Robert Shapiro
Mr. SHAP

Mr. SHAP Entertainment and Event Consulting

                 Entertainment that Amazes…….
                                                                      Amuses……..
                                                                                      And leaves a lasting Impression!

Birthday Parties

Tina C
Mr. Shap is awesome! I hired him for my son’s 6th birthday and everyone loved him and wanted to know where I found him! The adults were laughing and the kids were amazed. I like that he involved the audience and really made the birthday boy feel special. He even made a super fancy custom Paw Patrol balloon animal hat for my son! Most of all, I am appreciative for how quick Mr. Shap was to respond to me and how professional he was. I like that he wasn’t just about the money and the business, he cared about us and his performance. I highly, highly recommend him! Thank you Mr. Shap!

Ana F
Our daughters wanted a birthday party and gave us 2 weeks to plan everything. Luckily Mr. Shap was available on a Sunday so we booked him right away! The reviews were great and I felt confident confirming the booking after my first conversation with him. Mr. Shap is professional and kind. I loved that he gave me a full run down on what to expect. He asked for the girls’ ages and party theme. Since we went with jungle safari, he showed up as Safari Shap! The party was in San Leandro and he drove to us right after another party in SF. He was early and ready within a few minutes. The kids and parents absolutely loved him!! The show was a few minutes in and parents were asking me where did I find him and how can they book him. Mr. Shap WILL NOT disappoint. Thank you so much, Mr. Shap! We look forward to our next party!!

Colleen
Mr. Shap is as good as it gets! I was skeptical being new to SF and booked Mr. Shap based on his reviews and pics from Yelp.. Mr. Shap is extremely talented, creative, the kids and parents loved him at our party. I was so happy to host my daughter’s 4 year old party when Mr. Shap started shaping balloons for the kids, he took the stress away from the party tending and had everyone’s attention. I even had a Mom (that has the quality taste in all things) tell me, “Oh you got the best magician/balloon shaper in town”! Mr. Shap has an eye for detail when creating his balloon masterpieces!! The balloons were shaped from Elsa, Ariel, tigers, a poodle hat for the birthday girl, even the racecar, Lightening McQueen!!! I highly recommend the magic show too! I still have no idea how he turned a $1 bill into a $5 bill!! My child still talks about Mr. Shap, so he will be invited next year too!! Cheers to Mr. Shap to being the highlight of the party!

Elsa
Ever since Mr. Shap entertained at my son’s third birthday party, my son has been running around yelling, “Mr. Shap!” It was a smash success! Mr. Shap was considerate, fun and kind with the children. I was touched that Mr. Shap, knowing my son is into sharks, got him a special shark treat and balloon hat. Younger and older kids (and grownups) had a great time.

Tina
After seeing Mr. Shap perform at another child’s birthday party, we knew we had to have him at our son’s 4th birthday party too. Mr. Shap was funny, engaging, and held the kids’ (and adults) attention the entire time. He made my son feel very special and he took the time to make sure that each child (and there were many) received a special balloon creation of their own to take home. The balloon art Mr. Shap creates are pretty amazing – he made everything from animals/bugs to mermaids/superheroes to wearable space jet packs. The magic he performs is very age appropriate, participatory, and funny. Two weeks after his party, my son is still talking about Mr. Shap.

Jen H
The kids had a blast!! My son is now asking for a magic set 🙂 well done Mr. Shap! Total hit for the 7 year old bday parties!

Lucy
He is Shaptastic! He arrived on time with his mask on! He was so fun and entertained 11 kids and 10 adults all at once. His magic show was full of surprises and hilarious moments. His balloons were a hit amongst the kids and adults! My child said it was the best birthday ever! Mr. Shap really knows how to make the birthday kid feel special. We all had a Shaptastic time and we can’t wait to Mr. Shap it again! Thank you for shining some light during these times.

Isabel
This review is several months overdue – but I felt important to share that we had a wonderful day with Mr. Shap for my son’s 7th birthday party in April 2021. We had about 15 kids outside in our backyard, ages ranged 5-8 and they loved. it! He was really organized and really good with all the kids. He knew how to make the adults laugh while keeping it age appropriate. His balloon animals were awesome. He has a great sense of humor and I’d hire him again for sure! Thank you Mr. Shap!!!

