Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer | Hire

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Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is very famous and well-known to millions of children all over the world!

Christmas is coming. Why not add to the excitement of your Christmas Party or event by booking the most famous Christmas character of all after Santa Claus himself. I mean of course Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer. Every child knows the song off by heart. If you can’t remember the words here they are to remind you :

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw it,
you would even say it glows.

All of the other reindeer
used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Rudolph
join in any reindeer games.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say:
“Rudolph with your nose so bright,
won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”

Then how the reindeer loved him
as they shouted out with glee:
“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
you’ll go down in history!”

Christmas Party Entertainment

Rudolph The Rednose Reindeer and Santa Claus

Father Christmas and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer at a Christmas Party.

Make Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer part of your Christmas Party Entertainment package. Call Jolly Good Productions for a FREE quotation.

Children love Rudolph. He is ideal to accompany Father Christmas. The children all know that Rudolph pulls Santa’s sleigh and that Rudolph is Santa’s favourite Reindeer. Who else would Santa bring to the party? It’s great fun to have your photo taken with Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, give him a great big cuddle or even dance with him ( yes, Rudolph likes to dance! )

The high point of every Christmas Party is when Father Christmas gives the children their presents. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer likes to help and he can assist in giving out the gifts or entertain the children and mums and dads who are waiting in the queue.

Christmas Parade

Never mind the X factor, get the Ahh Factor!

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is an ideal costume character to have in a Christmas Parade or at a Christmas Light Switch On event. He is also great for a Christmas Store Promotion and walk about entertainment at Shopping Centres and Retail Parks. Watch a video clip of Rudolph and friends in action in a shopping mall.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer definitely has the “Ahh” factor. He is a big hit where ever he goes especially with the younger children.

How To Hire Rudolph

For a FREE quotation just send us the details of your event using our Enquiry form ( recommended ) or alternatively call us on Tel 01748 821621.

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As Pleased As Punch!

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The 325th Anniversary of Punch and Judy

Image by ronwooduk via Flickr

This You Tube film clip is an extract from 1987 TV documentary film by Glyn Edwards showing highlights of the parade and mass gathering of Punch & Judy ‘Professors’ celebrating the 325th ‘birthday’ of Mr. Punch in London’s Covent Garden.

Next year, 2012, is the 350th anniversary and there will be celebrations taking place all over the UK including a massive party in London. Find out more by visiting the Big Grin web site.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpG5z8NOG88&]

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History Of Clowns

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Image via Wikipedia

A Short History Of Clowns

Ancient Clowns

Throughout history most cultures have had clowns. A pygmy clown performed as a jester in the court of Pharaoh Dadkeri-Assi during Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty about 2500 BC Court jesters have performed in China since 1800 B.C and they were given great freedom of speech. Most Native American tribes had some type of clown character. These clowns played an important role in the social and religious life of the tribe, and in some cases were believed to be able to cure certain diseases

The White Face

The traditional white face makeup of the clown is thought to have been introduced by the character of Pierrot, the French clown with a bald head and flour-whitened face. He first appeared during the latter part of the 17th century. He was created as a fool for Harlequin, Pierrot was gradually softened and sentimentalized. The pantomimists Jean- Baptiste-Gaspard Deburau took on the character in the early 19th century and created a famous love-sick, pathetic clown, whose melancholy has since remained part of the clown tradition.

The First Circus Clown

The earliest of the true circus clowns was Joseph Grimaldi, who first appeared in England in 1805. Grimaldi’s clown, called Joey, specialised in the classic physical tricks, tumbling, pratfalls, and slapstick beatings. In the 1860s a low-comedy comic appeared under the name of Auguste, who had a big nose, baggy clothes, large shoes, and untidy manners. He worked with a white face clown and always spoiled the latter’s trick by appearing at the wrong time to mess things up.
Grock (Adrien Wettach), a famous white face pantomimists, evoked laughter in his continual struggle with inanimate objects. Chairs collapsed beneath him. When a stool was too far from a piano, he shoved the piano to the stool. His elaborate melancholy resembled that of Emmett Kelly, the American vagabond clown.

The Auguste Clown

There is a widely told story about the origins of the Auguste clown – where an American acrobat named Tom Belling was performing with a circus in Germany in 1869. Confined to his dressing room as discipline for missing his tricks, he entertained his friends by putting on misfitting clothes to perform his impression of the show’s manager. The manager suddenly entered the room and Belling took off running, ending up in the circus arena where he fell over the ringcurb. The audience laughed and yelled ‘auguste!’ which is German for fool. The manager commanded that Belling continue appearing as the Auguste. Chuckle The Clown is an example of what an Auguste looks like.

