Every piece of blown glass starts with a small gather of molten glass that is then shaped (here using the steel table called a "marver") and then, a tiny puff of air is put into the metal blow pipe and trapped in the pipe covering the opening with their thumb very quickly after by the gaffer (or lead glassmaker). You can hear the sound of the air being blown into the pipe and then see the bubble expand.
We call this "popping a bubble"
slightly glitched video shot at EVARI Studios, NY