The Retirement of an Innovative Clown

A 1975 book by “Jolly the Clown” Art Petri credits “Herman Bonnert from Pennsylvania at a magician’s convention in 1939” as being the first Balloon-Twister in history. He was credited with the balloon dog, dinosaur, and giraffe.

But contrary to popular belief, the original Ballon-Twister was actually Dennis “the Straight-Faced Clown” McGinnis. Or as he was known as, old “Straight Face the Clown.”

Dennis claims that he invented Balloon Animals (and other Balloon creations) in 1938.

Dennis is now, at the ripe old age of 102, finally retiring.

I had the chance to talk with Dennis in his apartment at the beautiful Retirement Community of “Acorn Terrance” in Minot, North Dakota.

MediaPub.Live (MPL): Dennis. I am honored to be here with you today. I don’t get the opportunity to talk with a legend very often. Thanks for meeting with me today.

Straight Face The Clown (SFTC): Thank you. You have to talk louder. I don’t hear too good anymore. Do you want a drink? I have milk, water, and Fresca. My daughter buys me Fresca. I don’t like it. But you might like it. The bubbles… they’re too much for me. Hurts my throat.

MPL: No. I’m good, Dennis.

SFTC: OK. If you change your mind, let me know.

MPL: I’m going to jump right in, Dennis. How did you start… better yet… how did you get the idea to invent balloon twisting? And what was the first balloon creation you came up with?

SFTC: It was 1938. We weren’t at war yet, but tensions were high all over the country. I was doing 7 shows a day at the Jacobson Variety House in Burlington, ND. There were singers, dancers, comedians, and I was the In-Between. I came out between the acts and did my clown act. The owner, Jerry Jacobson, approached me one day and asked me to come up with something new, especially for the kids. I started giving out balloons. Then I saw these skinny long balloons that were being made in Japan and were coming over as contraband before the war. I paid a pretty penny for these, but the rest is history. I figured a way to shape these balloons into objects that the kids just went crazy for. The very first animal I developed was a snake.

MPL: A snake?

SFTC: Yes. A snake. I just kind of maneuvered this long, skinny balloon into different curves and before you knew it… Ta Da! A snake! The little end that didn’t get fully blown up made for a nice snake tongue, too. The kids went crazy for the snakes. Before you knew it, Jerry came to me and said, “We’ve got a hit!” He started looking for lots of the skinny balloons for me, but he told me I had to come up with other creations. So, I really went to work and mastered my craft.

MPL: So, what was the next creation?

SFTC: The second one was pure genius. Instead of blowing the balloon up, I just tied it at the end while it was not blown up. And… Ta Da! A worm! Didn’t go over as well as the snake. But still, the kids liked it. I figured that I needed to figure out more things that would work with inflated balloons.

MPL: So, what did you come up with?

SFTC: My mind raced, and I went to town with idea after idea. Before you knew it, I had dozens of creations. I created; the Lower-Case “L”, the Sword without a handle, the “Capital I”, the Stick, the Log, the “Number 1”, with 2 balloons I came up with the “Number 11”, the “Novelty Long Cigarette”, the “Novelty Long Cigar”, and the Line. As hard as it was, if I REALLY maneuvered the balloon, I could tie the knot to the little piece at the end and make an “O” and a “Zero”.

MPL: What about the dog? Or the giraffe?

SFTC: Oh, that’s all crap! That was Herman Bonnert. He was a hack. He took my act and ruined it for everybody. If you want a dog, buy a goddamn dog! You want a giraffe, go to the goddamn zoo! He was making these ridiculous animals and crap! Who the hell wants a ballon dog? Buy a dog! What are you gonna feed a balloon dog? Stupid. Just stupid. Let me ask you this. Can you go out and buy a “Number 1”? NO! Can you buy a dog? YES! See the difference? I was creating things that you couldn’t buy in real life. He was just copying crap that you could just go out and get. And let me tell you something. Back then you couldn’t buy a snake. You wanted a snake? You had to come to old “Straight Face the Clown” so I would make one for you. He was a goddamn hack. And take a look at what he did to the industry. You go to restaurants now and they have these amateurs walking around making balloon animals for kids. Guess what! They POP!!! You twist it wrong… it pops. And then what? The kid cries. “You popped my dog,” the kids cries. Long story short, crying kid. Give a kid a Sword with no handles… don’t pop. The kid’s happy. End of story. That goddamn hack! Hang on… (he stands up and excuses himself to the restroom for a while) … OK. I’m back. Where was I? Want a Fresca?

MPL: No. I’m good. You were saying that Herman Bonnert ruined Balloon Twisting.

SFTC: He even changed the name to “Balloon Folding”. Like he invented it. Son of a bitch never even paid credit to me. Like he came up with the whole idea. He died in 1973. Interestingly enough, it was a horrific balloon twisting accident. He was attempting to make a dinosaur. The head popped when he twisted a second time. The body deflated quickly. Snapped back. Hit him in the neck. Choked to death on his own crushed Adams Apple. Bled to death choking on his own blood. Every year I stop by his grave and leave a bouquet of balloon Flower Stems on his headstone.

MPL: Dennis. It has been a pleasure. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today. I really hope you enjoy retirement. Before I go, can I make one request?

SFTC: You bet. What is it?

MPL: (I hand a skinny balloon to him) Can you make me a Snake?

SFTC: You bet. But you have to blow it up for me. I don’t have the pipes anymore to do it.

I blew the balloon up making sure to leave a bit uninflated at the end (for the tongue) and handed it to him. He feverishly caressed and curved it until there were some subtle bends here and there. Once he was done, he handed it back to me with a big grin and said, “Ta Da! Here you go, Kid.” 

MPL: Thanks, Dennis. You just made this kid very happy.

SFTC: (With a wink of his eye) You got it, Kid.