Despite gray and cloudy overcast skies, Playground 278, at Fillmore Avenue and Madison Place, was filled with laughter and smiles as families gathered in Marine Park to see Looney Louie’s hysterical performance on Sunday, July 27th.
Organized by the Marine Park Alliance (MPA), “Summertime Sillies” was the last event of the MPA’s Just For Kids summer series and what better way to end the series with a professional children’s entertainer doing what he does best — making families laugh with his magic tricks, illusions, juggling and, in his own words, “general looniness.”
Louie started his show with a juggling act, showing off his impressive performance, followed by a disappearing and reappearing cloth. Next up, Louie showed the audience how a trick can turn an image of a sad, colorless clown into a joyful, colorful one. Louie also did the classic magic milk jug and newspaper cone trick, in which he poured milk into the cone, but it remained totally dry.
Families loved it.
“It’s always a fabulous event. The kids are always great, and the crowds are always funny and very interactive,” Louie said. “I’m lucky because there’s nothing more fun than getting a group of kids and their families together and having them laugh and be silly and just have a good time.”
Children are always eager to be part of Louie’s acts, so much so that they often cannot sit still and are jumping with joy to participate, which is why Louie does his best to include them.
“I brought my kids, who are 5 and 3 with me, and they absolutely loved Louie,” Johanna Perez said. “They were laughing the whole time and when they got called up, they were engaged the entire time with him. His jokes were silly, and he kept them entertained.”
Although this was the last event of the summer series, the MPA is getting ready for the latter half of the year with many more programs.
“We had a great Just For Kids series this summer with an awesome turnout, large engagement from the kids, a lot of big smiles and laughter, and that’s exactly what we’re looking for,” MPA Executive Director Scott Middleton said. “We’re happy to welcome Looney Louie back to the park. It’s an annual tradition, and we’re looking forward to having him back again in the future. We’ll be releasing our fall calendar soon with a whole host of other great events for the whole family.”
