I Want You to have a great summer.

Ah the wonderful days of Summer are upon us.  Such a great time for cookouts, camping, or just vegging out in front of the television.  Your favorite family friendly entertainers from Greenville and beyond are gearing up for lots of Summer activities too.   We will be entertaining as clowns, balloon twisters, magicians, face painters, and costumed characters at hundreds of birthday parties this Summer.  But we will also be entertaining at camps, learning some new skills, and may even take the time to have a few days of vacation here and there.  Here is some of what we are doing this summer.

Balloon Twisting and Balloon Decorating

Summer is a busy time for decorating at weddings and festivals. Joy Set Entertainment has balloon twisting and balloon decorating lined up. We will also be learning some new designs at TJAM on the Road in June. This is a really cool event for balloon artists of all skill levels. The Tie Dye Balloon Guy is heading to the Richmond, VA event to hang out with a lot of other balloon artists. There is going to be a lot of talent in that room. I can’t wait!

July brings Ballooniversity to the Atlanta, GA area. Many masters of balloon decoration are going to be sharing some of their secrets. There is even a competition for balloon twisters. Yeah!

This Summer you can spot the Tie Dye Balloon Guy doing balloon twisting at restaurants in Greenville and Spartanburg, SC.

Face Painting

There are also going to be some great training opportunities for face painting as well. Paula will be taking some time to get to Atlanta for some additional training and new techniques.

Naturally we will still be doing lots of face painting at birthday parties and festivals all summer long.

Summer Camps

Of course when the artists and performers at Joy Set Entertainment are not learning new techniques, we are teaching them to others or just sharing our talent. We have already done four summer camps so far and have an additional four slated for later on. At the end of July, we will be teaching for one week in Ashville, NC.

VBS or Vacation Bible School

Camps aren’t the only place where you might see Joy Set Entertainment this summer. We also will be doing many VBS programs. Whether it is a kickoff event, or a closing celebration, or one of our weeklong kids krusades Joy Set Entertainment can be an integral part of a VBS program.

To learn more about our Summer programs check out our special link here.

• Let me be a clown: This one is literally true.  One of my favorite Halloween costumes ever was the year I dressed up as Bozo the Clown.  But Mom was also always a little extra patient with me and my silliness.  She let me explore my funny side.  And thanks for not believing all those others who just said I was “hyper” or had “ADD.”  Now I get to clown all over SC and be paid for it.
• Encouraged me to be artistic:  My Mom, like other Moms, would always proudly display my artistic creations on the refrigerator.  I will admit that sometimes my art was very primitive.  But she encouraged me, whether I was drawing a life size picture of myself, painting a clay bird, 0r gluing popsicle sticks to make a scale model of the Leaning Tower.  Of course today I get to explore my artistic side by being one of the best balloon twisters in Greenville, SC.   As a balloon artist I am amazed at the level the entire industry has achieved.   And my talented wife (one of the best face painters in Greenville, SC) is trying to get me in touch with my face painting side.
• Taught me that magicians are cool:  At the time it was just a simple magic act.  But my Mom’s response after one of the tricks made a lifelong impression on me.  We were both watching a magician performing on stage, and my Mom simply said “That was cool.”  In that one brief moment, the parent and the child entered the same world of suspended disbelief and we allowed ourselves to simply be entertained.  Thus at the end of that show, two equally important thoughts were going through my head: (1) I want to do that when I am older, and (2) My Mom thinks its cool!   And of course today I have studied and learned many magical effects.  I regularly include some comedy magic in my shows.  So if you are looking for a comedy magician in Greenville, SC give me a call.  And be sure to thank my Mom

Balloons that are used for balloon twisting or balloon decorating come from plants.  More specifically they come from the sap produced by the rubber tree plant.  Balloons are actually biodegradeable and will degrade about as quickly as a leaf from a tree will.  If you have ever seen me twist balloons around Greenville, SC, then you know that I keep all of my scraps in my apron.  Sometimes I will use a small piece of balloon in another larger balloon sculpture or sometimes I will turn them into balloon bracelets.  There are lots of great ways to recycle with balloons!

