Brenn says the first true “reality” show about balloons, called The Unpoppables, had a short run in 2013. But it’s only in the past five to 10 years that balloon art has really gone mainstream, with pictures and videos going viral.
He has performed throughout Europe, Japan, Malaysia and Australia, with his largest project being a 2018 Guinness World Record-breaking balloon sculpture in China, that used more than half a million balloons.
“I worked on a team with 25 designers and more than 100 student volunteers to create a massive zoo — the size of two football pitches,” Brenn says.
Blow Up is his first time in a lead role in a competition show and he says he is excited to share balloon art with New Zealand. “All for balloons! It’s bonkers,” he says.
He adds that he is eternally grateful to have received an email from Blow Up’s producer at Screentime asking him to do the show and is thrilled the producer believed in him.
The LOTR fan was not disappointed with the beauty of Godzone but was worried — with such a small country and balloon art being niche — that they wouldn’t find enough skilled artists to fill the cast.
“After some initial auditions we gathered the artists for a week-long training session to make sure they were ready, and boy was I blown away,” says Brenn.
“We found an amazing group of talented artists ready to take on our hardest challenges and the show looks stunning.”
Brenn says Brown was delightful, kind, curious and whacky in all the right ways.
“Jaquie was the best sidekick I could ask for — although she needs to work on her balloon twisting skills a bit, but other than that she’s the bee’s knees, " he says.
He thinks the show is so good there might be a Season 2 and then when he returns, he can get to see the South Island, where he says the mountains are calling him.
Brenn says, as an experienced balloon educator, that anyone can learn the basics of balloon art, and it’s his mission to teach a million people how to make a balloon dog.
“In fact, I’ve made a few tutorials just for fans of Blow Up, so if you want to try your hand at balloon art, keep an eye out on Three’s social accounts as they’ll be coming soon.”
As for any environmental fears viewers may have about the many balloons, Brenn is quick to quash them.
“I’m always very careful about disposing of my broken balloons properly. Thankfully, balloons are made from natural latex rubber, collected from living rubber trees, and over time they will break down in compost.”
