Hiya guys. Been working on a script for a balloon/puppet show for birthday parties starting my friend Bopper the Greater North American Sock Monster. Bopper helps with the younger kids who have trouble chosing what balloon animals I should make for them in exchange for socks (I keep a couple of baby socks in my pocket to feed him). Bopper generally has trouble with helping, making more work, ruining balloons, being grumpy because kids laugh at him and he's a monster. Bopper doesn't talk but grumbles and growls and that's it. Anyway, any ideas or others who use balloons and puppets?

-T

I've never worked with puppets and balloons but as I was reading your post I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if the puppet could blow up the balloons?".  I've seen this done with marionettes where a tube runs up to the controller then the puppeteer blows into that tube to blow up the balloon in the puppet mouth. That really wouldn't work for you since I think you perform him in the open and not behind a stage but I wonder if you could some how have a small pressurized canister of air inside of him that you could trigger somehow and that had a tube that ran to his mouth.  I know they sell air in a can for cleaning away dust in computers and electronics but not sure if that could be rigged for this or not. Since you are a balloon artist you may know of something out there that would work so thought I would throw the idea out.

I could make a small slit inside the mouth then I could use a small inflater (it's roughly half the size of a baseball and air can go in one side and out the other but it's a one way cycle so the air can't escape back out. I have and make like the puppet is breathing in deep so it reinflates and then shut the mouth and squeeze the inflater to make the air go into the balloon that way...I think it can be done.

You'll have to take pictures of the set up for us. Would love to see it.

I'd like to see it too! I would love to be able to have my puppets blow up a balloon!

I've read about this in a book (it might be a bit spooky for little kids- but then again maybe not...): there is a puppet playing trumpet and he is really into it. His cheeks are made from a balloon and they become bigger an bigger- 'till the balloon bursts. Talk about blowoff...