“My father kept suggesting that we change BirdZerk! to a character he called Harry Canary,” Brennan said. “He thought that baseball fans would more easily connect with a bird with glasses and white hair that leaned out the press box window and sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” than BirdZerk!
“Since BirdZerk! was popular and already established, we didn’t want to eliminate him, but we saw an opportunity with Harry Canary,” he added. “We decided to make him an inflatable character. At a restaurant one night, we sat down and brainstormed for names of other characters.”
Ken Giraffey Jr., Shark McGwire, and Cow Ripken resulted from that session, as did the framework for ZOOperstars!, which debuted in 1998. Dominic and Brennan consulted with lawyers, who told them they could legally use variations of sports figures’ names as long as the players’ likeness is used as entertainment parody and not in the sale of merchandise. Over the years, more characters arose. Nomar Garciaparrot and Mia Hammster. Ichiroach Suzuki, Derek Cheetah and Mackerel Jordan. Shaquille O’Seal, Snail Earnhardt Jr. and Mario Lemule. Even Donovan McCrabb and Peyton Manatee are represented in the ZOOperstars!’ entourage.
ZOOperstars! has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Indonesia. Most shows will have at least five characters, even if only two performers are on hand. They dance to music on the field and on dugout roofs, playfully harass umpires, mingle in the stands and have skits with skillfully orchestrated maneuvers. Most characters have a certain niche. For example, Centipete Rose splits into two pieces with both running around looking for its other half. Ken Giraffey Jr. can flip his neck around in circles in tune with the music, and pop his entire neck and head into his costume and back out. Clammy Sosa, Roger Clamens, Snail Earnhardt Jr. and Mackerel Jordan can eat people. The “Eat It” skit is the highlight for many fans.
At a recent game, with Weird Al Yankovic’s “Eat It” blaring from the sound system, 10-foot-tall Clammy Sosa devoured a bat boy (actually a ZOOperstars! performer dressed in a bat bay uniform) and then spit out bits of clothing – shoes, a cap and a pair of pink silk boxer shorts adorned with hearts.
It takes coordination and athleticism to join the ZOOperstars! Most of the four full-time and 15 part-time cast members have a background as either a team mascot, cheerleader or gymnast, and it takes hours of practice to master dance routines and movements for skits. The cost for each costume ranges from $4,000 to $9,000, Brennan said. The typical costume weighs 15 pounds alone, and 35 pounds when worn since it includes a 20-pound battery pack and motor to keep it inflated.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Haray Canary absolutely stringed me last year in Rome, Georgia. I now have a name to go with the police report. Sweet!