Raleigh man spreads joy through bubble fun featuring homemade wands

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Ken Thomas, known locally as "The Bubble Man," travels around Raleigh giving free bubble shows to the public.

In his spare time, Thomas visits different public spaces to display his bubbles--something that he's started doing more frequently since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"During COVID it was a dark time and it was a small thing that I could do to try to make people happier. So that's when it really ramped up, I started making bigger and bigger wands and doing more and more bubbles. If you can do something small that gives joy to people, why not?" Thomas said.

Thomas makes his own bubble equipment and even has special names for the different types of bubbles his wands can create.

"A couple of years back a friend got me this really cool one (bubble wand) that was mechanical and when you pull it out you push a button and it makes it bigger. So that was the a-ha moment when I was like, 'I went to NC State for five years; I can make a wand better than this.' And that's where the bubble storm came from," he recalled while showing off his own wand that indeed creates an effect of a bubble storm when held in the wind.

Thomas has shown off his bubbles at many events, his most memorable being at Apex Earthfest, as well as at a festival held by 3BlueBirds Farm, a farm that offers housing to adults with autism.

"Over the last few years there have been so many problems in the world and none of them have simple solutions...but there's one thing I can do and that is to spread joy, happiness and kindness to random strangers, friends and old friends and hope that it catches on," Thomas said.

To learn more about Raleigh Bubble Man or to find out where he will take his snow next, follow him on his Instagram page.