Hi, Is anyone interested in magic, balloon making,clowning,children/family entertainment. Pro or newbie I'm just looking to talk because I have not yet found a good place. Believe it or not I got this site from another magic site..based in england I think "the clog". It was an old post so this site may not be that active anymore.I will keep trying for a while ,lets get this place going again. If you are new I can give some good advice and if you are pro we can talk shop. Someone please by my magic friend.

I'll talk magic! My son was really into magic--sleight of hand, mostly. I wanted to learn how to do balloon magic when I saw how AWESOME of the creations are. There was this site with amazing pics of fancy balloon art (like a full-sized car and political figures). I'd love to make baloon flowers.

One of my cousins in Hawaii performs locally for kids.

Do you do any card or sleight of hand magic? Did you see the Magic Awards Show? Or the Masters of Illusion tv show?

Where do you buy most of your supplies? Online?

I'll tell my son to pop in here.

Hi Lori, I don't know where you are from but I have 2 good suppliers for you. Just google La Rocks magic in north carolina ,this place has been around for yrs. and has real good prices on balloons last time I checked.(they will do mail order) Another supplier is T. Myers though I am not sure what state they shouldn't be hard to find if you google them. The awsome sight was probably a Twist and shout convention again google twist and shout and you should be able to easily find it.I have an idea the kind of balloons you saw and they were probably competition. Some of those take hrs. and are not suitable for a performance situation. The convention is held in different parts of the country and you will be able to track them on this site.(balloon flowers can be done in a performance situation) La rocks and T. myers is probably your best bet for balloons and any clown related materials Face paint,stickers,make up etc.If you want to know if a book or dvd is any good you can ask me if I know of it before you purchase it. I might be able to tell you ..Good one or Bad one. I highly recommend you use Qualatex 260's to start. Bellatex is an off shoot branch and a little cheaper but they are harder and not as subtle as the Qualatex. Also if you punch in C.O.A.I. you would be able to find the nearest clown group to you,I am not a clown but they let me join anyway, these groups meet once a month and it's only like $20.00 for members and $25.00 for first time members. If there is one near you it's worth it ,they like newbies and are more fun to hang out with than Magicians,(I hate to say that because I am a Magician but it's true,A lot of Magicians are egomaniacs.) The experienced clowns hold classes for the new people on balloons ,props , magic,face painting and just about anything clown depending on what the older members know is what they teach. The groups also do a lot of charity for sick kids etc. and have guest speakers,(if you belong to the alley you get in for free) If You find them my alley is 159a. O.K. question 2 Yes I do sleight of hand but card tricks I pick very carefully because that is probably the field with the most literature. It's pretty hard to find a magic book with NO card tricks. Most card tricks I use either a gimmicked deck or some kind of apparatus like rising card chest etc. There are a lot of good tricks out there that you don't have to be the greatest sleight of hand artist to do and they are very powerful. For close up I like to use thimbles,sponge balls,silk stuff,some card stuff,rope etc. and as a magician I think people want to see more unusual stuff than a card trick that uncle joe can show them. This part is going to sound kind of snobby to you but believe me I am not that way. I started as a Musician but once I saw enough I kind of stopped listening to music because I would rather play it,and then just went off on my own and did what I wanted, totally ignoring what was going on in the music world around me. I'm kind of like that with magic now,but I am mad at the masked magician. I was never into the big illusions even as a kid I liked close up,Street,platform and parlor magic. Where do I get supplies? It is getting harder,jacks joke shop closed about 2 yrs. ago and I don't think there is one person in this state that has never been there. The oldest shop in the country! He didn't even bother trying to sell it.(he was a real nice guy too) I don't know if you are in Mass. but there is a place in watertown called The Magic Art Studio. He has a magic auction once a month through most of the year,his store is not that well stocked but the auction is fun if your son goes just tell him to be carful what he buys. Ray,(the owner) is in his 70's now so he probably wont be open that much longer. I think if you tell me where you are geographically I may be able to pin point a shop close to you. I am also a dealer but just have a basement store and mail order I have no website,I have a list of people that e-mail me and ocassionally I e-mail flyers. I don't know if this breaks the rules or not but if we can't get you hooked up with a good magic dealer maybe we could go this route. Even Hank Lees closed his store and now only has his warehouse. People can go still ,but its a warehouse. I don't know how much exp. your son has but if he is fairly new have him ask me if I know If something is good before he buys it because there is more bad magic out there than good. Every magician has boxs full of stuff they never should have bought if this isn't his situation already make sure he contacts me I can stop him from getting things he shouldn't get and save him a lot of $$$$$$$$$. Looking forward to hearing more from you two. Phil

Hi Phil,

Wow, you are a wealth of knowledge! I will check out those sites for sure. I told my son about your posts and he will register here. He's working now.

We're kinda upset at the masked magician, too. What a sell-out. He robs everyone of the joy and awe. Not just magicians but the audience, too.

Like I mentioned, my son likes cards, coins, sleight-of-hand props and such. He really likes working with invisible thread. I like balloon art. But I'm not very clowny...in fact, I have a clown phobia. Before we buy anything, we'll pass it by you. I would like a good how-to balloon art video.

