Missy Diggs

This weekend our little family took a spur-of-the-moment road trip to Dallas. On Friday we found out that the Wiggles were playing shows on Saturday in Dallas and on Sunday in Houston. We got great seats for the Saturday matinee and hit the road that morning to get to the show on time.

People, it was awesome.

I have had a fair amount of exposure to the Wiggles in the last few years. We started with some CDs that we checked out from the library. Then, in the past year or so, our Vivid Girl has been interested in watching movies… but most “children’s” movies are too scary and intense for her active imagination, so we have been exploring the world of not-scary-at-all entertainment. And this is the world of the Wiggles.

When we first started watching Wiggles videos, I must say I found them a bit creepy. For one thing, I think the Wiggles are a bit older than most children’s entertainers I know…. and they’re all male, which is a bit unusual….. and they have that sort of weather-beaten Australian look…… and I was on chemo, and I’ve discovered that the Wiggles plus chemo is, for me, a kind of irritating combination. (When I’m not on chemo, I like the Wiggles so much more!)

But, you know, the Wiggles have grown on me. Some of their videos are seriously funny: we especially love the one set at the Australia Zoo and starring the crazy and amazing (and now dead) Steve Irwin. For family movie night, we order a pizza, pop some popcorn, set up the PC (no TV), and snuggle up on the sofa to watch one of the many zany Wiggles adventures. At first I thought this would be an exercise in parental self-sacrifice, but I have been surprised to find that the Wiggles are good entertainment for all of us, most of the time.

My particular favorite Wiggle is Anthony (the blue one), while the Vivid Girl loves Murray (the red one). Our whole family adores the friendly pirate Captain Feathersword.

And now that we have had the whole Wiggles experience come alive for us at the concert, I have to admit I am a bit ga-ga for the Wiggles. They were amazing. The show was really great, with awesome stage design, choreography, great sound, amazing feats of derring-do, and really funny bits. Staging something like that, so high energy and intense, that can entertain children without disappointing or overwhelming them…. well, I think it’s a delicate business, and these guys totally nailed it. The fact that the show was also entertaining and fun for parents was a totally unexpected bonus.

and if you read the whole Wiggles biography on wikipedia, like I did this morning, you may be as impressed with them as I am. Considering that they are the highest-paid entertainers in Australia (okay, I realize they don’t have a whole lot of competition right now) they seem to have a lot of integrity and be genuinely interested in what’s good for children.

I do think it’s funny that I have seen two great concerts in the last couple of months: Tom Waits and …. the Wiggles. All I can say about that is, welcome to my world. My wiggly, wiggly world.