45 Years of Magic & Balloon Artistry
If you grew up in Austin sometime after 1984, there is a good chance I sculpted a balloon for you. I sweated through Aqua fest. I busked balloons at numerous Pecan Street Festivals, Austin City Limits Festivals, in the food court at Highland Mall, and at Seton neonatal reunions. Every weekend for years I ruled the Zilker Park playscape by Barton Springs, with yellow eyebrows, a rainbow mustache, and red cheeks on a heavy layer of white clown makeup. I’ve won the costume contest at the Capital 10K two times; the first time, I was dressed as a clown with a clown pyramid of three balloon people on my back. The fat balloon lady was on top. In the second costume, I was encased in the trunk of a balloon tree. During the pandemic, I entertained myself and my neighbors with yard art. I sculpted a Longhorn tailgate party, Santa Claus mowing my front yard, Santa Claus riding an actual surfboard suspended from a tree, Obama, flamingos, turkeys, an alien invasion, and a ninja invasion. I have learned from the world’s best balloon artists, attending numerous international balloon conferences, sharing balloon how-to’s and jamming, and occasionally competing with fellow artists from around the world.
I feel pure joy when entertaining in front of a room full of three-, four-, and five-year-olds. Zippy messes up each magic trick, so the kids have to steer him right. “Zippy, use the blue scarf. Use the blue scarf! USE THE BLUE SCARF!” Of course, when I use the blue scarf, the magic trick works. You see, Zippy is a bungling clown. He is never able to perform magic tricks successfully. When the kids share their magic, tricks work and the magic happens. For years, I have been learning to make magic happen with kids. I provided direct care and worked as a trainer/manager/administrator at the Austin State School, 1974-1978. I semi-retired to run Riverside Kiddieland Amusement, weekends only for four years, closed November through February. Zippy was born during the slacker years at Kiddieland. Then I taught children or teenagers at The Autism Center, Girlstown, the Austin State Hospital, and self-contained classrooms for 20-plus years at Martin Junior High, now Martin Middle School, where I was teacher of the year. I retired from teaching in 2006 after 30-plus years of experiences with exceptional people.
I arrived in this Austin live music paradise during the golden days of the Split Rail, the Armadillo, and the Soap Creek Saloon, through Willie’s outlaw years, and now his Luck Reunions. I have attended every day of every ACL festival. I can bring back thousands of live music memories. Daily, I get the best loving hugs from my wife, Karla, and we spend our best days planning and taking trips to foreign lands and beaches. Add in yoga and a daily half-mile swim in Barton Springs, my fountain of youth, and I’m in heaven. Zippy is the icing on my cake. My audience giggles and squeals; they squirm and shake. They hold their hands to their ears in fear of a balloon popping, then belly laugh when the balloon pops and knocks Zippy to the ground.
Growing up, clowns like Red Skelton and Charlie Chaplin were my idols, but white face clowns like Bozo, the Shriner clowns, and Ronald McDonald became the models for Zippy. I assembled a silly costume: huge shoes and a cowboy hat, heavy-duty grease makeup and powder, balloons, magic tricks, and gags galore. Over the years, the image of happy clowns in makeup morphed into scary killer clowns. Then the pandemic came along and did away with Zippy’s makeup—hurrah! Suddenly I was able to stick my face inches away from the birthday kid. I could engage two-year-olds with eye contact, but no fear. Hours and hours spent on my face and outfit were redirected to more complex balloon artistry and magic show performance. Today, Zippy Is Silly, Not Scary. At 73, with 45 years of clowning, I am having more fun than anyone, clowning like my idols, Red Skelton and Charlie Chaplin.