Balloon Twisting

From MagicPedia

Balloon Twisting is the shaping of special modeling balloons into almost any given shape, often a balloon animal. People who create balloon animals and other twisted balloon sculptures are called Twisters. Twisters often work as busker, clowns, magicians or restaurant entertainers.

The origins of balloon twisting are unknown. The 1975 book by "Jolly the Clown" Petri credits "Herman Bonnert from Pennsylvania at a magician's convention in 1939" as being the first balloon twister. Val Andrews, in Manual of Balloon Modeling, Vol. 1, An Encyclopedic Series, credits H.J. Bonnert of Scranton, Pennsylvania as being the "daddy of them all."

John Cassidy is one of the premier comedy magician balloon twisters today.

References

• TV's Original Balloonatic by Damon Dwight (1958)
• Fun with Balloons by Roy Van Dyke (Roy Hobbs) (1959)
• Blow by Blow by Jim Sommers (1961)
• Balloonatrix by Damon Dwight (1962)