The Funky Monkeys Live

That's right Pukekohe, The Funky Monkeys are bringing their 'live-musical-extravaganza-for-kids' to town for their only theatre show of the April school holidays!

Energetic performers Joe, Neil, Chris and Dizzy Dog say it's official, 'Pukekohe kids and grown-ups really know how to have fun! That's why we're taking our new live show about bubbles there first.'

With two CD's and a DVD already in circulation, The Funky Monkeys have established themselves and say they are here to stay. Performer Chris Lam Sam says, 'one of our most popular songs is about bubbles. Kids are really going to love what we've done with them in the new show'.

Lam Sam, a trained primary school teacher and musician, along with his friends Joe McNamara (tertiary music educator) and Neil Tolan (community youth worker) have combined their talents to bring a more 'kiwi' element to live kids entertainment. The popularity of their shows became so great last year that something had to give in order to keep up with the demand.

'we all had to quit our day jobs to keep up with our bookings. It was exciting knowing we were doing something outside the box, and making people happy at the same time.' recalls Tolan.

When asked what their secret to popularity with kids is, Lam Sam says 'there are three things children universally enjoy; dancing, singing and laughing. Every parent wants to give them those things. Our shows have always been created around letting kids be kids, and entertaining the grown ups at the same time.'

The band recently discovered just how popular kids thought they were when they won the first award for best children's music video last year. 'It was a "vote for your favourite video" competition that What Now ran for children. Our song about using your manners won hands down,' says McNamara.

Last year they went on to perform 230 live shows to over 750,000 people as the nation's only full-time band for children.

Event listed by The Funky Monkeys

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