The world of balloon entertainment, by Dale Obrochta
Cute Little Teddy Bear Every balloon entertainer has experience making a teddy bear, and I have done thousands of them over my career. After a time, I can craft a teddy bear so that all dimensions are perfect in size and the details are a speck on. The world’s smallest balloon teddy bear came about … Read more
I like to arrive early for a birthday party and as I was sitting in my car outside the house. I could not help notice a big forest green truck drive past. In the back cab window, on the right side, was a sticker saying, “Bad Ass!” and on the left side was an … Read more
The obvious solution sits on your head. When you work in a creative industry, there are always going to be ideas that spread through the community. Entertainers introduce new ideas, tools, or techniques into their repertoire. Will these things make it into their everyday entertainment style? Who knows? However, one idea that has been going … Read more
Whoa, take ‘er easy there, Pilgrim Like the Pilgrims, the first balloon entertainers were breaking new ground. With limited resources, they had to use what was available to them and develop skills and techniques to ensure their survival. The Pilgrims had the new America, which gave them the freedom to express themselves. Like the development … Read more
The Days is long, but we want to do it everyday While most people enjoyed the extra hour of sleep; I was getting up 1 hour earlier than normal, so for me it was a normal day. I scurried off to the Willis Tower to entertain at the Chicago’s Millennium Club for an 8:30 am … Read more
Who says a rubber chicken can’t be funny The fun part of being a balloon entertainer is taking the ordinary and putting a twist on it. For example, the chicken sandwich is not only comedic but cute. I’ve found that my audience likes to see artistry mixed with a touch of offbeat humor. I’m pretty … Read more
If the client wants Sonic the Hedgehog, then you have to develop a design for it. I’m not into gaming, and when a client asks for a particular game character I have to do an Internet search on the character. I’ve seen Sonic the Hedgehog, but never played the game or made the character. So, … Read more
Mom, Dad made Pooh Well, if your a balloon artists you know that Winnie the Pooh has a new movie coming out this week and that means the requests will be coming for Pooh characters. The beloved Pooh is worshiped by many adults and I find it is mostly requested for babies. For years, Pooh … Read more
I was looking at Jami Krause’s FB page (an avid bike rider and balloon artist), and she made a cute little bike out of balloons. This instantly brought me back to my childhood and my Schwinn bike. The fun I had on that bike. It was the first bike I learn to ride, jump, and … Read more
Bring Mario to a Birthday Party This past month, I had a request from a client to bring a Super Mario Brothers character, Mario, to a birthday party. I typically don’t do this because of the logistics of performing several birthday parties shows a weekend and worry about breaking or deflating before it gets to the client. However, this was … Read more