Scene Magazine
Jenny Gable takes a cheerfully self-deprecating tone when she says teaching card tricks to birds doesn’t require a “full deck.”
But, for someone only recently enamored with winged wonders, the ringleader of Bird Brains Performing Parrots has several surprises up her sleeve. And she loves dealing with a jack of all tricks, a king of athletic endeavors and an aspiring big-screen queen.
“I’d always thought that birds were stupid pets,” says Gable, once active in horse training and obedience work with dogs. “A bird sits in a corner, it eats seeds, it makes a mess, and it bites.”
But when Gable’s then-7-year-old daughter won a coloring contest at school two years ago and brought home a parakeet cage and a pet bird “starter kit,” a flight of fancy formed. Gable began research on the Internet. Suddenly, birds didn’t seem so sloppy and obnoxious.
Faster than you can say “Mommy, can we get a bird, can we, huh, can we?” the family had a parakeet. “I had to tame it,” Gable says, “but that was really easy. It was such an interactive little bird.”
Soon, Gable’s performing ensemble – and vast array of parrot props – began to take shape. She added Dusty, a 2-year-old male cockatiel who performs 20 tricks ranging from “horseback” riding and retrieving the mail to setting the table. Gable was hooked. “I thought, ‘Gee, this is fun, but it’d be more fun if I had another bird.”
Then came Tango. A brightly green-colored quaker parrot commanding the spotlight with his martial-arts prowess and basketball-playing ability, he’s no dodo when it comes to playing the shell game. At 18 months, he does mean impersonations of a chicken and a Chihuahua.
Frankie, an 11-month-old Timneh African Grey, harbors the highest ambitions. A ballerina wanna-be who roller-skates, her beady little eyes are set on Hollywood. When Gable “shoots” her, Frankie slowly slumps to one side, gingerly rolls over onto her back, points her feet skyward and tilts her head to one side.
Most of Gable’s shows are private affairs; a 30-minute performance averages about $85 per view. Fees help pay for Gable’s time, bird feed and showmanship – not to mention animal maintenance. “A lot of people told me I should use them to make money to pay vet bills, which can be high.”
Jenny and the birds are currently branching out with a series of several stops at kids programs throughout the Cuyahoga County Public Library system. The bird bit, while geared toward smaller children, is entertaining for all ages. It’s even a hoot for those who think birds are messy and mean. – Jeff Woodard
Bird Brains Performing Parrots will appear at the Brookpark branch of the Cuyahoga County Library, 6155 Engle Rd., at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29. For more information about this and other branch library performances, call Gable at 330-220-1463.