David R.
Mr. Shap was fantastic! He came by to my nephews 1st to perform magic and perform he did. He even taught us some magic ourselves which was awesome! Not only was he entertaining he was a magician with my talents especially with those balloons! He involved the crowd to participate which made the experience hilarious especially since my dad tried to verbally sabotage him here and there but he had great comebacks which me and my family -and father himself- laughed hard to. We know we invited him for the kids but in the end the adults ended up getting more of a kick out of it. Guess we are all kids at heart. Will definitely call back for my cousins birthday party cause they don’t know what they are missing!

Yoav
We had Mr Shap entertain a small group of kids for our daughter’s 6th birthday party. He had them *enthralled* the entire time. He managed to create a special balloon create for each kiddo (ranging from a functional bow and arrow, to a Tigger, to a perfect recreation of Princess Elsa) and then transition seamlessly into a magic show that our daughter is still talking about. Would highly recommend him as an entertainer for your event – professional, punctual, engaging and a really nice guy to boot.

Virtual/Pandemic

Holly
Mr SHAP became Mr Safari SHAP for our Preschool virtual (times of Covid) Safari themed Gala last night. Today I have received so many messages from fellow parents exclaiming how much their children (3 yrs to 5 yrs) all were full engaged and having so much fun. He adapted his performance to include lots of details about the preschool and was extremely efficient to work with. He took away any stress from the children entertainment. My little 3 year old was so excited and participating, meaning that my husband and I could concentrate on the gala auction and enjoy a glass of wine. Mr SHAP – thank you for your enthusiasm and what a great show!

V.L.
Mr. Shap was FANTASTIC! We had a drive-by birthday party for my daughter, and the original balloon artist we hired fell sick the day before the party. Thankfully, she introduced us to Mr. Shap. We had a phone call to touch base before the party, and it was clear that he is a seasoned professional. We had 50 kids coming by in the span of 2 hours, and he talked me through how he would handle any log jams.
The next day, he showed up with two big bags of balloon animals he had created the day before to quickly hand out if things got backed up. He also made an intricate Minnie Mouse birthday cake for my daughter to wear as a hat and a Thomas the tank engine for her little brother. Keep in mind that he only had 24 hours advance notice of our event!

During the party, he churned out impressive balloon creations one after the other. The most memorable one was when one child requested a mantis shrimp. We googled a picture, showed it to him, and he made one on the spot! We were all so impressed. Thank you, Mr. Shap, for making my daughter’s birthday such a special one, even during this pandemic year. You made what could have been a really stressful experience into a really fun and memorable one that we will cherish for years.

Amanda
Mr. Shap agreed to come do our pandemic bubble birthday party in our backyard in Berkeley. He was awesome. The 8 kids were masked, including him, and he provided awesome magic and balloon character creation entertainment from age 3 to 73! We felt really safe since the kids were able to stay masked and we were in the backyard. He even brought a gift for myself as the Mom, which during these times was super appreciated! Don’t hesitate – book him and the kids will be smiling for days. Our guests couldn’t stop talking about it all week to their parents and how much fun they had with Mr. Shap! Totally worth it! Thanks, Mr. Shap!

Neighborhood/Community

Annie
I first saw Mr. Shap at a community event and was impressed by his talent, so I got my group to hire him for our block party. Both the kids and the adults were blown away by his skill! My grand-daughter wanted a unicorn and, voila, she had a unicorn! The adults got in on the action, too! The butterfly wings he made for me were beautiful. If a child didn’t know what to have made, he had that child looking through a book and choosing whatever he/she wanted him to make. He’s truly talented and everyone was thoroughly impressed. We’ll definitely try to use his services again next year.

Sarah
We hired Mr. Shap for our neighborhood festival and he was fantastic! He had the kids and the adults entertained with balloon twisting and a show! He was very easy to communicate with and was responsive while setting up the event. He checked in with me when he arrived and got straight to work without much guidance! We would definitely hire Mr. Shap again for future events! Thank you!!

Picnics

Mitra
We had Mr. Shap at our corporate picnic in Beresford Park and he was so much fun for all the kids!! He arrived early to prepare and was ready to entertain. He definitely knows how to interact with young children well and get them engaged in the activity. His balloon art is extremely creative on another level with beautiful designs the kids and adults loved. The best part was the magic show; He was able to amaze the kids for a solid half hour and entertain the adults with his humor. His tricks left the kids in disbelief and curious for more. All in all, Mr. Shap is an experienced professional for entertaining; highly recommend!!!

