STORYTELLER MESMERIZES KIDS IN NEW BILLING.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
``Jamie the storyteller is Jimmy Casanova, only more mellow.'' - James Wolfe. His circuit is elementary schools, libraries and senior citizen centers these days, not Vegas or Reno. And the material he uses to get the crowd into his act has changed dramatically, although the rules haven't. It still has to be clean. But maybe the biggest difference in the man of many faces and names - onstage recently telling stories to an auditorium full of mesmerized kids as Jamie the Storyteller - is the billing. After 63 years as an opening act, James Wolfe is finally the star. Top billing. The main act. All at the tender age of 77. It's been one heck of a show-business roller coaster for this entertainer who wasn't much older than the kids he now entertains when he broke into the business in 1934 as Jim Jam and His Educated Harmonicas. ``My mother was an accompanist for an Irish tenor working Reno, and I got started playing on the bill at 14,'' Wolfe says. His next local gig is Aug. 9 at the Mid-Valley Regional Branch Library in North Hills. ``Some of the girls in the line sort of adopted me and nicknamed me Casanova. It stuck. When I left Reno in 1938 and struck out on my own at 18, I was now Jimmy Casanova, singer, poet and humorist hu·mor·ist n. 1. A person with a good sense of humor. 2. A performer or writer of humorous material. humorist Noun a person who speaks or writes in a humorous way . ``I played the Frontier Hotel, which was only the second hotel on the Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip (also known as The Strip) is a 4 mi (6.7 km) section of Las Vegas Boulevard South, most of which has been designated an All-American Road. at the time, opening for people like (singers) Jane Morgan Jane Morgan (born December 25, 1920, Newton, Massachusetts) is an American popular singer, specializing in traditional pop music. She was born Florence Catherine Currier, , Jonie James and Harry Belafonte Harold George Belafonte, Jr. (born March 1, 1927) is an American musician, actor and social activist. One of the most successful Jamaican musicians in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style in the 1950s. ,'' Wolfe says. ``In the '60s, I was comedy upfront (the opener) for a lot of acts. I played with the Beatles in Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. and Elvis a few times. I played London and many of the big houses. ``I played the world. All that and 55 cents gets me a ride on a bus today,'' he says, laughing. A serious car crash and illness laid Jimmy Casanova low in the '80s, but when he felt well enough to resurface re·sur·face v. re·sur·faced, re·sur·fac·ing, re·sur·fac·es v.tr. To cover with a new surface: resurfacing a road; resurfaced the floor. v.intr. again in the early '90s, he did so as Jamie the Storyteller - creating a whole new persona. A persona with a mission. ``I have six children and a flock of grandchildren,'' he says. ``Their education and the future concerns me greatly. That's why Jamie the Storyteller was born.'' Wolfe, a member of the Mid-San Fernando Valley Sunrise Rotary Club, also serves as chairman of the Literacy and Numeracy numeracy Mathematical literacy Neurology The ability to understand mathematical concepts, perform calculations and interpret and use statistical information. Cf Acalculia. Task Force for District 5260, which encompasses 31 separate Rotary Clubs in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . In 1992, he came up with the idea of Operation A to Z, a program where different Rotary Clubs send representatives to local schools in their areas to help teachers assist kids with learning disabilities and problems. ``As Jamie, I go around to schools and read traditional stories to all the kids, classics like Hans Christian Anderson and Brothers Grimm For information about the other uses of the name, see Brothers Grimm (disambiguation). The Grimm Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, were German academics who were best known for publishing collections of folk tales and fairy tales,[1] ,'' he says. ``It's absolutely wonderful to look out there and see their shy little faces enthralled en·thrall tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls 1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience. 2. To enslave. by the same stories my kids were growing up to. I'll also play games with them, then warn them about smoking, drinking and drugs.'' When the venue is a senior citizen center, Wolfe will take his audience for a walk down memory lane, regaling them with ``The Legend of Danny Boy,'' a narrative story he has written around the popular Irish song, where a father who has already lost one son is watching his second son march off to war to fight for Ireland. Every Wednesday, Wolfe reads stories at the Braille Institute downtown, and on Aug. 3, he will bring Jamie the Storyteller to children at the Shriners Hospital. For additional information on where and when Jamie the Storyteller will be performing, you can reach him at (818) 830-7305. ``Once in awhile, I'll run into some of the guys I used to work with in Vegas and Reno, guys like Don Rickles, and they'll ask whatever happened to Jimmy Casanova?'' Wolfe said Friday. ``I just tell 'em he mellowed out and became a storyteller named Jamie.'' A main act, not the comedy upfront. Working some of the biggest rooms in the Valley for free. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Storyteller James Wolfe spins his yarns at Woodland Hills Elementary School. Gus Ruelas/Daily News |
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