We in Southern California. There is Best Magic in Anaheim. We also go to this warehouse store in Las Vegas. Gosh, I can't remember the name of it. My son would get a lot of his stuff there. We're close to the Magic Castle in LA but of course, you need to be a serious professional to join. And the tickets to watch are pricey!

Right now, I need to run. But I'll check in later tonight or tomorrow! You're getting us interested in magic again! How cool is that?

Lori

HI lori, any videos by royal are good, also there is a guy named stretch out of texas. He also has some good videos, I don't know his site but I did go too one of his lectures here. Google search I would try ballons by stretch maybe first. I don't do thread because it is such a hastle. It always amazes me when I see someone who knows how to work it good. Not until they can make it idiot proof will I try again. I even bought a spider pen, floated a crumpled dollar for 3 seconds then I broke it. I do have 1 spider pen left somewhere and if he wants it he can have it for cost plus shipping, Don't know if the baterries still good but you can get them at the drugstore. I might even have a couple of extra spools here too. I don't stock anything I can't demo and that one fit the mold. But if he knows what it is and has used a friends or something because personally I wouldn't recommend it. Clown phobia thats funny because when a kid asks me if i'm a clown I tell them clowns scare me.(not really) but it is so funny to see the responses I get from them. Personally I prefer books over vids and dvds but after you check these guys out we can talk books,much more knowledge in a good book than a vid/dvd. The twist and shout conventions are usually run by royal so you can probably find a link for him there. Are the dealers nice? They usally are kind of rude until they get to know you. Two of my wholesalers are from California but are not open to the public. Murphys magic is one and they will let you look at their stuff on line but you have to get it through a dealer. Your son would like just flipping through this just to see whats out there. It also I believe gives the suggested retail price if you don't log in as a dealer. Talk to ya later.

I'll ask my son about the pen thing. How much is it with shipping? We live in 92879 zip code.

He likes invisible thread and is pretty good with it but he's a musician and his fingers fly. He plays the wood winds (tenor and soprano sax, bass clarinet, flute, etc.)

I'd search the stretch vids today but I've been up all night. My uncle has cancer and collapsed yesterday. He's ok for now.

If you had to list your top five fav tricks, what would they be? And what balloon animals can you do?

Later!

Nice,Im am a giutar player singer. X-writer and played local live since about 16yrs.old. It is the mesika spider pen and he can have the new one and the one I screwed up (which he could probably fix if he is knowledgable about these things) $30.00 for both. just one of these wholesales for $30.00. I also think I have some extra spools which I payed $6.00 each It might take time for me to find them. Shipping would be like $5 or $6.00 Lori I am constantly searching for my favorite tricks. To me tricks are like songs,what might be right for me may not be for another performers choice. I can't tell you my favorite five But if you pinpoint the type of trick I can help. Like kid show or close up I can give you good suggestions. Does your son do a kid show? Animals, Flower horse pig monkey in tree(with banana kangaroo with baby in pouch cat dog etc. Sometimes you forget about one you know until a kid asks for it. Phil

OHHH!! Where can I learn how to make the monkey in a tree with a banana and the kangaroo with baby in pouch? Doesn't sound like beginner balloon projects though!

I'd like to learn the pig, too!

Hi Lori, Yes I would not recommend these as a first try. The monkey was taught to me by "blossom" the clown/magician.If you get the balloon lingo down maybe I could some day talk you through it. GREAT BALLOONS author JEAN MERLIN Kangaroo PALLONCINI NUOVE SCULTURE author Paolo Michelotto pig Fantastici PALLONCINI author 2 long italian names Both Italian books are very good for fancy stuff transleate into 3 languages but english translation is a little off however you can still figure it out. Both books published by TROLL. I would recommend for a first book, SCULPTURES WITH BALLOONS by VINCENZO DI FATTA This is a very good guide for beginning twisters. There is also another book from Italy that I have not gotten yet but do plan on stocking as soon as there is more cash flow. The first three books pretty much make up most of my collection of sculptures. If you can read italian (no translation in this book)I have 1 copy of this book ? I'll find it if you want it. I would recommend this and the DI FATTA book first. Vincenzo di Fatta also puts out some nice magic tricks .

Are the instructions in the books hard to follow? Are there any videos or DVDs?

What about online (youtube-type) links?

Can you post some pics of your stuff? I'd love that!

The di fatta book is very good nice color pictures a lot of simple sculpters and teaches different types of twists. Qualatex probably has some kind of link to simple balloons. U tube probably does I know I found some nice hand shadow puppets on it. This is going to sound funny but I until just recently have used the computer only for business. No clue how to paste etc. CUMPUTA IGNANT As far as dvd's go the ones by royal are good and stretch but their are a lot that I dont know of. I have very few dvd's myself and don't stock them because as I have said before I think you get much more out of a book. My library is a prized posetion to me. One magician said "If you really want to keep a secret put it in a book" I have found this to be so true. I believe it was Al Cohen who said it. For some reason I have trouble getting on this site sometimes so If you don't hear back the next day that would be why.

Hi,Lori I guess you found what you were looking for on u tube. I punched balloon animals in the search and there are more than enough to start. If you are still confused on some of the twists the difatta book would be a good buy. Have your son contact me,talk to you later Phil.