in #CASE you were curious about: Kazoos
January 28th is National Kazoo Day!
The original prototype for the kazoo was made for Alabama Vest by German clockmaker Thaddeus Von Clegg. (AUDIO)
Inexplicably, although the first kazoo prototype was created in the 1840s, the instrument did not get patented or go into production for another fifty years. Perhaps, like those who discovered evolution and the atomic bomb, the kazoo creators wanted to make sure that the awesome power of their invention would be used for the greater good.
The Kazoo is considered the most democratic instrument because a person with no skill can pick it up and play it immediately. By contrast, those fascist violins only like to play with the string instrument master race.
At first, the kazoo was used by many professional bands, but after a few decades, musicians recognized its limitations and the kazoo was relegated to amateurs and comedy acts. Let’s hope the same won’t be said about democracy.
Look mom! The Kazoo has made it to Broadway! In Frank Loesser’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a song in an executive washroom features a kazoo which is supposed to sound like an electric razor. (AUDIO)
The Guinness World Record for Largest Kazoo Ensemble was given to Barbara Stewart, the only person on Earth considered a kazoo virtuoso, who led the audience of Royal Albert Hall in 2011 in a performance with 3,910 kazoos. Listen at your own risk. (AUDIO)
Despite popular belief, kazoos are not related to vuvuzelas. However, the symptoms of kazoo and vuvuzela related PTSD are very similar.
The most expensive kazoo available today is a solid sterling silver kazoo sold by Kazoobie for $148.
The most common mistakes made by kazoo players are blowing into the wrong end of the kazoo, puncturing the membrane inside the kazoo, or accidentally sticking the kazoo up their noses.
Rick Hubbard is the only American making a full-time living playing the kazoo. His job may not be as weird as you think it is: there are people who make full time livings by sleeping and eating dog food.
Rick Hubbard is also the only person who has led a kazoo band at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He has bought many antique kazoos dating back to the 1930s, creating a collection worth a whopping $26.