Love that! ❤ I’d love to try it but no, I lied, I would hate every second, sorry, I’m terrified of heights lol 😂 But from the ground, they look very pretty and it must be nice doing something you love 💕
I grew up throughout the 80’s and 90’s and every summer my family crewed with a another family who owned a hot air balloon and when to a couple of festivals each year. It was truly one of the best memories of my childhood. You felt like rock stars at the festivals. The whole surrounding communities came out and watched and cheered for you. We stayed in hotels or motels, which was an especially big deal to me as a little kid, and the the whole process and chase made us all a very tight knit group. The whole thing in many ways reminded me exactly of the 1996 movie Twister. Checking weather reports leading in, several vehicles driving around country farm roads with paper maps out, looking at the sky trying to keep visual contact with something, on walkie talkies or CB radios talking to our vehicles or the 2-3 people in the balloon, and we’d end up in some random farmer’s field at the end and make a new friend, opening a bottle of champagne. Or sparkling grape juice for us kids. So much fun, and still why I oddly love that movie so much. I never have had a fear of heights, and when I went up as a kid it never scared me either. But back then the basket came up to the top of my chest. I went up again for the first time as an adult in probably 25 years just last year. It actually gave me a panic attack and I had to crouch down slightly, and I had a death grip on the basket. Why? Today the basket only comes up to just below my waist from my height today. Balloons have no safety harnesses either or seats, no where to go once you’re up, and I did NOT feel secure. I felt like I was about to fall out in fact. When I was growing up too, the festivals we went to had competitions where balloonists had to try to hit a target on the ground, with a small bean bag with a long streamer on it. So we mainly stayed just above tree height. But this recent time? We went up over 1,000 feet! Again, I was not used to that from my experiences growing up. So despite all of my past with it, my more recent experience sort of freaked me out.
Did you ever go to the Ashland Balloonfest in Ohio? We love it and my kids grew up with us chasing them and helping the teams pack up. We have even hosted launches in the mornings during the Fest because we have a 3-acre yard in the country. Great memories to get a knock on the door at 6 in the morning. 😀 And my stepdaughter and I got to go up once, for the target thing, because a neighbor of my parents-in-law had a balloon.
My aunt treated me to a balloon ride. On the way up, I was too scared to stand. I kept thinking, "There's nothing between me and the ground except an inch of wicker...suspended in the air by nothing but fabric...and fire." But after a few minutes, I got over my fear and enjoyed myself. My uncle didn't follow the "upon landing" directions, so he did, for real, bounce right out of the basket when it first hit the ground. He was okay.
I have been, and he left out the part where you slow yourself down by brushing against trees and just crash land anywhere. It is totally unsafe. You have no control over where you are going.
Takes true creativity to make humans laugh without resorting to the depths of vulgarities. At this, Jim Gaffigan is a respected Master Craftsman Artist. He's a pretty cool Family guy too! Thank you Jim G!
Thanks Jim! My husband and I are going upon our first balloon ride celebrating our 45th Wedding Anniversary next Saturday 10/14/2023. You ‘re making have 2nd thoughts about it! 😂
I hope neither of you is afraid of heights. I only remembered I was afraid of heights once the balloon’s basket was 30 feet off the ground. There was no going back, and I knew I was going to die for the rest of the ride.
I was taken for a balloon ride, when I was a child. It was during my father’s 2nd marriage (he is on #6). I am certain that it is the source of my fear of heights. The basket was the problem. The pilot would not let me just scrunch down in the corner-a weight distribution thing…damn you, physics! So, I stood with my back to the corner of the basket, with my feet splayed, resting as close to the metal frame as I could get, with my hands gripping the lip so tightly, it was honestly difficult to let go. Every creak of the wicker made me believe the basket was about to give way. I was terrified, from the moment cars and people got small, and the ride took hours. I have no memory of being afraid of heights, before that. Now, I have a hard time with tall step ladders.
Your comment is from 8 months ago, but I just had to comment, and I hope you see it! First of all, O.M.G. You dad was married 6 times? I can't imagine the impact that had on you. My heart ❤️ goes out to you... I used to be able to crawl under my parents' house, but it had a crawl space large enough for a child. Then after my brother was angry with me and locked me in a closet, I developed a fear of tight spaces. Fortunately, now it's only being in the back of an elevator. I've learned techniques to relax and not freak out while in a CT or MRI scan. As a child, I climbed Everything! My parents nicknamed me Monkey. I wasn't afraid of heights until I saw my cousin fall while hanging on to the top bar of a swing; my brother's tickling her caused her to fall on her back, which caused her to not be able to catch her breath, and had to be taken to the hospital. To this day, my legs still shake if I attempt to climb ladders any higher than step stools. My heart ❤️ goes out to you
Definitely go on a hot air balloon ride if you get a chance. It doesn't feel like you are going up, it's like the earth drops away from you. I used to crew for the 7 eleven hot to go balloon out of Las Vegas. The pilot Bob "Smitty" Smith had to go to pilots school and take a flying test with the FAA official watching. I was there when he was tested.
