On The DL

Top Hat Kazoo-Along

by Mickey Jou

Sat., May 12, 2 p.m., $10, Mainstage Center for the Arts, Camden County College, 311 College Drive, Blackwood, N.J., 856-227-3091

Not everyone who picks up a guitar ends up a rock star, but "King of the Kazoos" Rick Hubbard has done all right. The North Carolina native started putting on family shows after his band broke up in 1987. To add a little pizzazz to the performances, he handed out kazoos and asked his audiences to play along.

"The kazoo is an American instrument [that] amplifies the humming of the human voice," says Hubbard, who not only plays the kazoo but also manufactures the instrument at his Kazoobie Kazoo factory in Florida. "Pavarotti probably plays the kazoo better than I do [with his voice], but [at my shows] nobody has to be left out of the music-making. Everyone can do it." And they do: In 1999, Hubbard, with Weird Al Yankovic on the accordion, led 30,000 Cincinnati residents in a downtown "kazoo-along" polka concert. The following year featured Davy Jones and a kazoo-driven rendition of "Daydream Believer."

"A kazoo does some sort of magical thing for kids and senior citizens and adults," says Hubbard. "People are [normally] self-conscious about singing in public, but they'll kazoo like crazy. This is an adult show you can bring your kids to."