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t would be hard not to notice the balloon-twisting clowns who take up residence each Saturday at the Farm and Art Market in downtown Topeka. Their gleaming smiles never seem to waver as they twist and turn brightly colored balloons into fanciful treats that inevitably create smiles on the faces of waiting children. With a nearly constant “squeak, twist, squeak, twist” the duo, who call themselves Tooty and Lolly, sometimes stick to basic balloon designs such as flowers, monkeys and fish. But they also enjoy requests for more innovative creations like a double-headed alien, Spiderman or a monkey in a tree. The self-taught balloon artists can make up to 40 different designs, but Lolly says they prefer to do figures that use more than one balloon, just because it’s more fun that way.
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They twist and turn brightly colored balloons into fanciful treats that inevitably create smiles on the faces of waiting children. When she’s not wearing her costume, Lolly is 21-year-old Sarah Langley, who thought up the business approximately three years ago after reading a blog about ways to make money at home and thinking she could give ballooning a try. Adding some internet tutorials and a research trip to the library, Sarah thought she was ready to begin—once she recruited a partner, her 17-year-old brother, John. But he needed little persuasion. “My sister and I have always been really silly together,” says John. “We like to be crazy. I like to make people happy.” It helped, perhaps, that John was allowed to choose his own clown name. Well, almost. John’s clown name is a toned-down version of his first—a body function that rhymes with “party.” He says, “As you can imagine that didn’t go over so well with some people. So, I had to go with ‘Tooty.’” Sarah says at least some of the kids quickly decode the name’s meaning anyway. Sarah originally wanted to be “Periwinkle” but decided that name might be too difficult for the preschool set. She settled on “Lolly” from lollipop. The siblings created Tooty and Lolly as clowns with minimal makeup in order to appeal to, but not overwhelm, their young audience. While most kids might be shy to approach a normal person (or an imposing clown) to ask for a balloon, they seem to recognize that Tooty and Lolly would welcome their request. “They feel like I’m not a stranger,” says Sarah.
travel blog for the Kansas Department of Travel and Tourism. She and her husband have lived in Topeka for 8 years and they have three young children.
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