The Showstoppers are making their big State Fair of Texas debut this year, but they don't have an inflated sense of their importance.
The oversized air-filled costumes may draw a lot of attention near the Natural History Museum. But the performers playing Dixie the Chick, Mojo the Monkey and Iggy the Pig blend in with other fairgoers after the show.
"One moment you're a superstar, and 15 minutes later you're joe-shmo – nobody has any idea. It's humbling," said creator Jeff Goodin, 46.
The show comes from Champion Factory, a company Goodin started two years ago.
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He has another performance group, Team Big Air, that puts on acrobatic slam-dunk basketball performances for schools and halftime shows nationwide.
"It was formed originally ... to give something inspirational to kids," he said.
On Saturday, Goodin was just filling in as the Showstoppers' Dixie the Chick while another performer was participating in a show in Houston.
But he said his career in character acts stretches back to 1997. He has worked as a mascot for the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks.
During the fair's opening weekend, Goodin and his fellow performers, Tavares Rhodes and Jason Hines, dissected the act and discussed improvements they could make.
"Those people came out of nowhere! It was, like, 'Whoa,' " said Rhodes, 29, as he got out of his 10-foot-tall Mojo the Monkey costume.
Rhodes is used to appearing before crowds. When he was 16, he performed in a drum line for more than 100,000 people. During his career as a costume performer he has worked for the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks and other organizations.
"Each person adds their own flavor, their own taste to it," he said. "You just go out there to perform."
When Goodin asked him three weeks ago to join the Showstopers, he agreed immediately to the gig, which requires spending 30 to 45 minutes in costume for every 20-minute show.
The performers climb into their vinyl-latex costumes again and again under the Texas sun. The suits are inflated with motors the men wear like backpacks.
Hines, a Duncanville High School graduate, has performed for circuses and cruises, as well as at basketball games and other events.
"Putting smiles on faces" is his job, he said.
His Iggy the Pig character swallows audience members' purses and shoes - and sometimes the audience members themselves. He'll sit on people, too, to get them to laugh.
"You have to bring the magic back to performing," said Hines, 38. "Wherever there's a person ... you're going to them."
Goodin said it's the performers, not the costumes, that create the magic.
"The idea for us is to take fun characters and get world-class performers to bring them to life," he said. "It takes a lot more than a costume to bring them to life."
How to see the Showstoppers
When: Monday through Friday at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Where: The Kids Boardwalk, on the grass near 'Jumbo' the Dallas Mammoth Sculpture behind the Dallas Museum of Natural History.