Guys,
I do not want to be rude but I have one question for all of you that claim that people do not care if you blow my mouth or not...
Have you ever talked to the parents about mouth blowing...? Maybe under "civil clothes"
Try to do it...
/Andrea

I do not want to be rude but I have one question for all of you that claim that people do not care if you blow my mouth or not...
Have you ever talked to the parents about mouth blowing...? Maybe under "civil clothes"
Try to do it...

Hi,
Actually I have yes lots of times , they have no problems with it. if fact watch the parents at the party how they blow the ballons up for decoration ..... use a pump I think not
Phillip

Ive been blowing up balloons with my mouth for a couple years already.

at first I was in awe at how some of my seniors could do it so I tried it on my own and eventually got to do it. it has saved my hide a couple of times (broken pump) and has made my balloon routine a lot better. believe it or not, I have gotten applause just by blowing them up with my mouth. it is a talent, and I know some magicians who cant do it, so I am thankful that I can.

I don't know if it was a fluke or I just accidentally mixed a pre inflated and deflated balloon in my pack. but there was this one incident when a child was able to blow up one.

I have a part in my routine where I ask three kids to try and blow up a balloon,(oh no I'm gonna get in trouble for this) and the one who can blow it up will get a rabbit (i just produced a rabbit prior to my balloon bit), so I twisted and turned his balloon to a rabbit of course.

there was period when I felt a sharp pain in my forehead whenever id do it and I'm glad it went away.

maybe the only thing I can say to those who preach too much is don't tell me how to run my life and wont tell you how to run yours. give me advice and ill give you some and maybe ill learn from it too. but don't preach, everybody has saliva? whats wrong with a little spit? LOL!!!

we all have fun doing it and I will continue to do it til my final show. live a little!

alright I'm ready for target practice now, shoot me

I watched John Cassidy at the SAM convention and was stunned at how he could blow so many balloons by mouth. It never occured to me that he might be spitting into the balloons and I'm sure none of the rest of the audience was thinking about that either. We were all in awe of his abilities. I've just ordered a starter kit for learning the art. I have in the past blown up a few 260s by mouth and was light headed after doing it. To those of you who can inflate by pure lung power, I salute you. At my age, I'm using a pump and if somebody says something I'l let them be my pump for the whole act. Bet they won't say anything the next time.

Magicmanila:I agree.Balloons are a necessary addition to the magic I perform in Family Restaurants.You are right many people are amazed by the ease with which I can inflate a 260,because many have tried it themselves.
As crazy as it sounds,I also think inflating balloons by mouth helps prevent wrinkling of the face..it is a type of(isotonic)excercise after all.I am the middle of five middle age siblings and they are quite wrinkled up.They often wonder why I am not..Balloons! I tell 'em. Rich

I don't know about wrinkles, but if you blow them up like John C, puffing out your cheeks while you blow, you only need to look at a picture of Dizzy Gillespie to see the future. . .

I use a pump because the parents look at the balloon as a bag of spit if I don't and I think in California you would have to put lil' stickers declaring it to be bio waste and when they pop a special team would need to do the clean up.
Steve V

It's good to know how to mouth blow, but pumps keep my pectorals toned.

Like Magic George I use the pump most of the time, unless I need to shut someone up.

On hot days the humidity in the mouth-blown balloons will expand and pop some shapes like flowers.

Also it can be difficult to do the tulip twist if there is some humidity in the balloon.

If you use a pump, and feel noone cares if you can blow them up by mouth ... I suggest you blow them up by mouth for a while, and you will discover people like to see someone that can blow them up by mouth. Working the streets, I can build a tip just blowing up balloons by mouth.

I also use a pump, the reason for this is the comedy potential. ie: "I've gotta save some of my breath for that 3rd little piggy, got a lot of huffing and puffing to do if she's gonna let me back in the house. You know what I mean don't ya sir!"

You can pop blood vessles, or you can strain your elbows/back with a pump ... there are health problems either route you go. The only time I make it a point to use a pump if for the little kids that might be inclined to put the balloon in their mouth.

JoeJoe

Inflating the balloons by mouth is probably not the most sanitary way, but its quicker easier and with out doubt gets the most interest from the adults watching, with out fail I have some one come up and tell me how they have tried to blow these balloons up by mouth but ended up passing out or something less dramatic. No member of the public has ever complained about the fact my lips touched the balloon and they are 99% of the time impressed that I didn't fall over of have my eyes pop in the process! Also the fact I do my bloon modlin on stitls means that I can kick 'em really hard if they give any grief!

I have asthma, so blowing up by mouth is not an option for me. It's extremely unprofessional to passout during gig (unless it's part of the act), so I try to avoid it...

I agree with some of the previous posters... blow it up the way you like, or the way it fits into your patter or act.

Blew up lots of balloons by mouth for many many years, about five years ago I switched to an electric pump. (reasoning that if you do a balloon animal etc, hand it to a kid saying don't put this in your mouth, duh, you just had it in your mouth) now I do a routine at the start of my twisting( mentioned in another post) one of the things I do is demonstrate blowing up by mouth , I say if I ask soemone to blow one of these up, they usually can't, but if they can they do this(inflate balloon by mouth about half way) lert the air out while saying, but that is blowing it down, (it is pointing down,0 then I say it takes a world class expert to really blow one up, then I blow it up starting from the bottom up( extremely hard to do and does take a lot of practice) I then say but I am not here to show off I am here to give you all a balloon etc...... switch to pump....

I know some one who was twisting in japan. no oe would take a mouth inflated balloon. this trend is not here in the U.S. YET!
It is important to be able to do it. I can, but I still use a pump.

I blew them up by mouth for 34 years, until I wound up with the following:
- Umbilical hernia, where my innards are trying to push out through my belly button.
- Gas bubbles in my shoulder/chest from tiny leaks from my lungs allowing air to collect, much the way nitrogen collects in a scuba diver's body from the bends.

I also sweat a lot when orally inflating. Now I use the hand pumps and a Pogo-style pump until someone makes a big deal about my not inflaring them by mouth, so I blow one up and make something quick for an adult so a kid doesn't wind up with something I spit all over and filled with bacteria-laden, warm, moist air.