One of the Balloon Guys ' a.k.a. Henderson County resident Daniel Herron ' has worked his way through balloon sculpting competitions, adding a colorful splash of balloon art to local community events and building large balloon props and logos for charity shows (such as the United Way Pantomime Show) and conventions.

He's still doing all that, but at a convention he did a creation with partner Tom Vorjohan of Knoxville, Tenn. and took, shall we say, an especially interesting twist.

The Balloon Guys were in Miami in early July 2006 to lecture and teach balloon art at the International Brotherhood of Magicians convention and as part of that event they built a 12-foot coconut palm tree, with a life-size surfer dude, his board and his beach ball.

That caught the eye ' and why wouldn't it of officials with Celebrity Cruise Lines, and the next thing they knew, The Balloon Guys had set sail on the company's ocean liner Zenith for Bermuda.

For seven days in mid-August, Herron and Vorjohan worked the cruise and spent most of their time building big items for the entertainment directors to use on theme nights, creating small items for the kids of all ages on the boat and just generally making themselves very visible to the vacationers.

"We made ourselves busier than we really had to be," Herron said, explaining that they wanted to make a good impression and make themselves popular enough to get invited back.

Talk about twisting the cruise away. They taught an Enrichment Lecture on balloon art that drew 250 participants. "It was not their typical Enrichment Lecture," Herron said, adding that the cruise staff was overwhelmed by how many people showed up. The Balloon Guys had twisted 120 different items of just anything you could think of so they'd have something to give each participant, and they ended up making a lot more.

For the cruise's '50s night Sock Hop, they twisted a life size motorcycle similar to the one Herron made for the local United Way show a couple of years back (except with the cruise line's logo) so passengers could get their photos made on it.

They twisted prizes for the big bingo games, including a 4-foot mermaid, and a 3-foot lobster for the head waiter to add to the buffet table one night.

For Island Night, they resurrected the palm tree ' and 8-foot version this time ' and added a couple of beach-goers and a surfboard.

That took about 12 hours to make, Herron said, and they fashioned sections of the scene in their cabins, then assembled them in the room where the event took place.

As they carried the pieces through the ship's corridors and on the elevators, he said, they accumulated quite a following up of people who definitely wanted to know what they were up to.

Their interest, it seems, had been piqued from the initial welcoming party for the cruise when they twisted a martini glass for the cruise director to show the passengers and introduce The Balloon Guys as being part of the ship's entertainment staff. Then he told them he was really "more of a beer guy" and produced a beer mug.

"From the get-go, the crowd was hyped and from that day on they were intrigued," Herron said.

Most people, he said, really had no idea about the level of art that can be created with balloons. They tend to think it stops at simple objects.

"They get a new education really fast. We were there to inspire them to try it," he added. "We were there to make people smile and make memories of the cruise. For the most part everybody likes to have a balloon; I don't care what your age is."

As they were leaving the ship to leave for home, Herron said, the cruise staff asked them if they could head right back out on the next cruise. But they weren't prepared for that, so instead they were handed a stack of cruise catalogs and told to shop for their next destination.

It's a long way from when he was a magician who thought he needed to add something a little different to his act and got interested in multiple-balloon creations. "Balloons have taken me coast to coast," Herron said. Who knows where they'll lead him next?

The magic bug bit at the age of twelve when Tom did his 6th grade report on a magic book. Less than a year later he was performing for pay at a Mother-Daughter banquet. In the 30 years since that first show, he has taken his teenage hobby and made it his obsession and profession. At the beginning of the new millennium, Tom quit his "day job" as an engineer and middle manager at Alcoa to pursue his passion in magic. There have been no regrets!

Since 1986, he's been a member of the Society of American Magicians and a very active part of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. The Evansville, Indiana I.B.M. chapter named him the Magician of the Year in 1993 and again in 1995. In January 1995, Tom began writing a monthly column for "The Linking Ring" - the worldwide publication of the I.B.M., and he is now the Associate Editor for this journal. His stories have won several awards. In 1997, Tom also began volunteering his efforts to the International Brotherhood of Magicians and he's currently the Chairman of the Youth Committee. He’s chaired the Territorial Vice President Committee and also served a three-year term on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees (1999-2002).

Tom has been an active member of Ring 58 of the I.B.M. in Knoxville, Tennessee, since moving to the area in 1996. He has been program chairman, secretary, and he is the current president of the club.

Tom loves magic! He loves performing, as any audience can tell. He performs more than 250 shows a year throughout the area. His comical presentation of magic is professional and very entertaining. The key to his act is the way in which he interacts with the audience and gets them involved in the humor and antics from the very start of his routine. Besides being funny from the stage, Tom’s close-up magic is highly acclaimed. He performs at three Knoxville area restaurants each week: S&S Cafeteria on Mondays, El Jimador (Maryville) on Tuesdays, and Pelancho’s on Wednesdays.

In addition to his magic, Tom is an excellent balloon artist. Tom performs at several festivals around the country with his fellow twister and Ring 58 member, Daniel Herron of Henderson, Kentucky, as "The Balloon Guys." Tom and Daniel have two videos on the market, and have lectured at many magic conventions including the I.B.M. in 2004 and 2006, MagiFest in 2006, and the upcoming Daytona Magic Convention in November, 2007.

Tom is also a creator of many magic tricks. In 2001 Tom was part of "RC Depot, Inc." that produced about a dozen effects including their flagship basketball production, Double Dribble. Although this venture went out of business, Tom has released a few products on his own including the Comedy Mini Wallet (2003) and his paper folding comedy Will Do Tricks 4 Food (2005).

Tom is married to Diane (since 1986), and they have three children: Bradley, Jonathan, and Jennifer.

To Contact The Balloon Guys Tom and Dan

(865) 977 9253