Smarty Pants is the way to go baby!…read more He came by for our sons 1st birthday party and followed a magician and everyone loved his creations! I believe he was there for an hour or so. As seen by his creations, he was a hit by both adults and kids alike! I hope we may utilize his services again! We can't speak highly enough of SP!!

What a fun performer. I came across him at the Park Ridge Kiwanis annual pancake breakfast, where…read morehe was doing some entertaining mostly for the kids but definitely for the adults as well. It's through him that I heard of the Central Street Busker Festival that took place the next day and his line was loooong! Most recently, we went to his show last week that the Mt. Prospect Public Library held for spring break. That was very very well attended, with a long line of folks waiting to get in (and that's with all of us registered to attend!), but the show was a lot of fun. He did a little magic, a little comedy, and some fun balloon tricks. This guy has been doing this all his adult life--unless that's also a joke and part of his act--but regardless, he's great at his job. I'm looking forward to seeing him again and my little one having the chance to pick her balloon creation on her own.

I was relieved to find Jay Jay for my sons 5th birthday party. I was so happy with his…read morecommunication and obviously he knows his way around the balloons:) Definitely recommend.

JayJay was perfect from the moment I called him at 7PM to schedule all the way to the party…read moreitself. I couldn't have hired a better clown! Thank you so much. Promyse had a very happy birthday!

Suzanne from Couple Of Clowns was absolutely amazing! She was so friendly and came completely…read moreprepared, which made everything stress-free from the start. She really went above and beyond to make sure all the kids were happy, especially the birthday boy! She even kept checking in and touching up his face paint throughout the party, which was such a sweet extra touch. You can tell she truly loves what she does. We had the best experience and would 100% recommend her!

Very nice people, talented, good with kids. Fast response time, creative designs. On time.read more

I'm sure I've hit a world record for character rentals. I know lots of options when it comes to…read morefind Spiderman, Elsa and other princesses. However, this year my kids challenged me with wanting the following characters at their bday parties: one of the My Little Ponies, Pikachu (Pokemon) and Elmo. While I had to go elsewhere to find the pony (probably the most challenging of the requests), Blazing Birthdays was one of the few character rental companies that had both Pikachu and Elmo. I was most impressed with their communication. Their managing director, Scarlett, was super helpful on the phone and followed up with a very detailed email after our initial phone call. After hearing a bit about my parties we decided on 1 1/2 hours for Pikachu (30 min of Pikachu followed by an hour of balloon twisting) for 25ish five year olds. And then 1 hour of Elmo (30 min of Elmo followed by 30 min of balloon twisting) for 25ish two year olds. I received a call from the characters the night before both parties, which is a first in my many years of character rentals. I could tell by their voicemails alone that they were going to great...and I was right. Colman was Pikachu and ran around our party screeching "pika pika"- the kids absolutely loved playing with him. After 30 min of playing pikachu disappeared and Colman appeared ready to twist a lot of balloons, mostly swords for this crowd of 4 and 5 year old boys. He was also really great w/ the kids and had no problem getting their attention. Catherine was Elmo. She ran into some traffic issues so was a few min late to the party, but texted to let me know and was very apologetic so it was no big deal. I was a little afraid of how such little ones (one and two year olds) would react to Elmo, but she was super sweet with them and they loved her. She (or he) gave a bunch of hugs, posed for pictures and even danced around for them while they ate. And then after Elmo helped my son blow out the candles she reappeared for some balloon twisting. Half the crowd disappeared at this point to make it home for nap time, but the ones who stuck around really enjoyed the balloons...especially my 7 yr old who took advantage and probably had 5 balloons made for just herself. There are a lot of options when it comes to character rentals, but Blazing Birthdays is the first one I would call next time. Professional, reliable and priced fairly as well. Thank you Pikachu and Elmo for making my boys birthdays extra special!

We rented out the Elmo Character for my daughters first Birthday. Prices are not listed on the…read morewebsite but if you call the number (I believe her name is Lynn) is almost always available to answer questions and give information. She's very friendly and nice. The open communication is great. They offer a wide variety of services from characters to magicians, clowns, face paint and balloon artists. Elmo was wonderful. He was on time and not in a rush to leave when his hour was up. He was really great with the kids. We played games like limbo and sang interactive songs. Elmo read books to the kids and posed for pictures. The energy level was great and all the guests left happy.

