A Dueling Pianos International performer comically entertains.
Photo provided
You know you’ve got a good thing going when you’re raising money for a good cause and raising comical cane in the process.
So it is for the Ivy Tech Foundation raising money for scholarships. It has organized for the fifth straight year a Dueling Pianos musical comedy show from 6 to 10 p.m. Jan. 22 at The Commons, 300 Washington St. in downtown Columbus. This performance is fittingly titled “Mambo Number 5.”
The lighthearted format of Dueling Pianos is simple: Two keyboard players seated face to face at separate baby grands play crowd-requested tunes amid a high-energy sing-along where the audience is just as much a part of the show as the performers.
Some audience members pay in a tip jar to have a tune performed. Others may pay to have the song stopped.
The back-and-forth musical tug of war, plus one part of an audience crooning against another section of the crowd, can all be part of the fun involved in the cool duel that raises added funds beyond mere ticket sales.
Amid all the monetary dueling are laughs, including those triggered by the singer/players mimicking artists ranging from Elton John to Lady Gaga to Prince with outlandish props, wigs, you name it.
In a nutshell, those who have seen it all unfold before say that two kooky keyboardists — actually polished professionals who know major musical genres inside and out — make for one big party. They tickle the ivories while tickling the collective funnybone of the audience.
Therese Copeland of the Ivy Tech Foundation said a year ago that organizers decided to keep the annual 21-and-older event going while it’s selling out. In other words, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
“We always say that you don’t necessarily have to sing good,” said Jason Scarcelli, president at Lorio-Ross Entertainment, which operates Dueling Pianos International. “You just have to be loud.”
The keyboardists, on the other hand, have to be, well, everything in a sense, he has said. Many of them can play a staggering 3,000 to 4,000 tunes.
And Dueling Pianos International features more than 300 such artists crooning nationwide.
Information and tickets: connect.ivytech.edu/dueling-pianos-22.
