This NC State alumni and engineer by day has perfected the art of creating giant, long-lasting bubbles — and spreads joy all over Raleigh
by Lexi Amedio | photography by Bryan Regan
If you’ve ever been to the North Carolina Museum of Art and seen giant bubbles floating in the air — or heard the joyful squeals of children chasing them — you’ve most likely encountered the handiwork of Ken Thomas. Known as the Raleigh Bubble Man, for the last decade Thomas has been frequenting local parks, creating intricate bubble shows. A native North Carolinian and alumnus of North Carolina State University, by day he works in engineering, but evenings and weekends are reserved for building his own bubble-making tools and sharing his hobby with others.
How did you get interested in bubbles?
It started with a crush on someone at Run Club. I found out they had never seen The Princess Bride, and there was a showing of it at a school near Garner. This was maybe 14, 15 years ago. It turned out to be one of my favorite first dates because not only was there a great food truck and a beer truck and an awesome movie, but there was a guy with an industrial-powered bubble maker filling up the football field with bubbles. She took a picture of me drinking a beer. In the entire frame are bubbles and I was wearing one of my favorite running T-shirts. It was one of my favorite pictures for the longest time, and I always associated bubbles with that moment.
After that, I started buying various bubble things and doing bubbles at sunset. And once friends and family find out you like something, every holiday becomes easy. So I got lots of bubble presents for birthdays and Christmas and whatnot. And then during COVID, I started making my own bubble equipment, since pretty much everything else in my life stopped. That was it. So I was going every day to make bubbles. Now it’s usually every other day or sometimes two, three times a week.
Are all of your bubble shows the same, or do you differentiate what you do depending on the event or the number of people in the audience?
It’s still evolving a little bit. I make new and different ones every so often. I’ve got a design I’m working on right now, which is going to be the biggest wand I’ve ever made. I have some industrial poles that are super strong. On occasion, I will enlist people to help me make bubbles. I usually don’t do that with little people because things can go crazy real quick. But if there are some bigger kids or people my age, I have a bunch of wands. More bubbles is more happy.
Occasionally I try to do photography. I will chase the bubbles with my camera and try to catch them. And it’s a whole lot easier if I can get someone to take the pictures for me or have someone make the bubbles so I can take the pictures. If I’m at an event, I’ll do as many bubbles as possible, take breaks here and there. But I’m starting to slow down a little bit. So if I’m out at a park, instead of making nonstop bubbles for four hours, I’ll just make a few, take a break, make some more, take a break. I’ve been taking my hammock to the North Carolina Museum of Art, so I’ll set that up, then make some bubbles, then put it away to go relax — read something, listen to some music — then go back.
What’s your favorite place to make bubbles?
Definitely the NCMA. All of the people that work there are so awesome, and I go there pretty often. It’s the biggest, most open place, with lots of great backgrounds. Or the Lake Dam Road at Lake Johnson; I’ve made bubbles there the longest. Dix Park is nice, Moore Square is really nice, too.
Who watches the bubbles?
It’s mostly kids, but a little bit of everyone. On occasion, it’s just me. My favorite time to make bubbles is right after a thunderstorm, when it’s just me doing the art stuff, and I take some photos. It’s extremely therapeutic to make them, watch them and pop them.
How has making bubbles affected you as a person?
There are some scientific studies that if you do something nice for other people, and then if someone does something nice for you, it boosts your immune response. Even if someone is just watching and they’re not involved at all, they get a boost to their health. It’s a good way to help spread some happiness. I love it when little people say, This is the best day of my entire life! — that’s pretty awesome. As grownups, we’re not so open to saying when we think something is that awesome. But little people will.
Do you make bubbles as a job?
When I retire, I may travel more and do this as a business. But for now, it’s almost no money made. At first, I adamantly refused to let people give me any money. Now I’m way more laid back about that — if I do an event or a party, I tell people just to surprise me after and that it’s optional. But sometimes when you do something for money, it changes. When people pay you for something, they have all these expectations. I just enjoy doing it. And if things go wrong, there’s no money-
back guarantee.
Do you have a calendar or some way people see where you’re going to be?
No, it’s usually, how tired am I from the workday? What’s the weather look like? Is my spider sense telling me the sunset’s going to be good? When I’m hired for an event, I try to warn people that I don’t have an assistant or a webpage, it’s just me and my calendar. I’ve gone to the wrong party before. Basically, people ask me to do stuff and if I’m not too busy, I try to say yes.
This article originally appeared in the September 2025 issue of WALTER magazine.