Also whenever I entertain at birthday parties or particularly school festivals, I try to educate children about balloon safety.  This safety lesson includes always making sure to properly dispose of broken balloon pieces.    I encourage you to do whatever you can to be a good steward of this fantastic planet we live on.  But please don’t be afraid to incorporate a balloon artist into your entertainment needs.

 The paint: When I first started painting faces, I made the mistake of not using face friendly paints. I have since corrected that error. Joy Set Entertainment uses only paints that are FDA approved for faces. The paints we choose go on smoothly and dry quickly on faces. They have creams and antibacterial ingredients built right into the paints. The paints also come off easily with soap and water.  Please!  Do not make a potentially serious mistake of using paints that are designed for metal or wood on human skin.

 The skill: Although natural talent is a help, there are classes available to learn face painting techniques. It was in one of these classes that I learned how to create full-face designs. There is something about a child looking at themselves in the mirror and grinning from ear to ear. They “become” the animal they were painted and start running with the other painted children. 

 Therefore, if you are interested in having professional entertainment at your birthday or corporate event, please hire the balloon artist, but hire the face painter as well.

I wish this were my stretched limo, but it was just a loaner for a party

  One of my kids favorite songs is “How Many Clowns Can You Cram in a Car?”  And I will admit that I kind of like the song as well.  Since I have to drive all over Greenville, SC to entertain at birthday parties or do balloon twisting at restaurants, I spend a lot of time in my car.  If you also add in my trips to Anderson or Spartanburg, SC AND my annual trip to Cincinnati, OH for a balloon convention I spend a whole lot of time in my car.  Many people have vehicles that are reflections of their personalities.  And I guess that being an entertainer in the Upstate of SC I would have to have lots of personality.  I do comedy magic, I am a balloon twister, I even perform occassionally as a clown.  Here are some things that you will likely find in my car. 

• Balloons – I generally have a few bags of balloons somewhere.  You never know when you might be called to do a balloon delivery, or just get a chance to brighten someone’s day with a twisted creation.
• Markers - While I can make some pretty incredible balloon sculptures, markers can help add the finishing touches.
• Magic Tricks - Whether I am a birthday entertainer, or a corporate entertainer, I usually like to add some comedy magic to the show.  Some of the tricks even involve balloons which is an added bonus for me!
• Face Paints – my wife is the real talent here, but I am learning more to be a better face painter
• CDs – Since I might be driving for an hour or more, why not make my time a little more useful.  I like to listen to audio books on marketing, goal setting, and even jokes on compact disc.
• Gum – I have lost 24 pounds, but when I am in the car snacks can be a real temptation.   I don’t have any teachers around, so I can chew – chew away on some sugar free gum.
• Clown nose – I keep my red clown nose in my glove compartment.  Sometimes even when I am not entertaining as a clown, I will put my clown nose on and drive around just to give other drivers a relaxing laugh.

     My car is actually like a mobile office for my entertainment business.  So look for my little white Taurus with the “Tie Dye Balloon Guy” on the front license plate.  And if I am wearing my clown nose make sure you smile extra big.

I can’t remember whether we call this economic downturn a recession, depression, or hiccup. But everywhere from Greenville, SC to Thousand Oaks, CA, people are feeling the effects of less money. Or are they? In the same week I read about jobless rates over 14% in parts of the country, I also read that Avatar has taken in 1.85 BILLION dollars. Even in a slow economy, people want quality entertainment, kids are still going to have a birthday party EVERY year, and sometimes a little family friendly fun is a worthwhile investment since it can lift spirits.  It is no wonder that the entertainment industry as a whole thrived during the Great Depression.

Here are some tips from a professional entertainer on saving some money while still allowing for some great entertainment.

BUDGET :  Guess what?  Christmas comes around the same time every year.  Unlike Easter, which has a sneaky way of changing on the calendar every year, Christmas is always December 25.  Likewise birthday parties are an annual event.   When you have a need arise for entertainment, you generally have lots of advance notice.    So be smart and budget your time as well as money.  Check out my Squidoo article on themes for birthday parties for more of my thoughts on the subject.

It is not uncommon for birthday parties to cost several hundred dollars.  By planning ahead and setting aside just a few dollars a week, you can have that much more for your party.  Joy Set Entertainment can take a deposit either online or by phone for any of our events, which will make your budgeting that much easier.

