pic of Nancy Dalton w a balloon lephrecaun

Sheree is excited to announce that the great Nancy Dalton will be joining us on March 20th for a balloon jam in Baldwin, NY.

When: March 20, 2011 from 4:30pm to 7:30pm.

Contact: Sheree Brown-Rosner from The Long Island Twisters at smile@smilephoto.com or 516-523-1295

We had a blast at the February 28th balloon jam!  Bauldy and Jason Secoda taught us some pretty cool balloons at the teach-in, and almost three dozen twisters  came to visit.

Check out the pics and videos from the jam: Read More→

INSIDE:  Jams | Conventions | TV Shows | Law Suits

There is A LOT happening in our little balloon twisting world, so let’s get right into the good stuff:

First, we are setting the dates for this year’s balloon jams and I do not want to conflict with any other events.  Can you PLEASE email me potential conflicts?  I want to know about things like SAM/IBM meetings, Downtown Clown’s schedule, other jams and conventions, and pretty much anything else that you might go to instead of a balloon jam.

The next jam is tentatively scheduled for Monday, February 28th.  Does that conflict with anything in your calendar?

Second, the annual big balloon twisting convention, Twist & Shout, is within driving distance of NYC this year.  This is a big deal, because the convention will not be back on the East Coast for at least three more years, and may never come back to this part of the country.  So please please please come this year.  It’s pretty cheap (~$200) and the best twisters in the world will be there teaching, demoing, competing, and hanging out.  It’s the best way to learn everything there is about balloon twisting super fast.  Pre-register at balloonconvention.com.  I am sure that there will be people driving from NYC.  The convention starts Feb 16th, so register NOW.

Third is the new balloon twisting TV Show!  The Unpoppables will be debuting February 7th on TLC and showcases a team of balloon twisters in LA making awesome balloons for a variety of clients.  This is the kind of publicity that makes everyone want what we do.  Two of the artists on the team are from our area and you’ve met them at our NY Twisters jams! This first season is pretty short, so be sure to watch and support the episodes so the show is renewed.  Watch the tree trailers here:

http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/unpoppables-videos/

The fourth news item is a really odd one.  A little company making balloon doggie bookends is being sued by famous artist Jeff Koons for selling a sculpture with a balloon dog.  Koons makes the famous huge metal balloon sculptures and the smaller collectible plates.  Do you think that Koons “owns” the rights to balloon doggies?  Hilarious ….

Read the Times article about it: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/arts/design/20suit.html

Also, check out the bookends online.  They are adorable.  Our friend Funnybone is selling a pair on ebay.  It’s item #330521087110.

That’s alot for one email.  Please email me your potential conflicts, and I’ll see you at Twist & Shout.

Yours,

-Todd

Hi NY Twisters-

The good folks at Fantasma have welcomed us back for another balloon jam.  Tuesday, July 27th from 5pm to 9pm.

As always, directions and more are online at http://nytwisters.org

See you there,

-Todd

It feels like Spring is here and we are gearing up for a “green” balloon jam.  I don’t mean green because balloons are a natural (and decaying) product, but “green” for St. Patty’s Day!  Come and join us next Monday at Fantasma Magic for our annual St. Patty’s Day balloon jam.  At the end of the jam we will choose the best St. Patty’s Day themed balloon sculpture.  What will it be . . . . . ?

Also, we will now have a one-balloon-bag “cover charge” at Fantasma balloon jams.  I’m embarrassed to say that only two bags of balloons have been bought by us during the last 4 jams there.  If this was a bar/diner/restaurant we would have been kicked out years ago, but Roger and his team believe in our mission.  They are discounting their balloon bags from $10 to $8 for us, and they sell both assortments and solid bags of 260Qs.  Be sure to pick out a bag when you get there and ring it up at the counter.

WHAT: Open balloon jam for all balloon twisters
WHEN: Monday, March 15, 2010 from 5pm to 9pm
WHERE: Fantasma Magic in Manhattan
COST: There is a 1-balloon bag “cover charge” ($8).
RSVP: You do not have to RSVP, but feel free to let Todd know you’re coming.
NOTE: There is a FAQ for newbies if you are totally new to this balloon twisting thing.

