Mr. Zapz and an armful of balloon buddies (Image: Mr. Zapz, submitted)
Magician and international award-winning balloon artist “Mr. Zapz,” the stage name of Kurt Fuerniss, can’t make COVID-19 disappear, but he can bring a smile to peoples’ faces with his balloon art.
Fuerniss began learning and performing magic as a teenager and is a member of local magician club, Magic Circle of Saint John. He first developed his balloon art from a trick where he would make a balloon dog during an act; kids would clamor for the balloons afterwards and they soon took a life of their own.
“Pretty much as long as I can picture what something looks like I can twist it out of balloons – I call it ‘putting on my balloon goggles,’ explains Fuerniss. “I’ve been doing it for so long that when I see it, I can see the little twists and turns of segments where a loop could work, where a circle will work, where I need to square something out – it’s a lot of fun.”
Through perseverance, trial and error, (and many broken balloons) Fuerniss became very skilled and in 2011 he decided to invest more in balloon art as demand grew. His magic shows and balloon art started as part-time, but he was able to take his business full-time in 2013.
Fuerniss estimates a fifty-fifty split in requests for magic shows versus his balloon art with many engagements having a mix of both. He’s performed in farmers markets, including the Queen’s Square and King’s Square Farmers Markets, and public shows with most of his work coming through referrals for children’s birthdays and company picnics.
He tries to make every show special, with Fuerniss admitting they often lead to referrals to help generate more bookings.
Some of Fuerniss’ favourite balloon creations are life-sized motorcycles and the life-sized chef and tandoori oven he made for for Naan-ya Business’ one year anniversary last year. Superheroes, unicorns, Paw Patrol and Disney’s Elsa are amongst his most popular requests from children and parents.
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- Naan-ya Business balloon chef and tandoor oven (Image: Mr. Zapz, submitted)
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- Snow White, Elsa, Ariel and Cinderella life-size balloons (Image: Mr. Zapz, submitted)
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- Balloon flowers bouquet (Image: Mr. Zapz, submitted)
His skills have taken him to balloon conventions and competitions in New York, Texas and Florida and to the biggest and most renowned international convention, the Twist and Shout Balloon Convention.
Fuerniss has several podium ribbons across multiple twisting art competitions. Categories include speed competitions and a fashion competition where people can vote on the best balloon haute couture in its fashion show. Its jam room is open for 23-hours a day, (with a one hour for cleaning) with unlimited balloons where people can create as much as they want.
Balloon Octopus under the sea (Image: Mr. Zapz, submitted)
“Most of the time the real learning is in the jam room where we get to sit down and teach each other,” he said. “When it comes to balloons, we all sort of share our designs.”
Fuerniss estimates his business has dropped 87 per cent throughout the pandemic. However, he is keeping busy with contactless balloon orders and socially-distanced in-person events, such as his shows at the Algonquin Resort.
“The social distancing there was perfect – they had the tables really far apart and I was far enough away from them that I was able to perform and do a show,” he said. “The event was so popular that they sold out two shows.”
“It matters to me that other people enjoy what I do because if people don’t enjoy what I do, then I don’t feel a reason to keep doing it – I want people to really, really have a wonderful time with the things that I do, so I try to put my heart into every single piece,” he said.