COUPONS are more popular than ever.  Today you can use coupons to save on movies, vacations, and popular restaurants.  Clowns, face painters, balloon artists, and magicians also offer coupons from time to time.  Look in the phone book,  local parent guides, or on the internet to see if any performers in your area have money saving coupons.  And yes, Joy Set Entertainment does have a few coupons out there, you just have to know where to look.

SPECIAL OFFERS are out there as well, and like coupons they help generate additional awareness and business for the company and help you save money.  Don’t be afraid to ask the entertainment company if they have any special offers.  Did you know that Joy Set Entertainment has a special offer for discounts on additional entertainers at the same event?  So if you are looking to hire a magician, a face painter, a clown, and a balloon artist, you could save lots of money by getting them all from one location.   Here are some other discounts offered by Joy Set Entertainment:

• Nonprofits can secure most services offered by Joy Set at a great discounted rate.
• If you hire us more than once in the same year you can save some money.  Lots of corporate event planners have taken advantage of this.
• Discounts on birthday parties done Monday – Thursday. 
• When you make a deposit for your event, Joy Set will subtract ten dollars from the balance due.
• Joy Set offers party planning services including balloon decor.  Joy Set waives the set up fee when we are hired to do decor and entertain at a party.

     Hopefully this short blog has given you some ideas for saving money on entertainment and entertainers.  Feel free to share your own ideas by commenting in the section below.

Joy Set entertainers and artists improved their skills in 2009.  The Tie Dye Balloon Guy continued to learn new balloons.    He concentrated more on balloon decor.  Joy Set Entertainment looks forward to seeing more fusion of balloon twisting and balloon decorating.  Our face painter, Paula, went to a face painting seminar in November.  With some of the techniques she learned, she is already been requested for repeat business by amazed customers.  We have begun to network with quality entertainers to be able to recommend the best.  If you are a family friendly entertainer in Anderson, Spartanburg, Greenville, Greer, or other upstate SC please contact us. 

Our goals for 2010 are to become the trusted source for  entertainment in Greenville, SC and the rest of the Upstate of SC.  Whether it is a balloon twister, or a birthday party entertainer, or a balloon twister, or a magician for a corporate picnic, come to Joy Set Entertainment.  Happy New Year!

What would you get him for Christmas?

There can be unique problems with being an entertainer in Greenville, SC.    What kind of Christmas present do you get for a clown?  What would be an appropriate present for our Greenville face painter?  Then there are all the other entertainers that we offer, such as the Tie Dye Balloon Guy, comedy magicians, and more.

Gift certificates are a popular option, but to me they are not personal enough.  So I have decided to turn this into a contest.  I want you to tell me what would be a good Christmas present for one or more of the following:

• Face painting by Paula:  a face painter that can be seen at grand openings, school festivals, and church events
• INRI: a hobo clown in the upstate of South Carolina (primarily Greenville, SC)
• B. Glad: an Auguste clown that does lots of birthday parties in Simpsonville, Mauldin, Easley, and Anderson, SC
• The Tie Dye Balloon Guy:  works all over Greenville at restaurants, birthday parties, corporate events, schools, and libraries

Use the comments section to give me your suggestions.  Your suggestion can be real or humorous.  I will chose one winner that will receive their choice of a balloon twisting kit (featuring the Tie Dye Balloon Guy) or $50.00 off any party package.  The winner will be announced on Christmas Adam (December 23rd … Adam came before Eve)

Happy Thanksgiving

May this be a true day of gratitude for all the blessings of family and friends.

The local marketing firm who hired us to do the job gave us free passes for the same sneak preview we were helping to promote (by tying 200 three foot balloons to the top of the theater), so my family and I decided to go.  After all, the movie was about balloons to some extent, so I almost felt it would have been blasphemous to pass it up! As other movie goers arrived that evening, many of them noted the balloons (well really, how could you miss them?) But in most cases, the kids looked up and pointed while the Moms and Dads hurredly tried to scoop them up and get them inside to get seated. Sure, people saw the balloons, but at that point they merely served as a marker more than anything else.