The Tramp Character

One of the most well-known figures is the tramp made famous by Charlie Chaplin. The tramp clown was created by James McIntyre and Tom Heath in 1874, portraying African-Americans made homeless by the Civil War. They based their characters on blackface minstrel clowns which is the origin of the white mouth used by tramp clowns. Their idea may also have been inspired by the travelling hoe boys (hobos) or itinerant farm workers, who rode the rails from one town to another, wiping the soot away from their eyes & mouth.

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Ever Seen A Tree That Can Walk?

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Stilt Walking Tree Person

Living Tree ( Stilt walker )

We were asked to provide a stilt walker for an RHS event with “Nature” as the theme. The inspiration for the stilt walking tree came from a visit we had made to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida. One of the attractions they have is a lady on stilts wrapped in vines. She is called “Devine” if my memory serves me correctly. We were fascinated by her and she sprang to mind when this particular job came along.

Blending in with nature

We wanted to make the costume so that Daniella ( our youngest daughter ) would blend in with the background. Hazel and I searched round the material shops and an army surplus store to find cloth with plenty of browns and greens in it. The stilt trousers were made from brown corduroy, the jacket was an ex army camouflage smock and then we attached pieces of hessian and lots of plastic imitation leaves. We thought the end result was quite effective.

Surprising results

The stilt walking tree was a great success and it was very entertaining to watch Daniella at work. She would position herself next to a tree or tall shrubs and stand motionless until someone walked past. She would then slowly start to move. The reaction from the public was brilliant. I wish I could have captured the look of surprise on people’s faces as they suddenly realised the tree was alive.

Stilt Walking in parks and gardens

Themed events are popular and the stilt walking tree is perfect for any event taking place in a park, garden or woodland. Also great for themes such as nature or the environment.

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Spooky Fun | Halloween Party Ideas

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Halloween Party

Mermaid, Unicorn & Monsters Face Painting Design

Image by ronwooduk via Flickr

Here are a few ideas to help make your Halloween party the best ever.

Halloween Music

Download the following tracks from iTunes : Monster Mash, Adams Family, Ghostbusters, Bump in the night, Thriller, Time Warp.

You can also get sound effects such as spooky laughter, goblin, footsteps, screams, wolves howling, thunder claps. Play these between tracks or at appropriate moments during the party.

Halloween Decoration

Buy Halloween decorations from the shops to put round the room. add to this by making your own too. It’s easy to cut out the shapes of black cats, spiders and ghosts from card. Find someone who is a little bit artistic to draw the outlines for you. Cut them out and stick them to the walls or hang them from the ceiling. Try and find some luminous paint and make up some spooky eyes and monster faces. Paint them and put them on doors and walls so that they will glow in the dark.

Balloons always add to the party atmosphere. Use mainly black with some red ones amongst them. Orange is also a Halloween colour or white for ghosts. Use a black felt tip pen to draw eyes, mouths, scars etc on the balloons for added effect.

Ask your friends if they have any black material to drape over furniture or put over things which you want to hide ie notice boards in a community centre or church hall. Use old pillow cases or white sheets to make the outlines of ghosts.

Make spiders out of pipe cleaners and hang these from the ceiling so that people walk into them in the dark.

Have appropriate room lighting. Use coloured light bulbs instead of white ones to give an eery lighting effect.

Halloween Games

Here are a few to try:

Mummy Wrap

Each team has a roll of toilet paper. They have to wrap one person in it to look like a mummy. The first team to make a mummy is the winner or allow a set time and give a prize for the best mummy.

Eye and Spoon Race

Like an egg and spoon race but instead of an egg you give each team a ping pong ball with an eye drawn on it.

Ghost Hunt

Set up a mini treasure hunt but instead of looking for treasure they have to find the ghost. Make a small cut out ghost from white card and hide it. Have spooky clues and signs set up for the searchers to follow. Make it more exciting by including a few dead ends ( pun ).

Apple on a string

Suspend and apple from the ceiling for each player. The apples should be above head height but within mouth reach. The winner is the first one to munch their apple without using their hands.

Horror Story

Players sit in a circle. One person begins telling a horror story but can only say one sentence. The next person carries the story on. Each person tries to make the story as scary as possible by adding to what has gone before. Keep going until someone says THE END!

Halloween Party Food

A quick search on Google will bring up loads of web sites with amazing recipes for Halloween party food. With a little it of imagination even ordinary food can be adapted to make it ghoulish. Put name cards out or have little signs on cocktail sticks describing what’s in each drink or plate of food ie mouldy sandwiches, blood juice, coffin crisps, devil meat sausages.

Cut shapes out of vegetables and fruit to make eyes and legs to dress up the food so that it looks like a spider or creepy crawly or monster face.

Mix up your own cocktail of juices and call it a “Monster Brew ” drink if you dare!

Don’t forget the Toffee Apples!