Winnie L
I originally planned to hire a babysitter to watch over the kids at my company’s summer BBQ. Instead, I found Mr. Shap on yelp and decided to have him for a two-hour window to help keep the 15 children (ages 2-13) at my company BBQ entertained so the parents could be free to socialize.

Mr. Shap arrived 20 minutes early in his ringmaster costume to get set up. Once the children saw him and heard “magic” and “balloons”, excitement ensued. Based on the hired time, the magic show was about 20-25 minutes long and the remaining time was set aside for balloon making. Mr. Shap was flexible with the schedule of when to start the show and we played it by ear. He started off with making balloons for the kids who were there first and once all of the kids in attendance arrived, we sat them all together and the magic began.

Even though Mr. Shap was intended for the kids, the adults probably had the best feedback and you would’ve thought he was hired for them! Everyone was captivated by the combination of card, balloon and illusion tricks. His balloon twisting skills are also top notch. I wish I took more pictures of his creations, but he was able to make anything and everything people asked for. Someone asked for a Peppa pig, and sure enough, he whipped up a Peppa pig.

Overall, we had a great event and everyone loved Mr. Shap and thought he was fantastic. I would hire him again in the future!

Corporate/Business

Kristen
We were so impressed with Mr. Shap!
We hosted a staff party with a mix of (skeptical) academic adults, excited 4-8 year olds and pre-teens. He captivated them all, had the grownups laughing *so* hard and the quiet “cool” kids mystified, shouting, “how’d he do that?!” Everyone laughed, some volunteered and they all said he was the best part of our gathering. Such a creative, joyful spirit and the perfect touch to our mixed party.

Ben M
Hired him based on good reviews, he certainly lived up to the hype. Had a 200 person event with people of all ages from newborn babies to senior citizens and Mr. Shap kept them entertained for 2 full hours (he would have gone longer if we booked him longer). A true magician and expert balloon artist. We were thrilled to have him and would definitely book him again.

Stephanie
Mr. Shap came to entertain the kids at my company Halloween Party. Not only were they completely enthralled with his amazing balloon creations, the magic show was entertaining as well! We had just as many adults watching him as kids. Would definitely hire him again and recommend him for parties of all ages.

Thanks Mr. Shap!

TJ
We invited Mr. Shap to help us out with our Corporate Children’s Holiday party and were extremely pleased with the service. He was incredibly professional and talented. He had the children laughing from start to end! The kids were beaming from ear to ear which I consider a true testament to his skill. We will absolutely hire him again, without a doubt!

Walk-a-thon

Annie K
Mr. Shap is a fantastic balloon artist! Having worked as an event planner for many years, actually spending 2 years specifically in childrens’ entertainment, I can say that he is one of the best I’ve seen. In addition to being incredibly talented, he is patient and friendly. Today, I had the pleasure of seeing him in action at the Walk Like MADD event at Lake Merced. He engaged the kids (young and old) as they enjoyed watching him create some amazing balloon art (wings, hats and mermaids were the most popular asks of the morning).

Mr. Shap gave us some beautiful takeaways from the event and he left such a lovely impression on me, my family, our dance crew and the walkers at the MADD event. Hope to cross paths with him again soon at another event!

Schools

Kim D
We would recommend Mr Shap to any of our friends & family.

We had hired him to host our son’s 5th birthday party at his school. From the time that I’d sent a Yelp quote request to the conclusion of the event, we have been impressed with his professionalism, ability to manage a crowd of 5-6 yrs old (almost 30 of them…more than the original 20 that we had expected), and overall show.

Mr. Shap was the only magician that actually picked up the phone and called me to follow up on his proposal. I’d received 5 different quotes in addition to his quote. However, his follow up call had won the business…I didn’t bothered looking at the other quotes because I was impressed with the fact that he had follow up to make sure I had all the information I needed to make a decision.

The day of the event, he’d arrived early and prepared.

My son absolutely enjoyed his birthday celebration. He kept telling us that it was the best day of his life and the highlight was Mr Shap’s show.

Thank you Mr. Shap for a memorable birthday for us and especially our son.

Curtis
I was blessed with seeing him for the first time at my son’s preschool event this morning. He was funny, warm and engaging. He made a wonderful balloon for my son that we treasure as long as we can before the air runs out. He gave us nice warning to keep any balloon off the grass since it may pop and we were very grateful for the warning.

