Jay Finds Joy (Ballooning Story)

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This routine is not only entertaining, but easy to do as well. This routine requires three #260 pencil balloons: 1 blue, 1 white and 1 red. Fully inflate the blue #260 and tie off the nozzle. Announce to the audience that you will attempt to make the world’s fastest balloon animal in only 5 seconds. At that you quickly roll up one end of the balloon and squeeze it several times. Release the roll. (It should now resemble the letter “J”.) Show the balloon and take a bow. Announce to them, “It’s a blue jay!”

Continue by telling the story of Jay. “I want to tell you about a blue Jay. There was a man named Jay who was blue, or sad. His life was a mess. He was always raising cane.” Demonstrate the action by raising the upside down “J” balloon as if it were a cane. “Jay was hooked on drugs.” Demonstrate that by hooking your own neck with the balloon. Lay the blue “J” balloon aside.

Inflate the white #260 pencil balloon fully except for about 1 inch, burp it, then tie the nozzle and nipple ends together to form a loop. “Jay realized that there was something missing in his life. There was a big void inside.” Show the white balloon circle. “Jay needed joy in his life, real joy.” Lay the white balloon aside.

Fully inflate the red #260 pencil balloon except for about three inches and tie off the nozzle. Twist off a 7-inch bubble and a 14-inch bubble. Fold the 14-inch bubble and twist-connect it. Grasp both ends of the balloon in one hand. “Jay went looking for real joy.” Demonstrate the search by looking through the loop as if it is a magnifying glass. “He thought sports might give him that real joy. He tried tennis.” Show the action of swinging a tennis racket. “That was fun for awhile but it wasn’t true joy. Next Jay tried music.” Hold the balloon like a banjo, strum it and sing a few off-key notes. “Nothing gave him true lasting joy until a friend told him about Jesus.” Divide and twist the loop into a cross shape. “Jay realized that Jesus died on a cross for all sinners. So Jay repented of his sins and accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.” Pick up the blue balloon and say, “Jay was now hooked on Jesus.”

Putting the blue and red balloons aside, form the white balloon into a heart. Bring the mid-point (point X) of the loop to the center of the balloon. Grasp the balloon 4 inches above point “X” with your left hand. Shape it by pulling the knot (point A) downward firmly. Grasp point “X” with your right hand. Squeeze the air completely out of point “X” then let it quickly re-inflate. Do these moves several times to get a good heart shape. I have discovered that it is easier to form the balloon into a heart if it is a little soft. That is why it was burped earlier. “Now the void in Jay’s life is filled with God’s love.” Hold up the white heart balloon.

Change the cross into a letter “Y” the nozzle end down and holding both ends (bubbles 1 & 3) together in one hand. Hold all three balloons so that they show the word, “Joy.” “That’s how Jay found joy. You, too, can have true lasting joy by turning over your life to Jesus.”