From: RLBMagic@aol.com
Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2001 11:58:50 EDT
Subject: Sean's  June Ballooning
To: balloon@balloonhq.com

A few comments on your ballooning event:
1) Read the Guide for all sorts of advice. In fact, stop right now and go do 
it, if you haven't already. *Especially read the parts on line control!!!*
2) If you have more elaborate creations displayed that will be auctioned 
later, be sure to have them labeled as such so when the kids inevitably say 
"I want that one!" you can point out the sign (whether or not they can read) 
and appropriately redirect them. The sign makes it "official".
3) Whether or not you need a lot of colors depends on what you're making. I 
make a lot of hats, and don't need specific colors - although I do try to 
quickly match the colors of what they're wearing. A subtle but nice 
enhancement. OTOH, if you're making specific characters you'll need whatever 
you need. I am not of the opinion that kids are disappointed or think 
anything less of you if your selection of colors is limited. You'll need an 
apron or container of some sort, and if you do separate the colors you'll 
need a fancy one. Oh yes- I don't know about England, but here the schools 
have school colors. When I do schools I only use those colors, except those 
rare occasions when I'm not making only hats - but I still emphasize the 
school ones.
Other than specific character making, IMHO the only reason to have lots and 
lots of colors is to entertain myself. 
4) Keep in mind the basic axiom of entertainment - It's *you* they should 
remember. I'm not flaming anyone here (after all, they're making the effort 
to be better!), but I've seen fairly fancy figures made by people who should 
be spending time on developing performance (especially personality 
presentation) skills. (No one here in St. Louis, of course! They're great!)

One of the first decisions I had to make when I sarted doing magic shows was 
how to dress, once I realized that I didn't have to wear a tuxedo to all my 
shows. A wise friend asked me this - do you want them to remember *you* - or 
what you wore? (Obviously clowning makes for more....challenges...)
The same is true for me in ballooning - my focus has always been on 
entertainment. Sure, I can do some fancy balloons, thanks to some great local 
twisters and this site. I have made up more hats than I remember, and for 
mass ballooning that's almost all I do. (Thank you again, T!)  But I think 
back to kids' bright shiny smiling faces I saw from a twister who only did 
one balloon animals, and not a big variety of those, because he was *so good* 
with the kids. Ballooning does involve a product, but still... do you want 
them to say "I got this balloon!" or "A really funny man gave me this 
balloon!"?
How do I know when I'm "on"? When I'm having a ton of fun with the kids. Take 
a breath and step back a moment fairly often, and mentally relax. Play with 
the kids down the line to keep their interest. Read the Guide again.

Have fun!  
Richard Berman is Magic! ("And here's his card Mum! Can he come to my 
birthday"?)