Norman Foote to close Memorial Center season

For nearly 40 years singer-comedian Norman Foote has entertained crowds around the world with his unique blend of music, laughter and “props with an attitude,” as he describes his show.

Foote arrived in Libby late Tuesday night in advance of his Friday performance at Libby’s Memorial Events Center and spent the rest of the week doing community outreach for the arts. The outreach program, he said, helps theaters build their arts audiences and attract new patrons to performances.

“I love the outreach programs,” he said. “I love coming into towns and going out to the schools, care centers and playing to the smaller crowds. I then incorporate those activities into my shows and it helps create more interest for the theaters.”

Foote said the hallmark of his style of entertainment is playing to his crowd. He has performed for audiences with very young children to senior centers with a more experienced and mature audience.

“I learned at an early age to play to the crowd,” he said. “Many artists have a set, and that’s what they play. With my type of show, I can adjust it to appeal to crowds from age five to 100.”

Foote said he started his performing career as a teenager, when his mother would make him play his guitar for visiting friends and relatives. From that experience, he learned to adjust what he would play to appeal to the audience for whom he was playing, a skill he puts into practice at every performance.

Before sitting down for an interview with The Western News Wednesday morning, Foote played an intimate gig with the students at Libby’s Central School.

“Those kids were super-great,” he said. “People underestimate how quick kids are. The kids nowadays have such an appetite for bizarre humor.”

Foote said he mixes up his own original compositions with spoofs of classics and then adds a twist of his own sarcastic humor to entertain his audiences.

“Sarcasm dominates modern pop culture,” he said. “Today’s kids are really into the pop culture and they are so quick to catch that humor.”

Foote’s message to his audience is one he said he wishes was conveyed to him as a child.

“Stick with what you’re good at it,” he said. “Stick to what you believe in. Follow through with your dreams and work at something until it makes you proud. What I want to relay to the audience is a message of belief and self-esteem.”

Foote takes the stage at 7 p.m. at the Libby Memorial Events Center.