I’ve known Jungle Jim for a little while now. I’ve photographed him at a little girl’s birthday party, I’ve photographed him for a promotional project he was working on, but it was at this last shoot at the Goodnow Library in Sudbury, MA where he was doing his show for the kids there that it really hit me. Jungle Jim is like The Simpsons. He is just awesome with kids. He gets them involved, gets them giggling, and gets them super excited during his balloon show (where if he’s not teaching the kids how to be a safari explorer or a Jedi knight, he’s trying to climb into an enormous balloon!). That’s great, and seeing the kids so engaged (and ignoring the guy with the big beard and even bigger camera) is just amazing. But, I feel like that’s where good performers stop their show, where the kids are entertained. Jungle Jim, like The Simpsons, keeps both the adults and the kids engaged, keeps them laughing and interested in what is going on, which helps the adults enjoy the show as much as their kids do! And, even though they may be sitting in the back of the room, hearing the adults’ laughter mixed in with the kids’ giggles is priceless.
It’s genius, really. He’s not a kid’s entertainer, he’s a family entertainer. He engages the whole family and provides an exciting and fun shared experience. This is an experience that brings families together and makes them giggle, and that’s what makes him not a good performer, but an excellent performer.
