saw. No matter how much time I put into it, I'm not convinced I can do the stuff Chris Horne does with fantasy flowers. In fact at one point, the hatred toward him eminating from one person after seeing one of his creations, caused that creation to topple. At least, that's the explanation of it falling to the floor that satisfies me. To protect a kindred spirit, I won't mention Patty's name.
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The large sculptures certainly didn't lack imagination either. From a
monstrous hippo with a hoola hoop to the first place sculpture of
Cinderella's carriage by Wynn and Lindy Bell, the grand ballroom was more
than an eyeful. My personal favorite was the children's slide made from
260s. I suppose I'm somewhat biased toward anything containing 260s.
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One of the most shocking things to me is that out of some 900 convention delegates, the 30 balloon twisters really stood out. Who would have expected a group of balloon artists to stand out at a balloon convention? Somehow we did. Around almost every corner you could find a twister either making something for someone or teaching some of their own tricks. This is of course why I went. I only took a couple of classes. For me the best part was just sitting in the lobby exchanging stories and ideas, neither of which seemed like they could ever run out.
That's not to put down the classes that I attended. Marvin Hardy's non-round intensive class was more for the beginner than an advanced twister, but I still enjoyed the opportunity to see him teach. He's well established in the balloon industry for a reason. The years and effort he's put into his craft show. The other class I took is one that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in entertaining with balloons, no matter their skill level. Royal and Patty Sorell taught a fantastic class on busking and entertaining with balloons. I got my start as a street performer and have quite a bit of experience in it now, but I still found their ideas to be different enough from mine that just hearing them was fun. I hope that next year there are more classes for twisters. (For that matter, I hope next year there are more twisters.)
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One other event for twisters was organized by the twisters themselves. I was under the impression early on that Patty was organizing it, but very quickly Adrienne seemed to take charge, at least in organizing the mass exodus from the Hyatt. Whoever it was, thank you. The trip to Ed Debevics on Friday night was great. Thirty or so balloon twisters basically took over the restaurant. To say our presence was known to everyone there was an understatement. Despite having bought food, several of us walked out with more money than we started with. I got tipped for things that I just made to show off to others at the table.
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If you weren't there, you're probably wondering if I have anything negative to say about the whole affair. Well, yes. As conventions go, this is the most expensive one I've ever been too. I went there by car, stayed in a hotel other than the one IBAC was in, and only took two classes, and basically spent as much as I could. I'm used to magic, clowning, and juggling conventions that are in less expensive hotels, or even college campuses. I realize that the IBAC producers don't necessarily want to sleep in dorm rooms, and I can't ask them to change. I just wish a similar event existed for those of us that prefer to make our livings as street performers, making just enough money to get by.
The other negative thing is that it's all over. From the lobby decor to
the new friends, I'll miss it all until I can get there again. I just hope
that time is next year.
