A first on the jam room, we have a balloon twisting musician! I’m sure some of the other guests we’ve had here can play instruments, but few twisters integrate live music performance with balloon twisting. Josie Beach of Indiana has been perfor

Episode 103 – Racine “Sizzle” Celeste Gets at the Heart of Clowning

Mar 3rd, 2020

This is one of those serendipitous episodes, where I went in without much knowledge of the guest, and was blown away with the depth we found together. Racine Celeste is a clown philosopher, or a philosopher clown, or perhaps a warrior poet in t

Episode 102 – Who Talks To A Pineapple Under The Sea? (Jam Room Pod Cast!)

Feb 26th, 2020

Trying singing the episode title to the Spongebob tune. It totally works. So hey, it’s Stacy Wheeler aka Pineapple in the Jam Room! Stacy is taking the balloon world by storm with some of the most unique photo shoots we’ve seen. Here is the men

Episode 101 – Kristal Yee is a STAR at Weaving

Feb 18th, 2020

Fresh off her first time as an instructor at Twist and Shout, Kristal Yee joins us to talk about moving from acting to balloons, blending decor and twisting, gigging with both face painting and twisting, the awesome balloon community, and of co

Episode 100 – Pops Trading Cards!

Feb 12th, 2020

What a phenomenon! When you get one of those “wouldn’t it be cool” ideas, it usually ends once you realize the work to make it happen. Not Jeremy Johnston! He kept the launch of this massive undertaking on the down low for a long time, then BOO

Episode 99 – A Welshman in Appalachia – Dylan Rowe

Jan 30th, 2020

Dylan Rowe should really be sponsored by Nike, because he is the embodiment of JUST DO IT! This is a longer episode, but well worth your time. His path to success has been the stuff of screenplays. If you want to check out Dylan’s signature des

Episode 98 – Atrina Lovekins

Jan 23rd, 2020

What happens when you invest significant time and money into a professional track that just leaves you, not quite sure? You start a balloon business! Atrina Lovekins has been on the scene for just a couple years, but she has approached her busi

Episode 97 – G’Day Miss Donna!

Jan 16th, 2020

Donna Cochrane is a full time pro in Noosa Australia with a gift for connecting with kids. She has been performing since she was a teenager, and now runs Be Amazed Entertainment of Sunshine Coast in Queensland. We talk about her news-making wed

Episode 96 – Convention Spotlight Extravaganza

Apr 1st, 2019

Big episode this week with multiple guests! Conventions can be the life blood of the balloon community, and there are so many to choose from. We’ve featured several here in the past. Today’s episode is a collection of shorter interviews with or

Episode 95 – Debbie Stevens

Mar 21st, 2019

If you’ve made a balloon dress, odds are you learned something from Debbie Stevens. With a long career in the business, Debbie runs a balloon company that is truly a family affair. Check out The Twisted Ones. This year she earned both 1st Place

Episode 94 – Jeremy Johnston wants this to be your new FAVE!

Mar 14th, 2019

Got plans for November 10-14? After this podcast you will! Jeremy Johnston of Atomic Balloons in La Vegas is in the Jam Room to tell us all about the newly rebranded FAVE. Formerly the long-running Western Region Clown Association event, now kn

Episode 93 – 2019 Top Twister Stephanie Morace

Mar 7th, 2019

She’s here y’all! Stephanie Morace is not just a fantastic balloon designer and instructor, she has a great approach to securing long term restaurant work, and has decor advice to boot! A delightful interview where the guest actually does most

Episode 92 – The Balloon Brothers of Buffalo

Feb 27th, 2019

If this is the first you are hearing of the Balloon Brothers, thank me later. If you’ve seen their work, congrats for being an early adopter! I believe these cats are going places. Their approach to engineering and balloons is top shelf, and th

Episode 91 – Justin Reams

Feb 20th, 2019

Justin Reams is not just a top designer for twisting balloons, he has become quite the resource for getting into decor as well. Fresh off his first teaching gig at Twist and Shout, he is in the Jam Room for a very informative conversation about

Episode 90 – The Jam Room is Re-opened – Designer Finn Thompson

Feb 11th, 2019

Retirement didn’t last long, I’m back at the microphone with a new season of episodes of the Jam Room! My first guest in Jam Room 3.0 is someone I just had to talk to, and I am glad to share that conversation with you. If you don’t know him yet

Episode 89 – All Good Things…..

Oct 9th, 2018

It’s time to close up shop on this project. If you’ve been a long time listener, I’ll let you know why it’s over and why I’m considering this whole thing a success. Thanks for the memories folks! I’m still kicking and still twisting, just layin

Episode 88 – Chrystal Crain of AEBA

Aug 22nd, 2018

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. The show is back, with possibly our first call to action. Worldwide, bans on balloon releases are starting to become total balloon bans. How can and should our industry reply? A very informed a

Special Episode – Remembering Deb Fellman in Her Own Words

Apr 6th, 2018

This is a repost of my Feb 2017 interview with Deb Fellman, as we were just about to go to Twist and Shout. A year later, Deb was leading her last large sculpture build with many friends from the balloon community. Thank you for everything Deb.

Episode 87 – Juho Hokkanen

Mar 21st, 2018

You ever get that feeling that you’ve seen everything that can be done with balloons? How even the great sculptures look like something you could reverse engineer with enough time? Hopefully you never get jaded as an artist, like you’ve seen

Episode 86 – Dennis Scott

Feb 8th, 2018

What can’t Dennis Scott do? He’s been Top Twister at T&S, he’s led a team at World Balloon, he’s taught for Qualatex, and now he’s a serious decorator too. This is a long-overdue conversation in the Jam Room. The intro is all about Twist and Sh

Episode 85 – Author Chuck Young

Jan 11th, 2018

This is one of my favorite type of shows, where the starting point of balloon art leads to bigger things. Chuck Young is an author whose first children’s book deals with grief and loss, using the imagery and concepts of balloon people. It is un

Episode 84 – Dale Obrochta

Jan 5th, 2018

This episode of the Jam Room sets the record for most instances of the phrase “Chicagoland area.” Dale is a well-seasoned performer who began learning in an analog world, and has changed with the times to deal with the reality of digital screen

Episode 83 – The Twister Sister Holly (Hopper) George

Dec 28th, 2017

You know her youtube and if you don’t know her apparel line, you soon will. Holly George has been twisting since she was just a girl and her parents actually encouraged it! We check in on all her current doings, how to move cities and still kee

Episode 82 – The Multi-Talented Mr. Ripley

Dec 6th, 2017

I describe Drew Ripley as a Jack-of-all-trades and master-of-many. He is a true Renaissance man and as such, a great asset to the balloon art community. You may have seen his work as part of many Airigami projects, both twisting and behind the

Episode 81 – Twisting Blind with Kira Larkin

Nov 8th, 2017

This week’s Jam Room features a balloon twister who approaches our art from a rare position. Kira Larkin is blind. She has been twisting balloons since childhood. We talk about the challenges of twisting without sight, and the modifications she