Balloon artist bursts into record books

By Ryan Richards
Staff Writer

One day, John Cassidy's high-school science teacher caught him making a balloon animal sculpture in class. Annoyed he wasn't paying attention to the lesson, the teacher asked in a disapproving tone: "Do you think you could make a living with this?"

Today, not only does Cassidy make balloon animals for a living, but his flair for creating whimsical air-filled creations has earned him a coveted spot in the The Guinness Book of Records.On Monday morning, at Al E. Gators restaurant on Swedesford Road in Berwyn, Cassidy huffed and puffed his way into the record books by inflating and creating 367 balloon sculptures – from swords to cocker spaniels – in one hour. He well surpassed the record of 296 balloons believed to be held by a German.

Standing under a rainbow of balloons, Cassidy worked at a frenzied pace, his arms almost a blur as he blew, twisted and tied strips of colored rubber into dogs, swans, cats, bears, fish, camels and even anteaters, as friends, family and co-workers cheered him on.

Fox's daily morning television show, "Good Day Philadelphia," captured the event live, with feature reporter Grover Silcox providing the blow-by-blow commentary and modeling an elaborate balloon hat.

As the minutes ticketed away, the two piles of already-made balloon animals grew higher and higher. When the electronic clock on the table indicated the hour's up and the last air-filled critter floated to the barroom floor, the crowd raised a loud applause.

"Wow, great job," shouted one supporter from the audience.

The 37-year-old Cassidy, a magician at Gator's, joked about his record-setting achievement. "Hey, anybody want any balloons, by the way?"

His trainer, wife Jen, ran up and congratulated him with a hug. "I'm thrilled; I'm proud," exclaimed Jen, who said her husband wanted to be in the Guinness Book of Records since a child.

The couple, who lives in nearby Mont Clare, Montgomery County, trained for two weeks including an intensive session the night before the event. They plan to celebrate with a "nice dinner" and catching up on sleep. "We're ballooned out for a little while," said Jen, forming a smile.

Getting into Guinness is no easy matter. Cassidy had to follow a rigid set of rules. For example, all balloons must be blown up by mouth only, and all balloon shapes must touch the table in order to count (If the shapes "pops or deflates" before touching the table, it does not count.

Cassidy was surrounded by two counters, a time-keeper and an independent judge. A list of at least 30 different balloon-sculpture shapes had to be created, and no shapes could be made in sequence.

And although he broke the record by more than nearly 70 balloons, it still needs to be verified by Guinness before it can be officially entered into the book.

After Cassidy had a chance to catch his breath, he explained in an interview he paced himself to create one balloon every 10 seconds. He basically chose sculptures that could be made without much fuss, since he was "going for speed." His repertoire actually includes more complex creations as bicycles, Ferris wheels and houses.

He said he may someday try to break his newly minted record.

He became interested in magic when he received a magic set at age 6. He's been performing slight of-hand tricks and making balloon sculptures for various Gator's restuarants in the area for nearly 15 years.