I finished up my stint at Mayfair with a family show on the Kids’ Stage. I was delighted to have John Christie call me up in the morning and ask if he could sit in with me. Oh, yeah! You bet!
It’s a treat when John sits in because he gives me room to stretch my material, he is comfortable with what ever I throw at him, and gives the parents some solid musical chops to add to the kid friendly show. Today, he wore his bad-ass shades, to boot.
John’s wife, Sue, suggested All Around the Kitchen, and it turned out to be a good closer for the show. I’m not always sure it works with a small amount of kids in this situation, but I had a critical mass of kids, and had them come on stage. Several kids came up with some interesting dance moves, some cute twirls by young girls and others. The best moment came when I asked a boy with a Phillies shirt on to come up with a move. He wasn’t coming up with anything so I asked him to do a “Ryan Howard swinging at a third strike at a curve ball out of the strike zone”. He did a left handed swing perfectly. It was quite funny and the audience picked up on it. When we did it during the actual dance, I repeated the phrase exactly and it was spot on.
It was a hot day, the crowd was good and friendly, the sound was excellent and it was a pleasure to have John’s company once again. Three family shows for Mayfair and I was glad I gave the festival a deep discount. I sold some CD’s, exercised my chops and plied my craft.