Date Of Event: October 22, 2016
Location: Essex St, Salem, MA (alternatively Salem Commons, North Washington Square, Salem, MA)
Hours: usually late morning, early afternoon (I saw him at around 1 o’clock) *His last show is Monday, Halloween*
Parking: There are several parking garages on New Liberty St and Congress St and off street parking (go early to ensure you get a spot if you want to see Bubble Man before Halloween)
Cost: Free, tips are apprreciated
Dog Friendly: Yes, dogs like bubbles too!
Handicap Accessible: Yes, the streets in Salem are handicap accessible
Web Site: Tall Bob The Bubble Man
Not everything in Salem this time of year is scary or gory. It is both unexpected and refreshing to see such a fun and heartwarming spectacle.
It’s great seeing such family friendly, good clean fun (literally), especially when there are ghosts, goblins and an assortment of other macabre characters doing their best to scare the visitors of Salem. Scares are not for everyone. But, everyone loves the bubbles, old and young alike, because as Bob says, “there ain’t love like bubble love.”
Tall Bob was first inspired by watching someone at Moonstone Beach in Cambria, California, about two years ago. The man he saw had made a bubble “as big as a bus”, according to Bobby. Since watching that, he was hooked. He poured over books and researched the art of bubble making. He even made his own bubble wand.
Tall Bob The Bubble Man (aka Bobby Carr) uses a very different type of bubble wand. His wand consists of two wood sticks connected by 4 ropes with one rope intersecting the other 4 ropes and a ball at the bottom of the ropes. This allows him to create some huge bubbles.
And Tall Bob The Bubble Man does not shortchange his audience. He is often out performing 8 or more hours, weather permitting, with the occasional break.
The Bubble Man did have to change his venue from the pedestrian walkway on Essex St to Salem Commons because people had complained the soap and water had made the walkway slippery. But, when I went to visit there he was at his original venue. He has also performed at Artist Row on Derby Square off Essex St and Lappin Park at the end of Essex Street.
The best part is watching the children react to the bubbles and try to touch and burst them.
But, hurry, Halloween of 2016 will be Tall Bob’s last show. Ever. He is moving to California this winter and hanging up his bubble sticks for good. I will be there for his monumental last show. See you there!
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