Long Island doctor with a popular side hustle as a balloon artist – Brandon Axelrod, AKA “Doctor Brandini” – is currently drowning in $400,000 in student loan debt. However, he’s seeking to use his skills as a balloon-twister to claw his way back to financial freedom, with a little help from social media and late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert.
Axelrod, a Commack native, has been using his viral social media videos showcasing his balloon art to help raise the money to get him out of debt; to that end, he attracted the attention of Colbert after making a balloon caricature in his likeness that he posted on his Instagram page.
“Clearly, I gotta help this guy out,” the host of CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” responded. “He’s a frontline responder doing critical work for society, but mostly because his balloon version of me has a waistline that is snatched.”…