Prizes

Finally, don’t forget to have a prize for the best Halloween costume and why invite people to bring along a turnip or a pumpkin and have a best pumpkin competition.

Halloween Face Painting

For best results hire a professional face painter. For simpler faces you can do it yourself but if you want something really good then check out the face painting pictures in our gallery.

Have a great Halloween!

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Hen Party | Plucking Up Fun!

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Hen Party Entertainment

Hen Party

Hen parties are a great excuse to go out and have a blast with your lady friends before the big day arrives. It’s your last chance to have girlie fun as a single woman. There is so much choice but not everyone wants to take part in adrenaline pumping activities, get absolutely drunk out of their minds or have to break the bank on some massive extravaganza. There are alternatives which can be great fun and low-budget. Here is our suggestion:

Choose a location

It’s often nice to get away from home. Find a hotel or B&B in an area where everyone can get to without too much difficulty or expense.

Book a meal

Decide where you want to go in the evening and book you and your friends into a restaurant so that you can go out for a special meal together in the evening.

Hire a hall

Find a suitable village hall, school hall or community centre with a big room and good facilities. Car parking, nice toilets and a decent kitchen would be good.

Organize food and refreshments

Either book a local caterer or send one of the group down to the local Supermarket to buy food and refreshments for the afternoon.

Book your entertainment

The aim is just to have loads of fun, do something together and have a laugh. Book an entertainer or entertainment company who can provide a range of fun activities to run over three to four hours with a break in the middle.

Jolly Good Fun for your Hen Party!

Jolly Good Productions can provide a suitable mix of entertainment including Line Dancing, Circus Skills, Team Games, Balloons and Workshops. Call us for a FREE quotation.

Easy Peasy

So that’s it. You have a nice afternoon doing lots of fun stuff together then it’s back to your accommodation to shower and change and then off out for a meal in the evening.

Hope you found this useful.

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Oblivion | Funny Film By Spoke

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Oblivion

Good for a giggle, watch this You Tube video made by my good friend Mervyn Brazil ( Spoke ), possibly the funniest man in the world?

Cardboard Castles | Fab Fun For Kids!

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Workshops for children

Cardboard castle for kids workshop activity

Cardboard castles

Event planners are always looking for something different to put on for children’s entertainment at big events. I came across a great idea whilst working at an event in Lincolnshire last summer. It was a drop in workshop for kids involving oodles of poster paint and lots of flat pack cardboard buildings.

Cardboard City

The organizers had fenced off a large, flat grassed area and set it up as a kind of cardboard city with various cardboard castles and buildings. They had staff supervising who were handing out pots of paint and paint brushes to the kids. The children could then go and express their creativity on the buildings. The result was a kaleidoscope of colour as paint was daubed everywhere.

No mess

I had expected to see a lot of very messy kids, covered from head to foot in paint but that was no the case. In fact I didn’t see anyone in a pickle. Parents were happy and the children loved it.

Wet weather plan

In case of wet or windy weather there was also a big marquee with more buildings to paint inside plus other craft activities too. It’s worth bearing this in mind if you’re thinking of doing this as the cardboard would blow away if it was windy and probably turn into a soggy mess if it rained.

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Christmas Eve Show, Richmond, North Yorkshire

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Free Event For Local Children

There will be a special performance of our Christmas Puppet Show in Richmond Town Hall on December 24th, starting at 11am. All are welcome. The show called Santa’s Busy Day is ideal for families with younger children.

There will also be a performance by T’Old Hoss ( The Old Horse Of Richmond ).

Donations are invited for the Mayor’s charity.

Please come early as last year’s event was well attended.

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Ripon Seaside Day 2011

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The Seaside Comes To Ripon

Punch meets the Mayor of Ripon

The seaside came to Ripon again on Saturday 3rd September. As you can imagine there were all the usual attractions you would expect at a day trip to the coast. The only thing that was missing was the sea and the smell of salt air.

Bigger than ever!

The organizers had responded to feedback from last years event and had arranged to increase the size of the fun fair. There were more rides and inflatables on the field and that certainly helped to increase the atmosphere.

Entertainment for all

In addition to the fun fair there was also a big top and circus shows, Punch and Judy and Face Painting, donkey rides, a huge man made sand pit ( representing the beach ), a brass band and an ice cream van providing the essential ice cream for the kids.

The Mayor of Ripon

The Mayor of Ripon came to visit the show and toured round all of the stands talking to stall holders and the general public. He even took time out to have a chat with Mr Punch.

Sun and Fun

Sunshine always makes the seaside more fun and the weather was kind once again this year. There was a bit of a breeze but nothing to deter the children and families from having a great time.

Unfortunately all good things have to end and at 4pm the buckets and spades had to be put away until next year. I for one can’t wait!