ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 11, 1996 TAG: 9606110013
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALESSANDRA SOLER STAFF WRITER
ALTHOUGH he prefers the Cat in the Hat's red-and-white striped topper over Barney's purple suit, entertainer Jay Banks says he would love to share the spotlight with the dinosaur someday. But only on one condition: It has to be good, clean, wholesome fun, and, of course, kids have to love it.
"I think there's always room for another children's entertainer, if you're good at what you do," Banks said. Barney is "pure and clean, and children love that.''
Banks, who calls himself an interactive comedian, doesn't joke about politics or relationships between men and women. Instead, he uses a skeet-shooting device to fling bagels and muffins across a room or a weed-eater to shoot rolls of toilet paper into a crowd - all in hopes of getting a few laughs.
"When I get up on stage with the kids, we have a great time and I know I can make positive waves in that area," said Banks, who moved to Roanoke three years ago. "There just isn't enough humor going around these days, and I have the talent to do something about it. I like getting people up on stage, laughing and participating with me. It's great."
The 37-year-old minister started performing in front of audiences at church-related events in 1986. Although he never received any formal musical training, Banks would sing, and lead creative praise and worship sessions at religious conventions. He has appeared with Ricky Skaggs, Ronnie Milsap, White Heart and 4 Him, and has written songs for Amy Grant and Little Eva.
As his popularity with Christian audiences increased, Banks' songs became less serious and more fun. He decided that laughter was the best way to get people listening, especially kids. "The organizers of the conventions would use me to get people out of bed in the morning," Banks recalled. "They were all very Christ-oriented conventions, but my stuff had to be fun."
Banks, who is a temporary youth minister at North Roanoke Baptist Church, is scheduled to perform at conventions and religious gatherings this summer in West Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Twelve-year-old Amanda Davidson, who is in Banks' youth group, said he's just a big kid.
"He's hilarious," said Amanda, a seventh-grader at Northside Middle School. "I really don't think he's normal. I mean, we just don't play normal games or do normal things.
``He gets the point across to us in other ways besides preaching."
But his real passion, he said, is to explore the "secular avenues" of children's television.
"It was always easier for me to stand up in front of people and make them laugh rather than speak at funerals," Banks said. "Once you're ordained, people expect you to be sad. But if your talents are to spread joy, then you need to be a joyous person. I'm just not cut out to deliver the weekly pep talks that go along with being a minister."
Two years ago, Banks decided to put together a children's television show - one that he wouldn't mind letting his own kids watch. He got the idea after watching a program on Nickelodeon with daughter Kristin, 8, and son Jayme, 4. He was irritated by the way the creators of the show portrayed one of the puppets.
"I just didn't get it. I kept asking myself, `Why is this on my kids' show?' I mean, it was funny and all, but it just wasn't meant for children. I was thinking, `Are my kids really learning anything?'
"It just bothered me, and I began thinking, maybe they just don't have enough people out there willing to put together good, moral kinds of shows. I guess when I was a kid it didn't matter. But now that I'm a dad, it does."
So he wrote, produced and starred in a 3-minute tape called, "E-I-O My Goodness," which adds a new twist to the popular children's song "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."
"It's such a neat little kids' song," Banks said. "I mean, all the kids are dressed up like farm animals, and kids watching kids dressed-up makes it even cuter. I never understood what E-I-E-I-O meant, so I decided to change it a little and make up my own version."
He produced the music using his personal computer at home, then recorded the final digital version of the song at a friend's studio in Cincinnati. He used a program that digitally combines the sounds of the instruments - the fiddle, banjo and drums, for example - onto a computer chip; the only actual instrument used on the tape was an electric guitar. His two kids dressed up like farm animals, and he used teen-agers from a local dance studio to perform in the video, which was shot in two days in Zebulon, N.C.
"I liked it because it's funny, and I got to dress up like a pig," Kristin said. "The only bad part was being with my little brother, because he just doesn't know how to dance and sing at the same time.''
Last year, the video aired on the Cox and Salem Cable access channels. Banks said teachers, parents and even children called his toll-free number to comment on the show.
In January, the Association of Professional Videographers presented him a certificate and award for the "Best Video Production" at their annual convention in New Orleans.
Banks, who grew up in Salisbury, Md., played in several bands while in high school. "I never took one music lesson, but I've always had an ear for music," he said. "My family used to sing a lot, and my dad's got a great Irish singing voice." Banks' mother appeared and sang on the popular television show ``Ted Mack's Amateur Hour'' in the '40s and '50s. He said she took her own life when he was 8.
"Nobody in the family ever talked about her," he said. "I found out she was a singer because I was going through some of her stuff when I was little and found a poster with her picture on it advertising one of her singing gigs at some hotel in Atlantic City. That's probably where my love for music comes from.''
He picked up the guitar in 1982 while at Roanoke Bible College in Elizabeth City, N.C., where he received a bachelor's degree in Christian education, with a minor in child psychology. Four years after graduating, he moved to Raleigh, N.C., and worked as a youth minister at a church. On weekends, he would perform at festivals and religious gatherings. He moved to Roanoke in 1993 after his wife of 14 years, Diana, was offered a job at a local bank.
Recently, Banks volunteered to write and help produce a three-minute piece on the nationally syndicated show "Video Kids 2000'' on WSLS (Channel 10). Although he didn't star in this video, he did get a chance to choose which type of programming would be suitable and interesting enough to educate kids and keep their attention.
Since the release of "E-I-O My Goodness" in 1995, Banks has sent copies to local and out-of-state executive producers. He said he knows it'll be tough to get a full-time job writing and producing his own kids' television show, but he's still hopeful.
"Maybe if things go as planned, I'll be able to do more than just volunteer work for WSLS," Banks said. "I've had offers from other companies, but I haven't found anything that I like. The problem with a lot of these offers is that I wouldn't have enough control over the type of programming, and anyone can just come along and pervert what I want, which is totally good, clean fun."
LENGTH: Long : 135 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY Staff 1. These days Jay Banks is aby CNBtemporary youth minister at North Roanoke Baptist Church: "There
just isn't enough humor going around these days, and I have the
talent to do something about it. I like getting people up on stage,
laughing and participating with me. It's great."
2. Jay Banks at work in his basement studio: "Once you're
ordained, people expect you to be sad. But if your talents are to
spread joy, then you need to be a joyous person. I'm just not cut
out to deliver the weekly pep talks that go along with being a
minister." color.