ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Robbie Furman isn't full of hot air when it comes to his artistic talents.
Furman, a balloon artist, has been blowing away folks for decades with his elaborate designs of television and movie characters, giant-sized cars and more — all made from balloons.
Furman is part of the free entertainment lineup this week at Allentown Fair,where he'll create a farm-themed scene made entirely out of balloons — about 3,000 of them.
"This farm scene will be really special and is going to take about three days."Balloon artist Robbie Furman
Allentown Fair opened its 172nd run Wednesday and continues through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2.
Furman's exhibition, inside the fairground's Agri-Plex, will feature a 14-foot-tall scarecrow and 17-foot-long pickup truck.
"This farm scene will be really special and is going to take about three days," Furman said.
"I have other staff that will be working with me and we'll start Wednesday until Friday night. The pickup truck will be unveiled on Saturday."
Look for Furman's version of Moodonna, the Allentown Fair's official mascot.
He'll also have a vendor space at the fair where he'll sell some of his designs including "bearoons" (balloon bears) and "flurkins" (flower bouquets).
Inflating his destiny
Furman started crafting balloons 30 years ago after stumbling upon "Balloon Magic," a book by balloon twister Marvin Hardy.
"I was working at a bookstore in Hollywood and thinking, 'I don't know what to do with my life,'" he said. "And when I picked up [Hardy's book] I felt it was my destiny."
His hobby is now a full-fledged business and has helped him travel all over the world teaching others the art of twisting.
In September 2023, Furman opened Robbie's Balloons and More in Lehighton (in the early 2000s, he operated a store in his native Parsippany, New Jersey, but closed it when he relocated to California).
"I wanted to open a store in a pocket of America of someplace I've never been to before in a brand new setting, and I wanted to have a storefront on [a] Main Street."Robbie Furman
In similar fashion to Hardy's book, the choice to relocate to Carbon County from California seemed like fate, he said.
"I wanted to open a store in a pocket of America of someplace I've never been to before in a brand-new setting," he said. "And I wanted to have a storefront on [a] Main Street."
Approaching his one-year anniversary, Furman said he's fallen in love with the quaint Carbon County town and its residents, who he helped form a small-business association.
His “lootle” — balloons made to look like people — are among the shop's most popular items, he said.
The balloon sculptures, which retail starting at $150, can look like almost anything — children's favorites such as Winnie the Pooh, sport players and celebrities.
This year, Furman attended a Chocolate Expo and made a display of characters from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."
He later posed for photos with some of the cast from the 1971 film that starred Gene Wilder.
'Didn't know you could do that'
A self-dubbed twisticologist, Furman has had his designs featured on the TV shows "One Life to Live," "All My Children," "Ugly Betty," "Live with Regis and Kelly" and "The View."
More recently, he was among 200 artists from around the world commissioned to participate in Balloon Story, a pop-up exhibition in July and August at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City.
He also teaches others how to become balloon twisters in a series of online videos about twisticology and books through his online balloon academy.
"I love changing the way that people see things. And you know, it's not just balloons. That's what my story is. I believe you can create a dream in your mind and then go get it."Ballon twister Robbie Furman
"I use quality balloons," he said. "That's one of the main things to know. A balloon won't pop on its own without reason, meaning it won't just pop in the middle of something.
"It'll pop if there was something, a hole in it when it was made and if you put in the sun."
Furman, who has volunteered with the Peace Corps and engaged in missionary work, hired a group of young people to help run his first balloon shop in New Jersey, a charitable act he hopes to bring to the Lehigh Valley.
As far as balloons are concerned, he said his goal is to blow people away.
"What I want to create is something different, something where people have never seen before, something where people go, 'I didn't know you could even do that with a balloon,'" Furman said.
"I love changing the way that people see things. And, you know, it's not just balloons. That's what my story is. I believe you can create a dream in your mind and then go get it."
