(A note to people without children in their lives: The Wiggles are a musical act who entertain children, not a strange erotic dance for adults)
We went to the Wiggles concert last night, and I am once again overwhelmed with the sheer effort and dedication shown by these gentlemen. when they set out to entertain kids, they put their backs into it. Literally.
This year’s theme was “The Wiggly Circus”, with acrobatics, a ringmaster, new circus-themed songs, all alongside the regular antics of a Wiggles show. Keep in mind that 3 of the 4 Wiggles are over 40.The oldest of the bunch (Jeff, 57) was up in the air and doing hand stands, and to misquote an old episode of the Simpsons, “let’s see your grandfather do that!”.
From the start of the show until the end they put everything they have into giving a great show for the kids. It’s not for the money, since they’re sitting on giant piles of cash already. It’s not for the fame. They could film one movie a year and have the same rabid fan base, without touring the world every 2 years and playing 2 shows a day in every major nad not so major city. When you watch them perform, you can see that they believe that what they’re doing is important, and should be done well. Entertaining and teaching the kids is serious work, but they remember that it’s fun work too.
I noticed that they made sure to pick up every rose and picture brought by the audience for Dorothy the Dinosaur, and they read every sign that was held up for them. No matter how much time they had to spend wading through the audience, they reached everyone. Their entire show was designed to focus on the kids out in front of the stage and make them all feel special.
There were several instances where there was a little slip-up or mistake on stage, and each time the Wiggles would acknowledge it and laugh it off. Think about how important a lesson this is for kids. If you’ve ever tried to calm down a hysterical child who is wretchedly disappointed that they made a mistake, you know that learning to cope with your own mistakes is a big deal. I’ve bellyached about my own fear of failure before, so use that as an example of how far into adulthood this can reach.
I am an unabashed fan of the Wiggles. They present an image of everything I want to be as a dad and as a male role model: patient, confident, caring, and committed.
Chris Loblaw, Author 