Balloon Fun

Brett Blofield

 

Room full of kids, ages four to seven, all sitting cross legged on the floor. One has a crown that says "Birthday Boy."

A white faced clown with a red afro wig, rainbow colored jump suit, and huge red shoes enters the room, jumping and dancing around, making silly faces that he knows kids will love.

Kids laugh and point at the clown. Some clap, some yell.

Clown reaches the front of the room and stops, putting his hands up to quiet the kids. They look on with wide eyes and open mouths. He reaches into his sleeve and grabs a yellow handkerchief and begins to pull slowly. He looks at the kids while making a funny face as the yellow turns into a green, which turns into blue, which turns into red.

Light laughter with some clapping. Silence from some.

Clown keeps pulling, the handkerchief going longer and longer. He keeps going, not stopping.

More laughter and clapping. Some have amazed looks on their face.

Finally, after a huge pile of colors is on the floor in front of him, the clown pulls the last of the handkerchief out of his arm.

Applause from the kids. Bored looks. Parents enter at the back and begin watching.

Clown reaches down and takes the pile of colors into his arms, struggling to hold it all. The kids are smiling, amused. Clown drops the pile, pretends to wipe the sweat from his brow, and attempts to pick it up again, this time with success. He squats down slowly, then throws the pile up into the air. It changes from handkerchiefs into streamers, flying out over the kids.

Uncontrollable screaming and laughter, kids jumping around trying to grab the flying colors. This goes on for a few minutes as they attempt to grab as many as they can. Parents finally settle them down to keep watching the clown. They all are amazed, looking on to what he will do next.

Clown reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out a baseball sized ball colored bright orange. He reaches in again and pulls out another, this one blue. He reaches into his pocket once more and digs around, seemingly not finding anything. He has a confused look on his face. He points at a boy in the audience.

Kids "Oooh" and "Ahhh" at the child, all looking at him. Boy looks scared, unsure what he has done wrong.

Clown stands him up and smiles at him. The Boy looks scared, is almost trembling. Clown reaches into the Boy’s pants pocket and pulls out a bright pink ball. Clown has a faked look of surprise at the Boy’s "theft."

Laughter and pointing. Boy blushes but smiles and shrugs. He sits back down.

Clown takes the pink ball from Boy. He steps back and readies himself in front of the crowd of children, looking them over. Slowly, he tosses one ball up into the air and catches it with the other hand.

Bored and confused looks.

Clown repeats the action, but faster. Then he adds another ball, tossing and catching faster. Finally, he adds the third and final ball, juggling them with ease.

Light laughter and some clapping.

Clown begins to do tricks with the balls, throwing them behind his back, under his leg, throwing two up at once, then the other, all without missing a beat.

Looks of amazement and smiling. Laughter.

He continues his juggling act, with a few more tricks, each a little more interesting than the next.

Laughter dies down. More bored looks.

Clown stops, looking around the house. He notices some crystal stemware sitting on a shelf. He smiles, runs over, and grabs three. Parents look uneasy, begin to say something. Clown silences them with a raised hand. He smiles.

Parents retreat back, kids all look uneasy, not wanting to get in trouble.

He begins to juggle them slowly, a extremely concentrated look on his face. He picks up the pace, becoming more at ease with each passing toss.

Smiling and laughing, parents faces becoming a little more relaxed.

Quickly, he begins to do tricks with the stemware, becoming more confident every second. He tosses them two at a time, then under his leg, and finally he throws one over his head and reaches between his legs to snatch it as it falls. The stemware slams into the ground, shattering into tiny pieces.

Gasps and frantic looks from the kids. Parents look angry.

Perspiring now, Clown looks down with a look of horror. Frantically, he looks around the house and grabs the child with the "Birthday Boy" hat. Birthday Boy is scared and looks over his shoulder at his parents who look angry. Clown reaches and takes the boy’s shirt off, leaving him embarrassed. The kids all are anxious and nervous. Clown tosses the shirt over the glass and begins to step on it and jump on it. He wipes the glass around and picks it all up in the shirt and hands it back to the boy.

Some crying in the audience. Parents look horrified.

Boy reaches into the shirt with a curious look on his face. Smiles as he pulls out the crystal stemware glass.

Shrieks of delight, looks of relief, and lots of applause.

Bowing, Clown takes the glasses and puts them back. Birthday Boy puts his shirt back on. Parents look relieved and begin to smile again. Clown reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a long, limp balloon. He blows it up quickly.

Interested looks.

He does this again, until he has a few long, blown up balloons. He begins to twist and turn them quickly, creating something.

Children smile and laugh with anticipation.

Clown presents a giraffe, which is met with lots of laughter and applause. Clown smiles and sets it on the table. The children all scramble for it. Clown picks it up and wags his finger at the children. They back off, so he sets it back down. Clown pulls out a small bag and unties it. He reaches in and takes a pinch of what looks like sand out. He sprinkles it on the giraffe.

Confused and interested looks through the children.

Smiling, he reties the bag and watches the balloon animal. Slowly, it begins to move and walk around.

Uncontrollable screaming and laughing. Kids scramble for the giraffe.

Giraffe runs around, dodging the small hands as they scream and laugh. Finally, it is caught. The kids play with it until it finally is popped.

Cries and groans.

Clown silences the kids and pulls out more balloons and blows them up.

Children become excited, clapping and yelling.

Surveying the children, Clown grabs a girl in a pink dress and takes her to the front of the crowd. She points at her dress, which has a small pixie on it. Clown claps and nods to her and begins to work.

Anxious and impatient looks.

In a few moments, he has a balloon pixie.

Yelling for the dust.

He takes out the dust and sprinkles it on, and the balloon pixie begins to fly around the room.

Children go nuts, running and jumping after the pixie.

They finally catch her, and she struggles to get away. It is all futile, as she is popped like the giraffe was.

Groans and cries. Girl in pink begins to cry.

Clown points at Birthday Boy who comes to the front of the room. Clown shrugs at him, and Birthday Boy points to a poster on the wall. Clown walks over and inspects it and points at a certain creature. Birthday Boy jumps up and down excitedly and nods. Clown takes out his dust and points at it, then shakes his head side to side.

Shouts from the children.

Frowning, Clown waves his arms in a wide motion, standing on a table, showing the imaginary height.

Delightful cries. Birthday Boy nods enthusiastically.

Perspiring, his white face running slightly, Clown begins to blow up many long balloons.

Anxious looks, some bored.

Once he has many blown up balloons, Clown goes to work on the large creation. After many minutes, finally, the creature is complete. A seven foot high Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Insane screaming and laughter. Screaming for dust.

Clown shakes his head side to side, children begin to swarm the balloon creation and Clown. He is taken to the ground by the crowd, and Birthday Boy grabs the dust from Clown’s pocket. Clown attempts to protest but is covered with children. Birthday Boy opens up the bag and throws the entire contents onto the giant balloon T-Rex.

Children quiet and step back as the creature begins to move slowly. Ground shakes as he takes steps, the animal taking on extreme weight. Kids look scared.

Clown stands up quickly and looks around the room. Sees a fireplace and runs over to grab the fire poker. T-Rex notices and leans over and grabs Clown with his balloon mouth.

Crying and screaming. Clown shrieks in pain.

The Clown punches and thrashes to no avail as the balloon T-Rex bites down harder, his balloon teeth sinking in further. The T-Rex shakes his head violently and the Clown goes limp.

Children scream and cry. They run out of the room, the parents right behind them.

T-Rex leans down and begins to chew on Clown. T-Rex looks up and around, smelling the air. He lets out a loud scream and stalks through the main room toward where the children went.