JOY SET ENTERTAINMENT

This Greenville balloon twister has been busy this past week at a balloon decoration convention in Cincinatti, Ohio called FLOAT.  The organizer of that event, Steve Jones has graciously allowed me to post his review of Pixar’s UP as a guest blog.   This movie releases on DVD November 10th.

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. Read more »

This post is coming from the Tie Dye Balloon Guy’s wife and co owner of  Joy Set Entertainment.

First, I am naturally an introvert.   If the Tie Dye Guy is around, I am quite content to stay in the shadows. It is very easy for me to make sure the props are taken care of and everything is set up behind the scenes and not even speak a word to the group in front of me. But that is not always the case. There are times when I also enjoy being the center of attention. This usually happens when I am dressed as a clown and Carl is the “straight man”. During those times is when the audience cannot believe that I would rather not be seen at all.

Secondly, I have worked in a child care center for over twelve years. In my time there, I learned to approach younger children very cautiously. I had a student one year, at the age of three, who did not like clowns, puppets, or characters of any kind. One afternoon, I had to prepare for a job, and it would be easier if I put on my makeup in the classroom. I put her in charge and asked her through each step if I should continue or stop. Her mother was amazed when she picked up her daughter that day and discovered there was a clown in the room and the little girl was not afraid.

I also thrive on the people who tell me they are afraid of clowns at the beginning of an event, but then they change their minds about halfway through saying, “You’re not a scary clown.” So I may not be the loudest, craziest clown you encounter, but I do enjoy entertaining in my own quiet manner.   I may be the perfect entertainer for a birthday party or school event with young children.

 I recently had a mom at one of the restaurants where I do balloon twisting tell me, “You are all over the place.”

“Thank you,” I said.  But I wasn’t sure exactly what she meant.

“I mean, you are all over the internet.” the mom explained. “I was doing a search for Greenville birthday entertainer, and you were the first listing. And you also showed up for balloon twister, clown, and a lot of others”

“Oh, yeah.” I said. “I have been doing a lot of work on my site to make sure people can find me. So if you look for Greenville balloon twister, Greenville balloon guy, Greenville face painter, or almost any family friendly entertainer option in Greenville, I am there.” Of course I had a lot of help from Michael Clay and his Marketing Master Group.  Mike offers an informative 10 week bootcamp via the internet to teach companies exactly how to get their message out effectively through the internet and other creative means. 

Really, I am not all over the place.  I am all over Greenville, SC and the surrounding areas.  I live in the county of Greenville.   This is an important fact.  Right now, if you look up “balloon twister Greenville” in a search engine, some of the companies that come up are actually only web listings for balloon artists that are two hours or more from Greenville.   And some of these same companies may advertise that they offer “Spartanburg clowns” without having a clown within 300 miles of Spartanburg.  I live less than 20 minutes from Spartanburg and Anderson.

The bottom line is that if you are in the Upstate of SC, Joy Set Entertainment wants to earn your trust as the best entertainment company in Greenville, Anderson, Spartanburg, and beyond.  We are all over the … upstate of SC!  ;-)

This month Joy Set Entertainment celebrates its 15 anniversary of being in business.   Close estimates are that since we have started, Joy Set Entertainment has done 1500 birthday parties, 1200  balloon nites at restaurants,  408 corporate events, 792 ministry events, 108 library shows, 19 camps, and 98 miscellaneous. 

Joy Set has done events all over SC.  Most of our events are in Greenville and the smaller cities in the Upstate of SC such as Mauldin, Fountain Inn, Simpsonville, Greer, and Easley.  But we still manage to get into Spartanburg, Anderson, and Laurens.    We have even been hired for events in Myrtle Beach, Columbia, and Charleston. 

Of course we have made it out of our home state as well.  We have done events in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Nebraska, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, and Missouri.

Playing the fool at Balloon Town USA

Somehow I always get to play the fool.  In 2005 I was hired by the Greenville Library to play a court jester for a medieval theme.   In 2006 I donned the fools garb for whole week at a church in Greenville.  And then in 2007 I played a jester at an event called Balloon Town USA.  Under the direction of Steve Jones of Aeration Decorations,   a team of balloon twisters and balloon decorators from all over the world collaborated on the worlds largest balloon sculpture, which was the town of Balloon A Lot.

Historically the jester / clown / fool has always had a significant role in history in many different cultures. The medieval jester was thought to be a special case that God had cursed or blessed with a childlike madness. Many jesters were actually quite skilled in music, juggling, singing, telling riddles, or other talents.  Their primary role of course was to entertain the king and his court. However the jester could often make comments to the king and other important officials that most certainly would have endangered others. After all, who would be mad at the sayings of a “fool.” The jester used humor to remind others of their own foibles. Read more »