We are so glad we booked Marsh Mallo Entertainment for our fundraiser event. Mary could not have…read morebeen easier to work with or more accommodating. She was on time, kind, and even stayed late to ensure we had a great event. I would give 10 stars it if I could, I can't say enough great things.

This lady is terrible! She came into my family's party and first thing she did was yell at my aunt…read more She said she can do face painting, different styles of balloons, and magic tricks. All she knew how to do was apply tattoos and make balloon swords. Over promised, under delivered. We hired her for 2 hours but after an uneventful 1 hour, we cut her time short. She charged us $250 for 2 hours, so we paid her $150 for the hour she spent there. She demanded we pay the full price and when we explained that we are only paying for one hour, she called my grandfather (the one who originally booked her for his great-granddaughter birthday) and demanded he pay. Italians beware! She walked out yelling "I'm never working for Italians again" lol

For my son's 5th birthday party, Liga and Melissa did a tremendous job with their magic show. They…read morewere extremely professional, timely, and very responsive via email when I booked them. My son and his classmates (20+ kids) were absolutely delighted with the magic show! I would highly recommend hiring them.

I was looking for face painters and balloon artists for our block party and found Gonzo Group. I…read morewas particularly drawn by Melissa's bio and how she was afraid of clowns when she was younger but nowadays, she performs as a comedy clown. I had a great experience with Liga and Melissa. Great communication, very professional. The kids had a blast with their painted arms/faces and the balloons -- you should have seen the epic balloon sword fights. They were nothing but accommodating and would definitely book them again. Highly recommended!

We have used BeeGiggles two years in a row for our company BBQ…read more One of the amazing things about a good vendor is that I do not have to worry and babysit. Our entertainer has been wonderful with communication, punctuality and dependability. When our group slows down, she makes balloons to engage. If it rains like a monsoon she will use glitter and a blow-dryer(yes, last year was a wild storm year). When it speeds up she will start putting glitter glue to set while another person is drying if she is able to multitask. I have no cautions or flags that I have experienced. See you next year and a big old thank you from my entire team!

Always the best and so creative! Balloons and face painting!…read moreWe have been using them for years for birthday parties and everyone is so thrilled

I would not recommend Linda Ortiz. After the kids got their face painted, the adults wanted their…read morefaces painted too. I asked her if she can do Mickey/Minnie on my face & she said she has to see if she has a stencil & didn't. She shows me her tablet that had 15/20 pics & I told her to do flowers. As I was about to sit in her chair, she asked me how much I weighed!? I was dumbfounded & then she said- you can stand! I find that very rude & unprofessional. She also ignored another guest when that guest was trying to talk to her- She literally said excuse me 5 times! She was an ok painter to me & I felt she didn't interact with the kids when she did the face painting & making the balloons. I definitely told my daughter not to hire her again.

Forgot to show up at my son's birthday party. Such a big disappointment for all the kids:(((read more

This is a REPOST, as I was threatened with a law suit if I did not remove my original post, which…read morewas soon after my daughters 5th birthday party. I ordered a Dora character, and she was 45 minutes late, when she arrived, her costume was wrinkled and dirty. The children were not engaged by her, and eventually I had to ask her to switch to her magician costume and carry on with that part of the show. Her cd player did not work, but luckily there was a sound system as the venue. It was a HOTT MESS. Then I received a threatening email. I was sorely disappointed, and felt bullied. I wont be removing this one. ...update...there was no trial

I was inquiring about belly dancers and the representative, Clare Ashley was rude and obnoxious!!!…read moreShe didn't provide freindly customer service and she was very short with me because she wanted to get off the phone! She didn't allow me to ask my questions and the website didn't have clear pictures of the belly dancers. She sent me pictures of the belly dancers but assumed it was for my husband and it wasn't even for my husband!! I would not use this service because my inquiry about the service was a terrible experience! The price of $150.00 wasn't reasonable for 15-20 minutes! I don't recommend anyone using this service and doesn't even deserve 1 Star!