His magic show kept me and my wife oohing and aweing throughout the performance. My 2 year old really had a lot of fun watching since this was the first time he ever watched a magic show. I was the lucky magicians assistant on the teleporting quarter trick that left me speechless. My son had a chuckle.

All the kids were engaged and what was especially nice was that he asked at the end of the show a last call for any children who didn’t get a balloon to line up and he didn’t start packing up until that line magically disappeared as well.

At the end as he was packing up, I thanked him for such as great job with the kids and he thanked me back for having the quarter available for his trick. I got his business flyer and definitely will slot him for one of my sons birthdays in the near future.

By far the best children’s entertainer I’ve seen in person.

Katie S
We invited Mr Shap over to celebrate the Chinese New Year with us in my family child care. Mr. Shap obviously did research and came prepared! As a family child care that only has 6 children, it is hard for a magician to do a performance, especially for young age children. But Robert was fantastic! He was here early to set us everything, and did a great job entwining the kids. Both the kids and parents enjoyed it a lot!

And the animal balloons that Mr. Sharp made was amazing. He could do anything that the kids requested. Literally anything! And we all loved him.

I will definitely come back to his business and recommend him to others. Thank you, Mr Shap!

Libraries

Becky M
Mr shap is excellent! I hired him for an event at my library earlier this month. He was very responsive in communicating leading up to the program, delivered exactly what we talked about (magic show + extra balloon creations to raffle off for people). We had a huge turn out – much more than expected and it went over very well with my patrons!

Adina
Mr. Shap was our performer for our celebration of new Sunday hours. Not only was he on time and professional, he managed the crowd, drew loads of laughs – from the adults and kids – and entertained seamlessly. He was here for two hours to make balloon animals for all the kids, and ensured that everyone left happy.

I look forward to working with him again.

Repeat Clients

Matt
Over Halloween, we did a little test. We hired three of the top-rated little kid performers to perform back-toback-to-back at our party, which was filled with 3-10 year old kids. All three performers were great, but when the kids were polled afterwards, they universally loved Mr Shap best.

We then had a kid holiday party recently, and had Mr Shap back again. Now I could see why the kids loved him so much. His balloons are great, but more importantly he creates a dialogue with the kids and a story for each balloon while he makes them. The kids (all of them) sat transfixed for over an hour watching him. Meanwhile, the adults got to actually hang out amongst themselves and talk with each other (rather than corral their kids). Nirvana.

Tor
We have been enjoying Mr. Shap and his ‘Super Happenings are Always Possible’ show for years now. From the moment he arrives, he is bubbling with energy and enthusiasm, and seems to have the full attention of the children (in our case, mostly 3-8 years of age).

He starts off by making custom balloons for every child–he seems to have a practically limitless repertoire. This is followed by the magic show, which has the children (and the adults) transfixed.

Beyond the performance itself, he is a consummate professional, and does an incredibly good job of managing a crowd of children of various ages–making sure everybody gets to participate and have a good time.

We give him a full five-balloon rating.

Jeffery
Always the best. This is our second time booking Mr. Shap and he is a true addition to any event, both kids and adults. We booked him for a group picnic at the park, about 40 adults and 10 kids and he was entertaining for all. Magic show and balloon twisting and we ended up extending because a handful of adults loved getting their own balloon too! Would highly recommend for any event you are looking to bring to the next level!

Michal
I met Mr. Shap in 2014 at my StubHub’s kids at work day. We loved his magic show so much we hired him for my sons 3rd birthday party. Fast forward to my 2nd son’s birthday and we hired him for a triple 5 year old party this fall. Mr. Shap as always is professional, on time, funny, engaging and so easy to work with. Plus he get the adults into the mix of the show! I highly recommend him for his magic and balloon creations! He is magical and did I say funny?!

David L
Mr Shap is great, so great that we had him perform for our son at two different birthdays over the years. The kids love him and this year one child even asked his dad if they could hire Mr Shap to teach him magic. We had fairly large birthday parties and each time all the kids loved him. Amazingly, so did the parents. What I found each time is that at the beginning of his show not all the parents watch, but by the end they all were. He performed and acted great for all ages, great job Mr. Shap.

Sassy G
Mr. Shap the best! Been having him entertain kids (and adults) at our company holiday party for 6 years and we still love him. He does magic acts and balloon animals. He’s always on time and does not charge an outrageous price. Give him a try! You won’t be disappointed.