Glen The Balloon Guy is a professional balloon twisting entertainer with some 2 decades of experience. He started twisting balloons to impress his daughter, but along the way discovered the wonder and magic of balloon art. Glen is today a master of the craft, making larger than life balloon sculptures and wearables that are capable of stopping traffic! He shares with us his love for the art, and the rewards his job brings to himself and the people around him.

Author, illustrator & paper engineer Matthew Reinhart joins us on the show to describe his meticulous but totally rewarding career as a pop-up book artist. Listen to how he creates these elaborate, award-winning, larger than life pop-ups, that continue to be loved and cherished by kids and adults alike around the world.

Bernie Krause has been listening to nature since 1968, and through his sound recordings charts how wildlife sounds have shifted over the course of climate change. His collection consists of more than 4,000 hours of natural soundscape recordings - marine and terrestrial. From bird songs to wolf howls to insect footsteps, Krause was also part of providing the natural soundscapes for dozens of Hollywood films including Apocalypse Now, Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, and Doctor Dolittle. Bernie joins us to discuss how he founded the scientific field called “soundscape ecology”, and what we can do to preserve the beautiful sounds the earth and its creatures make for the future.

On this episode of Careers Unusual, we speak to a Professional Jump Roper, Tori Boggs. Boggs started rope skipping at the age of 5 and today she holds more World and National Jump Rope Championship Titles and Records than any other female the sport has seen. The 25-time Grand World Jump Rope Champion and two-time World Record Holder has been featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, America’s Got Talent, ESPN, CNN, Cirque du Soleil, to name a few, not just because of her jump rope skills, but also because she performs as an acrobat, fire artist, tumbler, parkour specialist, actress, and public speaker.  We speak to her about her incomprehensible jump rope skills, and how’s she’s managed to leap her way to glory over the years.

It’s true. You can make music out of almost anything - vegetables included. Meet Matthias Meinharter, one of the co-founders and main members of the Vegetable Orchestra, a one-of-a-kind group, that make music using instruments made of fresh vegetables. We speak to him about this rare genre of music, the challenges they face using perishables in their performances and what they do with their vegetable instruments after every show.

On the show this week is a much sought after Luthier, who was hiding right under our noses here at BFM. Azlee Yusman repairs, designs and makes handmade electric guitars in his spare time, a passion that’s just as much a hobby as it is an escape for him from the daily grind. Listen to him tune, bridge and riff about his craft, and the skills involved in making these fine pieces, now making music around the world.

Here we have a multidisciplinary goof, schooled in improv theater and storytelling, with a mighty fancy Masters of Fine Arts. Mr. Fish specializes in an astounding circus act called buugeng. Producing a kaleidoscope effect, the talented buugeng artist mesmerises audiences as he manipulates their sights and minds by twirlin' two blade-like swirls, creating bedazzling shapes and illusions. He blends these mind-bending tricks in with silly clowning and bendy balloon animals. What is buugeng and what goes behind the scenes of his career? Audrey Raj finds out on this week’s episode of Careers Unusual.

"The pen is mightier than the sword." While this quote may ring true for some, it's clearly not the case for Michael Craughwell - a real life swordsmith. Creator of weapons sharp, pointy, and most likely to draw blood; Michael has gained a wicked prominence when he posted a video on YouTube that depicts him huffing, staggering, and demonstrating the means of his job. That’s not all! Aside his YouTube videos awed by millions,  he has even been featured on Discovery Channel’s reality show series called ‘Big Giant Swords’. Michael joins Audrey Raj on the show today to give us a glimpse of his cutting-edge career. 

A life of wander, meander, and getting lost; no check lists, no guidebooks nor maps, our guest is an incredibly ordinary girl living an extraordinary life of wanderlust. Tey Kher Ying, also known as Piccola Ying - who now goes by name of ‘The Tiny Wanderer’, is a petite traveller hailing from Kuala Lumpur, who left her job as a PR consultant and bought herself a one-way ticket to Myanmar. Her journey began with less than $400 in her pocket, but today, Ying has explored 67 countries and counting. How did she do it? Audrey Raj finds out from the Tiny Wanderer herself.

It’s essentially a mind game you play with someone you don’t or will never know. Writing clues and designing courses for treasure hunters - trying to outwit them, outsmart them and outplay them. Dominic Roche has been organising treasure hunts around the world for more than two decades now, and he joins us to discuss the best part about his job - sharpening his skills as a deceptive clue writer in his never ending mind game with avid treasure hunters.