Good for any occasion

Jennifer K Mahal

Stepping into the Carnival of Products at the Orange County Fair

is like having a front seat in the audience of a television

infomercial. Want to cook fried chicken in five minutes? Want to

learn how to make a potato rose? Want to have soft, smooth skin

instantly? Hawkers here have the products to show you how.

A few steps inside from the entrance off Centennial Way, Sorina

Chhay entices people to try a Touch of Mink.

“It doesn’t cure dry skin, but it helps,” she said, as she washed

this reporter’s hand with special soap.

Chhay, who has been working at the booth since the fair started,

gives her spiel about the benefits of mink oil and vitamin E, rubbing

in product samples as she talks. Kits range in price from $39.95 to

$99.95.

“Look at your hand,” she said. “See how all the fine lines

disappear?”

Last week, the company broke its sales record for the fair. A high

volume of sales seemed a common theme among some of the 116 product

vendors in the Carnival.

“We’ve been doing extremely well this year,” said Yuka Kobayashi

of Watsu Pearl.

Live oysters with pearls inside are best sellers at the booth,

which has sold jewelry of all kinds at the fair for the past 20

years.

At the Miracle Magnetic Duster display, a man who likes to go by

Knarleydog said he broke the $900 mark the other day, which seems

like quite an accomplishment at $7 for a large brush, $5 for a small

brush or $10 for a pair. An evangelist reverend from Baldwin Hills,

Knarleydog said he was operating the booth for a friend, Sean Hill,

who was unable to finish his fair duties after learning he has

diabetes.

“I’ve never pitched this product before,” the 46-year-old said.

He has, however, pitched his own barbecue sauce -- Knarleydog’s

Bodacious Barbecue Sauce and Reverend Randy’s Righteous Rib Rub --

which he will sell later this year at the L.A. County Fair.

Knarleydog’s colorful selling techniques include a lot of jokes and a

little preaching.

“Most people come to the fair with one thing on their mind,” he

said. “To escape reality and have a little fun.”

Greg Ruff looked like he was having fun with the crowd as he cut a

potato into curlicues at the Ginsu knife display. Turnip roses, a

demonstration of Ginsu against steel and a show of how to thinly

slice a tomato followed as the audience gathered.

Steve Noriega of Lakewood happily watched the show. He bought a

set of Ginsu knives 50 years ago, when he first got married.

“I still use them,” he said, looking to replace a lost boning

knife. “ They work great.”

Ruff, a 30-year veteran of the fair, said people are amazed by the

product.

“It’s well priced, American made and practical,” he said, selling

a set that included two carving knives, a boning knife, a utility

knife, a paring knife, a crazy cutter and two juicers for $19.95 plus

tax.

The Ginsu demonstration uses about 50 pounds of potatoes a day.

Across the Carnival building, Connie Jorgenson of Show Me Products

said she uses about 10 to 30 pounds of chicken a day demonstrating

rapid pressure cookers made in Portugal. In about 10 minutes, five of

cooking time and five of talking time, the six-year fair veteran

whipped up a crispy batch of fried chicken and potatoes.

At the end of the show, a few potential customers milled around,

checking out the prices, which ranged from $189.95 to about $249. A

woman who had bought a cooker awhile back told the demonstrator that

she really liked it.

“Go sign the happy customer book,” Jorgenson said with a smile.

* JENNIFER K MAHAL is features editor of the Daily Pilot. She may

be reached at (949) 574-4282 or jennifer.mahal@latimes.com.