From balloon-request@cvs.rochester.edu Wed Nov 8 15:52:47 1995 id AA01472; Wed, 8 Nov 95 15:06:17 EST Message-Id: Date: Wed, 8 Nov 95 10:50 PST To: balloon@cvs.rochester.edu From: norm@isc-br.isc-br.com (Norm Carpenter) Subject: The Show Okay, I've been bad about not writing, so here goes. Whoever sent the one balloon turkey. Thanks! Just in time for the holidays. I try out most of the new stuff here on my secretary, you should know that the turkey scored really high on the cute meter. Doing a show - It sounds to me like you are doing the right thing. You are thinking about what you want to do if you do a show. Most performers who are bad have two curses that cause them to fail. One is that they don't think their show through and two is that they don't practice it enough. You need to know the mechanics of your show so well that you can (insert appropriate adverb here: i.e. BS, goof off, joke, kid, have fun, be creative ) and enjoy what you are doing. I just got Norm Barnhart's 3 book set. And to stay on this thread I would really like to suggest the Comedy Magic with Balloons for a good start on show material (IMHO). Norm Barnhart's Books - The three book set 1) Comedy Magic with Balloons, 2) Entertaining with Balloons, and 3) Balloon Biz. I'll give a short review of these. I've listed them in the order which I feel they are worth. Comedy Magic with Balloons has good material for putting together a magic show featuring balloons (this is a novel magic idea and I think would do well in a lot of markets). You can take his ideas and build upon them and adapt them to your own style (or you could use them as they are, however most magicians know that to really perform well, you need to modify a routine to fit your own style). Entertaining with Balloons feature a bunch of nifty little bits that are great for having fun while you are twisting for a crowd. Should be more suited to the balloon busking folks than for the show crowd, but there is some cross over material here. Finally, Balloon Biz, for the business clueless amonst us. This book basically goes through 53 business and events where balloons might be appropriate. Mostly for the clown group, it basically lists places where a) crowds gather or b) someone wants to attract attention. I think most people could figure those places out for themselves. Norm also goes into some detail covering interviews, resumes, promotion material, and business cards. Over all, I thought it was not as good as the first two books. If you are making your living with balloons, it might be a real help to you in terms of selling yourself. Now - what I need: In comedy magic with balloons, Mr. Barnhart has a very good routine for the Needle through Balloon trick. He wants us to use a pre-printed 10" round balloon. I thought the needle trick required 'special' balloons. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks, Norm "I've never been bitten by a balloon animal"