More and more today, senior citizens are retiring to communities. There’s different kinds of course. For ‘younger seniors’ they have active adult communities where the starting age is only 55. There are different kinds of communities for all the different kinds of seniors, from the aforementioned active adult community all the way up to assisted living facilities.
One of the things they all have in common is they have regularly scheduled entertainment. It’s a staple in the senior event world. The important thing to know is what kind of entertainment goes over with senior guests. And it’s not just a matter of what kind of entertainment but the right kind of entertainer.
1) SINGER – A definite favorite of senior citizens. In addition to the convenience of having a singer for your senior event (they are often just one person and pre-recorded musical accompanying tracks and bring their own sound system), there is the nostalgic factor. Nothing prompts people to remember the past like music. A certain song will bring back a distant time quite clearly and music has been the soundtrack to all our lives as long as we’ve had music. Often singers who specialize in Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Elvis, Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdink find themselves in great demand. But don’t forget that as times change, so do the tastes of seniors and in a few more years it’ll probably be more likely to see singers at senior events that will channel The Beatles, The Rollings Stones and maybe even Led Zepplin (it could happen).
2) COMEDIAN – Everyone loves to laugh and a great comedian does just that, makes everyone laugh. In this case, picking the right comedian is paramount. You’ve got to remember what your audience likes and in the case of seniors, one only thinks back to the classic comedians of the yesteryear, Rodney Dangerfield, Alan King, Don Rickles, Phyllis Diller, Bob Hope to see what kind of style would be most popular for a senior event. There are even tribute artists and impersonators that will recreate legends like Jack Benny, George Burns and Red Skelton. An important thing to remember is seniors still have the same sense of humor they had when they weren’t seniors so you don’t need a comedian to talk to them like their in special education but you do need a comedian who knows how to speak to seniors. Most importantly, seniors don’t appreciate graphic adult language. They still have their sense of humor about love, marriage, relationships and yes, even sex. They just don’t want to hear graphic depiction of sexual acts or ‘hard’ adult language. It’s key to make sure your comedian is the right one. Check their video clips and read reviews if they have them.
3) STORY TELLER – This performer has become more and more in demand these last few years. Perhaps it’s the result of living in the computer age where communication has become so electronic and informal that the old fashioned notion of sitting and listening to one person tell a story has become fashionable. A great story teller will enchant their audience and a great story teller will understand the nuances involved in telling a story to a group of seniors (as every different group has their own nuances that a performer must learn along the way). You can even find a story teller that tells stories that is of particular relevance to your seniors. Perhaps your group is made up of seniors who are mostly of Italian heritage. You could find a speaker who’s stories deal with his Italian family’s immigration to America during the 20th century. In this case, this speaker’s story would resonate greatly with the seniors at that event.
4) HULA DANCER – A hula dancer add something exotic to your senior event. It’s fun to watch and hula dancing brings a long storied history with it so it’s fun and educational. The act of hula dancing itself tells a story so your seniors will be visualized as well as mentally stimulated. Some seniors may even be able to get up and do a little hula dancing under the guide of the hired hula dancer. A good hula dancer will have experience with this and will be able to guide the seniors who are capable of it to follow their lead.
5) A TRIBUTE ARTIST or IMPERSONATOR – I know I mentioned tribute artists and impersonator earlier while speaking of comedians and singers. We all know there are many more Elvis Presley’s available today than ever before. But the art of tribute and impersonation has come much further than overweight men in wigs pretending to be the King of Rock & Roll. You may be surprised to learn that there are impersonators for great historical figures such as Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt. These performers are fascinating as they take us through an in depth look at a figure that almost all of us know as someone of historical significance but we know very little of the real person.
DON’T FORGET! GigMama.com has all these performers available for your event. As easy as going to your computer and typing in two lines of info gets you pages of specialty performers near you. Find the performer and the price you like and have the greatest event ever.