Before the movie began, I honestly kind of separated myself so to speak from the world of latex. I knew the balloons were going to be used to float the main character Carl’s house, but I figured that wasgoing to be the extent of the balloons’ involvement in the story (much like the Koons sculpture in “Night at the Museum II” ; it was just kind of there in the film without any other purpose than comedic effect).

I’ve never been more wrong.

The balloons in “Up” weren’t just a punchline or a spectacle. The artists at Pixar (and I mean “artists” in the truest sense of the word) showed people that they could be so much more.  Balloons were used to represent Carl’s dreams. Whether it was the\solitary floater Carl pretended was a zepplin when he was a child or the hopes he and his wife Ellie shared for their future together, balloons were always there.

They symbolized freedom too. When the world around him seemed to be crushing his spirit, balloons gave Carl the ability to escape it. But it was more than that; balloons allowed Carl to maintain a level of control in his life as well, something that few elderly people areable to maintain as they age.

And finally and possibly most importantly, balloons were commitment.  Touching moments in the film between Carl and Ellie were accented by single helium balloons passed between them. Carl helped build their lives together by selling balloons in the park. And finally, the 10,000 or so rounds attached to the roof of Carl’s home were the means to an end of fulfilling a lifelong promise to his beloved bride, and one not only of reaching a destination, but never forgetting that adventures never truly end but simply start anew.

It’s easy sometimes for us as balloon professionals to lose sight of things. For the past 30 days, balloons have honestly only meant one thing to me….work! I have found myself so busy working longer and longer days and getting less and less sleep that they had become a chore. The only meaning to me as of late was that balloons were my job, and while yes there were moments when I could be creative and design new things, it was still at someone else’s beck and call.   I was still under the gun, I was still not getting much sleep, and Iwas still missing out on important moments in my family’s lives. Yes,all of this amounts to a nice payday when it’s all over, but still. They had become less and less fun for me.

But Disney did something in one night that we in this industry have not been able to do as a whole for…well, possibly ever. They showed 300 or so people in the course of 100 minutes that balloons are far more than just rubber bubbles tied to ribbon. They CAN be so very much more.

Aside from the balloon element to the film, it was just a fantastic movie. Visually, the effects were astounding. I was floored at just how lifelike they were able to make these animated balloons look. But aside from that, from the littlest details to the broadest imagery the look of the film absolutely left me in awe. The funny parts weren’t just funny; they were hysterical. And at the same time there were such touching moments in the film that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. And the final moments of the film…well, if you don’t at least get choked up, I’d have to wonder if you even have a heart.

But here’s what I was getting at before. As people left the theater, the balloons were still on the roof. The marketing firm had hired another company to highlight the cluster with a spotlight, and even though it wasn’t really dark yet, it drew people’s attention back to the roof and the balloons.

But this time, their reaction was VERY different. These balloons weren’t just a marker any more. People stood there in the parking lot just gazing up at them, the same people who were rushing in to get inside before were now just standing there watching a bunch of balloons float around. Many of them were snapping pictures with their phones, and even a few folks started tearing up at the sight of them. Suddenly these grown ups were staring in amazement like little kids! And at what? Just a big bunch of balloons.

It was at that very moment that I realized what had truly happened. These people bonded so much with the film and the plight of Carl that now balloons meant something totally different to them as well. Even if it was for only a moment, each one of those people now saw balloons in a completely different light. Sure, maybe some of them were just admiring the spectacle of the mass, but the end result was the same. Balloons MEANT something to them now.

And THAT is what we must do if we ever expect to truly change our image as a whole in the event world. Sure, we always hear how balloons represent emotion and fun and festivity, but over time it can dull us as it’s told to us over and over and over again. We all need to look deep inside ourselves, rediscover that passion if it’s not bubbling on the surface and find a way to convey that kind of energy and symbolism to the world. And if you need help doing that, you MUST go see this film.

Thank you, Pixar. When the balloon industry needed a “stimulus package”, it got more than it ever could have asked for in “Up”. And while it will certainly serve as a financial boost for us, I for one feel the emotional one I found from this film was worth so much more.\ And with that being said, I am honored to have played even a smallpart in the giant wheel of this movie. I truly am.

Steven Jones
AerationDecorations.com
AeraDecoVideo.com
FLOATtheconvention.com