The feelings sound similar to when I went skydiving. Definitely worth doing and not really all that expensive. Breakfast for myself and my friend was 20 bucks, about 200 each for the jump and 10 dollar T-shirts afterwards. But watching a best friend throw up on the instructor was priceless!!
Jim, you and your family sang happy birthday to me when I was alone during the pandemic (when my name was frank macgillacuddy). I honestly regret not driving out to Redding CA to see your show but the gas prices right now would have added an extra couple hundred dollars so I couldn't do it. Looks like I'm missing out
Former crewman for a commercial hot air balloon ride company here in the US. I appreciate the comedy - and I laughed through the whole thing. Maybe more than most people because I’m so familiar with what he’s describing. But for those of you who might be slightly afraid to fly in a hot air balloon don’t be. The commercial pilots and operations in the US are very safe. As for the crew looking like they don’t know what they’re doing… Depends on the crew. We typically had a pilot and 1, 2 or 3 crew persons. The number of crew depended on the size of the balloon and the weight of the components. At times we would be training a new crewmate so we’d go a little slower, talk through the procedure for them. So if it looks like maybe someone doesn’t know what they’re doing, they might not. But don’t worry, experienced crew always checks their work, and the pilot always checks everyone’s work. With an all experienced crew it goes very smooth - my personal best is 12 minutes from dropping off the trailer to standing up loading passengers. As for wicker baskets, on the big commercial rigs if you look closely you’ll see that there is actually a ¾” (or more) thick plywood floor, with steel cables and hardware supports running up through the wicker. So you’re actually standing on a very solid platform hung by steel cables that are many, many times stronger than they need to be. Wicker is used because it is traditional, and it has a lot of give to it. If you come in for a landing a little fast - wind picked up or something - the wicker flexes and absorbs the landing forces, and bounces right back. As for getting in the balloon, well he’s right there. Unless you’re a gymnast, there’s not really a graceful way to get in/out of a balloon. Some baskets now have doors in them. Most do not. As for a safety briefing, our pilots always give a safety briefing to the passengers going over what they’ll be seeing and hearing, and proper stance and preparation for landing. As for returning… As crew we prided ourselves on being there to “catch” the balloon. Often times literally hands-on as it touched down - crew would hook an arm over the edge of the basket for extra weight so the pilot would stick the landing without a bounce. Then the pilot would serve the passengers champagne and orange juice and answer questions while the crew deflated and packed up the balloon. It’s fun stuff - if you ever have a chance to do it, I highly recommend it. With my former company or any of the commercial companies. They’re all good, and we were all “friendly” competitors. We’d often launch together at the same field, and we’d always help each other out. So you might see a crew wearing the shirt of the “other” company at the wrong balloon just because someone needed an extra pair of hands, or an inflation fan, or something.
Did this for Father's Day in 1991 when I was 22 and my dad was 45. I remember standing inside the balloon at some point, but I don't remember why. It was one of the coolest things though, being inside the balloon as it's filling up. All in all a great memory with my father who passed away last year. Thank you for all of the extra details that served to bring it back to life for me. 😎
@@mlsaulnier Yeah, as a hobby/part-time job it checked a lot of boxes for me. It was outside (not behind a computer), moderately physical, required some skill, and a fair amount of teamwork. As an aviation guy it harks back to the beginning of human flight. I get to off-road a little bit at recoveries, fool around with radios, flashlights, propane, drive trucks & trailers ... When you and the other crewmate (we had both men and women crew) and pilot are on top of your game and everything is going smooth... There's some real satisfaction to looking like pros for the passengers. More than once we had passengers comment as they were getting in the basket ready to go "You guys didn't even say a word to each other!?" Don't need to - a look and a nod or thumbs up is all.
And if you are a crew member and it's your first flight up in your balloon, when you come down and finish your first flight the rest of the crew sprays champagne on your head and rubs dirt in your hair. Really. A ballooning tradition from the first ever flights originating in France.
Loved your story. I've been up 10 times and enjoyed every one of them. Don't think I'd ever do it in Mexico though. Plus I've been part of the chase crew that blows it up and takes it down. Also lots of fun.
We got married in a hot air balloon. Pretty much similar to what you described, except our filthy van had a leaky radiator, so halfway back to the launch site, one of the crew was held by the ankles over an irrigation ditch so he could fill a jug with water. In Yolo County, USA.
