The second Friday of the month I attend a jazz jam at a local church. The musicians live in the area and are quite good. They'll take a standard like "All the Things You Are" and go to work on it, extrapolating the melody. Sometimes the bongo guy will show up and take things in a different direction. There's an intermission with coffee and cake. I'll sit by myself reading my Nook. Sometimes someone will come over and ask what I'm reading and I'll tell them my life story. I can be annoying that way. Eventually I'll sense they want to return to their real friends and grab some cookies.
It got me to thinking. Why aren't there puppeteer jams or impressionist jams or sleight of hand card dealer jams? The concept is the same--find a space, publicize it, ask for a donation, wait for people to show. I'm guessing there are lots of lonely puppeteers sitting home on a Friday night reexamining their choice of occupation. Citizens complain about teens hanging out, getting into trouble. If you provide these kids with cool entertainment like guys doing Robert DiNiro or Peter Lorre, you solve the loitering problem while exposing your child to culture.
Boy, what I wouldn't give to see a tap dancer's jam. Isn't that how Ray Bolger got started?
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