By Patricia Adams
He twists and turns all night–while he’s wide awake.
That’s just one of the thousands of ways one could describe the zany, wildly funny, compassionate beyond compare, basically indescribable personality of Howard Beach’s-and the world’s- award winning balloon artist, Nick the Balloonatic.
Since 1968, when he was just 7 years old, he has dedicated his life to finding ways to bring smiles, laughter, fascination and love to people all over the world with his inflatable creations.
As a child, Nick first faced grief when his pet gerbil died. His father took him on the train to Manhattan– headed for a pet store on 34th street. But as they emerged onto the street, they met up with a priest who was giving away tickets to the circus. Nick’s father gave him an option: pet store or circus. Nick chose the circus tickets and when he and his father got inside, there was a clown teaching kids how to make balloon animals. Nick was the only child who stepped up for the demonstration where he learned to twist and turn pencil balloons into a dog. The rest is history.
Since then, he estimates he has “blown” his way into literally millions of hearts, as kids and adults continue to be amazed at his assemblages of recognizable shapes, animals, faces, and characters, along with furniture, clothing and so much more.
For Nick, balloons are not a business; they are a way of life. Every day involves balloons, sometimes jamming as many as 8-10 events a day into his schedule. Birthday parties, weddings, demonstrations, and charity events and so many more–they are all included and he meets every demand on his time not only with latex but laughter. His arsenal of one-liners and side-splitting stories keep audiences of all ages entertained and losing their breath with laughter.
And this past weekend, he continued to twist and shape his way into more hearts when on Saturday morning he held a show at the Howard Beach library for dozens of local kids and their parents. Spiderman, the Minions, Olaf, Tweedy Bird—in his cage of course—monkey’s, giraffes, dogs, bears, Nick the Balloonatic breathed life into the latex creatures spreading joy in his home town.
The biggest mystery around the celebrated balloon artist is whether, there is ever a time when the smile fades and the mood is “deflated”. His son Tom Rotundo says that he has only seen his dad lose it, on two occasions. “When his dad was very sick, and when Hurricane Sandy hit-I saw my father break down, but that’s it.”
Amazing as it seems, Tom’s account is seemingly accurate—at least according to anyone who knows or has encountered Nick–and enthusiastically portrays their love for this particular “lunatic.” Never without balloons in his pocket, he stops on the street to cheer or just talk with children and any outing to a restaurant is always capped off by whipping up a creation or two for anyone that “needs to smile.”
Nick makes his home in Howard Beach with high-school sweetheart, now wife, Sally. Perhaps his is the best explanation as to just how much the balloons mean to him.
“ You could offer me a winning lotto ticket in a trade off to never do balloons again. To me, there’s no contest. The balloons win every time.”
If you’d like to know more about Nick’s artistry visit: nicktheballoonatic.com