😂 Oh, great! 😂 I've been thinking about taking a hot air balloon ride in the Napa Valley. We live in Sacramento county, and your mentioning your experience was in Yolo County, I'll definitely keep that in mind!
he fell and in the basket and looked up and saw the flame and said i am i already dead, im dead im dying of laughter omg thats the funniest thing i ever heard. 😆😅🤣😂
Jim you and the girls should try bungee jumping next lol xxx. You could have a whole sting of comedy skits on near death experiences through elective sporting activities lol xxx
I took a hot air balloon ride in the Black Hills of South Dakota 30 years ago, and as soon as the basket was 30 feet in the air, I remembered my fear of heights. I spent the rest of the ride knowing I was going to die, and holding on to one of the ropes with a death grip. I will never do that again. I did, however, make a discovery: sound, as in a dog barking, travels up, vertically, as well as horizontally, parallel with the ground. That had never occurred to me before.
Immediately going to share this with my dad, a balloon pilot for the past 50-ish years, who will be disappointed that you didn't get to indulge in the traditional champagne ritual after the flight.
My brothers got my parents a hot air balloon ride many years ago. As the balloon rose my dad put his hand on a big rope in the center of the basket. The balloon pilot asked him to not touch it. So my parents enjoyed their ride. When it was time for the balloon to land the pilot told my dad he could pull that rope he touched earlier. So dad gave it a yank and heard the distinctive sound of Velcro splitting apart. That’s when dad realized that the flap that held the hot air in was held down by Velcro. My oldest brother poured my dad an extra glass of champagne when they landed.
This is basically how all cruise excursions work. It is also why the "I should have never agreed to go ziplining" episode of South Park is considered the most controversial one of the series by fans.
we got married in a hot air balloon and my mother inlaw was so frightened by it that for years she never spoke to me so I realised it was a "BLESSING INDA SKIES"
"blessing in disguise" I had to google that phrase, Im not that good in english... literature. Never read a book. only remembered that line from Young 🇺🇸 Jeezys song - I luv 💸 it. I got the pun intended now 😇🧐🙏🙏
Very funny. You should have done it in the States. Much safer and different experience. Just come from NYC to Readington, NJ last weekend in July.~ 125 balloons launch.
Or come to Binghamton, New York to the Spedie Fest and Balloon Rally during(usually)the first weekend of August. Spedies are a marinated cube of either chicken, pork or lamb. Lamb was the original Spedie but now chicken holds the honor of being the most popular(I like lamb the best. The marinade cuts down on the gaminess of the meat). The marinade is of course special and I don’t believe you can buy it anywhere outside of The Southern Tier(which is what our area of NY is called). We have morning and evening launches of many, many Hot Air Balloons of which several of them give rides, for money of course. It’s an extremely popular festival with a myriad of tents set up to sell you mostly hand made items. It also has signing parties on each day(there’s 3 of them)usually consisting of fifth rate television personalities and third rate sports personalities. On Friday and Saturday night they have a concert with some pretty good acts. They’ll have a pop or rock performer on Friday and a Country Music performer on Saturday. This festival is very much overwhelmed by the number of people who show up even though you might have to park at our local SUNY school and take a bus to the close-by venue. It’s overly popular yet each year it’s been a highly successful festival. We don’t have hundreds of Balloons giving people the chance to ride but many, many people get to ride each year.
Well actually because it’s a part of his act the odds that any of this actually occurred is very very low Don’t know if you heard but comedians as it turns out aren’t the most interesting people in all of mankind, no it turns out they make all this stuff up because real life isn’t that funny Yes after having finished the whole video it definitely didn’t happen “When you land you bounce” is something no one has ever said In Mexico they would go out of their way to make sure you were comfortable Jim isn’t a non rich guy So he would’ve chosen an upper echelon hot air balloon company There is no way any of this would happen They would have English speaking people on staff because it would hurt their business not to. Just takes a little thought and it becomes obvious this was all made up in his genius comedic mind.
Years ago I went on an overland trip with a bunch of other people to Lake Turkana from Nairobi. A couple who were meant to be with us had died few days previously on an hot air balloon trip. At that moment I decided never to go on a hot air balloon trip. Especially anywhere in Africa.
Fukn AI, listening to me. How ironic that I was hanging with my Mexican buddies landscaping services, and suddenly your video shows up. It’s GODS work !!!!!!😂
TY. I really like your humor because you're clean and hilarious ... I don't subscribe to anything on RU-vid because subscribing only leads to problems with my smartphone 😭 ... ..., But if I were into subscribing, I'd subscribe to your page, for sure.
Jim, you're going to need to keep that beard trimmed and the hair short. You're getting awfully close to looking like the comedian Foster Brooks! 😂 I love you work!
I live near some hot air balloon sites, it’s a big festival when they start launching in the fall. I tried to book a flight with a girl I was dating, almost had it locked in but then I asked her if she’d ever considered a romantic breakfast in a hot air balloon. She said no, she’s consider it far more romantic to stay in bed at that hour doing cozier, safer things. She was right.