You can still support amazing community balloon art every day without leaving your chair by voting for “Elastic Park” at Pepsi’s competition.  Elastic Park is Larry Moss’s huge balloon dinosaur park that requires a team of balloon artists and lots of community volunteers to create.  If enough people vote every day Pepsi will give him $50,000 in seed money to make this happen.  Please go to www.refresheverything.com/ElasticPark and vote.  Twice.

There is big news for our March NY Twisters update.  The annual balloon twisting convention recently ended and our local twisting community was very well-represented.  In fact, two of our artists came home with trophies!  A huge congratulations goes out to John Reid and Sheree Brown-Rosner for their well-deserved awards.  Here are pictures (courtesy of BalloonHQ’s T&S coverage) of their sculptures:

First Place, medium sculpture

Kangaroo by John Reid

Third Place, small sculpture

Eat the Candy Mangi la Caramella, by Sheree Brown-Rosner

To hear more about the convention just talk to any of us Twist & Shout alumni at the next balloon jam, Monday March 15th at 5pm at Fantasma in Manhattan.  I’ll be sending out an official Jam Email in the next few days, but stick it in your calendar now.

Hold on kids, there is a lot happening in our little twisted world.

Our latest balloon jam kicked off the new year with style. We had new twisters, old twisters, and people from out-of-town.  You can see my pics here.  If you took any please send them over and I’ll add them to the collection.  Our next jam is not set yet because we are all gearing up for the Annual Balloon Twisting Convention, but I want to get together in early March.

You might have noticed a few changes in our online presence — we have a new website (nearly finished), a “mobile-friendly” version of the site for people on iphones, and this email is coming from a new mail manager.  A new logo should show up any day now.  Phew!  The site has boxes that will slowly be filled with important resources for you:  Local balloon events, places to buy balloons, links to free instruction, other balloon jams, and more.  I am counting on you to keep me posted on shows, classes and links to share.

Locally, there are TWO FREE SHOWS this month for you.  The first is a the funky original balloon artist that you might remember from The Balloon Experience, Addi Somekh.  Addi is a master of the “Balloon Bass Guitar” and he plays improvisational jazz up and down the West Coast.  He is playing a free show on Sunday, Feb 14th at midnight at Rockwood Music Hall, 184 Allen St, NYC 10002.  Check out the flyer.

The other FREE SHOW is Mistress B’s Latex Lounge on Wednesday, Feb 24th from 10pm to 11pm.  It’s at Vlada, 331 W 51st Street, btwn 8th/9th Aves.  Mistress B has gotten kudos from The Onion, Variety, and the Village Voice.  The show is an interactive balloon musical variety show, and lots of fun.  Note:  you must be 21 or over to attend.

Globally, there is a online movement to get a huge balloon twisting event funding to build “Elastic Park”, a huge balloon dinosaur park.  Please take a few minutes out of your life and help us get $50,000 in funding to build the most amazing balloon dino park in history.  We are now in 14th place, and the top ten places get funded.  You can vote every day.  I do (my baby girl also votes).   Vote here: http://refresheverything.com/elasticpark.

That’s it for now.  I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with new jam dates, web updates, and more.

Gotta go pack for the balloon convention now,

-Todd

Great news!

The owner of Fantasma confirmed our jam on Monday. I am really sorry about the last-minute-notice, but they’ve been having some “personnel turnover” and the person who reserved the room for us is kinda not there anymore . . . but no worries, we’re confirmed!

Here are the details:

WHAT: Free balloon jam
WHEN: Monday, Feb 1st 5pm-9pm
WHERE: Fantasma Magic at 421 7th Avenue (at 33rd street) in Manhattan www.nytwisters.org/fantasma.htm
WHY: To kick off 2010 with a great informal balloon jamSPECIAL GUEST: Tawney Bubbles from Las Vegas, NV

See you on Monday,

-Todd,
aka Twistin’ Todd