Gameops.com: It’s proven to be very difficult to start new acts. How did you get started with the BirdZerk! and the ZOOperstars (and which came first)?
Dominic Latkovski: Actually BirdZerk! came before ZOOperstars! The act that today is known as “BirdZerk!” was originally known as “Billy Bird & Company.”
That’s how my brother Brennan and I actually got started in this whole thing to begin with. I had been hired to be “Billy Bird” for the AAA Louisville Redbirds in April of 1990. The Billy Bird costume was made by Ted Giannoulas’ mother, who made his Famous Chicken costumes as well.
So, naturally, the Billy Bird costume resembled The Famous Chicken, except it was all red instead of multi-colored.
I immediately loved being Billy Bird, and everyone kept telling us that we should take our show on the road like The Chicken. We started performing routines at Redbirds games, doing skits that me, my brother and our father would come up with. Some worked, and some didn't! But I worked my ass off, and I was happy to be getting $35 per game to be the mascot of the Louisville Redbirds. Brennan would get $25 to perform various skits with me at that time.
Then, luckily, two things happened that really worked out well for us! First, the AAA All-Star Game was held in Louisville in July of 1991. We did not realize at the time, but all of the general managers and owners from the other AAA teams were at that game. We put on a great show that night! The place was rockin’ and it was on national television. So we were able to showcase our abilities for many people that night! Secondly, in December of 1992, the Baseball Winter Meetings were held here in Louisville. We had talked about taking our show on the road for a couple of years, and this was the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl. I had just finished college, and one of my professors from a marketing/entrepreneur class believed we had something special! He convinced me that our new act would have some success! I was a bit unsure, but invested $6000 of my own money for the venture. We put a tape together comprised of our best stuff. We were hoping (and I was praying since it was my money!) that we would get four teams to hire us for the 1993 season so I would at least get my money back. At this time, the Redbirds had given me permission to take the costume on the road and do as many shows as we could, as long as I made it back to town for all of their 72 home games.
As soon as the trade show doors opened, our booth was slammed! We started booking shows all across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada!
We ended up doing 48 shows on the road in 1993, in addition to the 72 I did for the Redbirds. Looking back, I don’t know how I did that many games, but I was only 23 years old at the time, and I guess that helped! It was then that we knew we had something special, and we ran with it!
The next year (1994) the Redbirds said I could focus solely on doing shows on the road. They hired another guy to do Billy Bird for their home games. We ended up doing 71 road shows that year! Then, after a disagreement with the Redbirds about how much in royalties we should have to pay them for the right to use Billy Bird on the road, we decided to split from them and become independent. So, in 1995, we had to ditch Billy Bird and come up with something new.
We knew we wanted something that was similar to Billy Bird so I would be comfortable doing the moves and maneuvers that I had learned in Billy Bird. So, we came up with the name BirdZerk!, then worked on what it would look like. We designed it to be a more colorful costume than Billy Bird, with crazy hair and loud colors. Finally, we knew that BirdZerk! had to have an attitude!
Our number of bookings for 1995 dropped a little, but we forecasted that would happen as we took one step backward to take two steps forward in the future. Once teams saw our new concept, we were back to a full summer schedule the next year. These days, our BirdZerk! schedule fills up months in advance and we continue to put on great shows for teams all across the country!
In 1998, we created ZOOperstars! It really stemmed from our father’s insistence on creating a character named Harry Canary. He kept trying to get us to put a Harry Canary character into the BirdZerk! show, but we didn't see how it fit. So, we came up with Shark McGwire, Ken Giraffey Jr., Pee Wee Geese, and Cow Ripken Jr. to make a baseball team of funny characters. We had recognized the positive feedback we were getting from our Air BirdZerk! character we introduced in 1996, and we decided to make the new act out of air characters. Then, we just had to come up with a name for the act. That is how ZOOperstars! was born!
It has really taken off and has surpassed any expectations we may have had! We now have 30 characters and 15 performers, including five full-time employees. It has been unbelievable what we have been able to accomplish with our two shows so far!
Gameops.com: How long did it take you to catch on with teams?
Dominic Latkovski: Because of the two breaks we caught (mentioned above) we had some pretty good success right off the bat. Some teams didn’t hire us early on because we were affiliated with the Redbirds and they didn’t want to say they needed another team’s mascot to help entertain their fans. Some teams didn’t hire us early on because they thought we were trying to be just like The Chicken. Now, after 13 years of touring and putting on great shows, just about every baseball team knows that we have a different style than The Chicken. We are strong in areas where he isn’t—especially dancing and just being “hip!”
As far as ZOOperstars!, it caught on with baseball teams right from the get-go. We still have a bunch of markets and teams to go after, and that will come with time. Take Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League for example. We do a few teams in each league now, and the shows always go great!
Whenever the rest of those big-name teams get on the ball and realize what we have to offer, we’ll do more of those big-name teams. For some reason, they don’t want to settle for “a minor league-type” of entertainment, but when they do catch on, it will create a bunch of new business for us. As the Philadelphia Phillies said after we appeared at the Phanatic’s Birthday Party, “This was the first time the Phanatic was shown up at his own event—and we loved every minute of it!”
So if the team with the most popular and best mascot in Major League Baseball says that about us, then we know we are doing something right.
We currently do almost 200 ZOOperstars! shows a year, and we perform for professional baseball, basketball, hockey, football, arena football, lacrosse, and indoor soccer teams.
Plus, we do many shows for college basketball, baseball, football, hockey, and even volleyball. Add some fairs, festivals, corporate events, and other appearances to the mix, and our calendar stays pretty full. So to answer the question, many teams have already caught on to us, but there are many more still out there who we would love to help out.
Gameops.com: What is the hardest thing for new acts to do to break through?
Dominic Latkovski: I would say the hardest thing is just to come up with something good that hasn’t been done already. It needs to be something unique, maybe like Myron Noodleman, that is different and off-the-wall. But that’s only the beginning of it. Most folks starting out don’t realize all the other things that must go into a show. Things like coming up with the initial investment, selling, quality of performance (every single night!), managing, selling, promoting, organizing, traveling, selling, being professional, marketing, creating new ideas, and on and on. These little things are the things that make our company stand out from the others. It’s really no different than running any other type of business. If people don’t want to, or can’t handle, all of these things, then they are better off just going out and getting a mascot job for a team. It kills me to see folks think that all they have to do is create a character, give it a name, and then hit the road. There is so much more to it, and if it was easy, there would be a whole bunch of people doing it!! That’s why I give The Chicken credit—he’s been doing it for so many years and has worked extremely hard at it! He had a vision and poured his life into making it successful.
Gameops.com: What makes ZOOperstars! so successful?
Dominic Latkovski: I would say it is definitely a combination of things. The cleverly named characters, the goofy things we can do in the unique costumes, the fact that we do choreographed routines, and the way we run our organization help make it special. We run a professional operation, we have great performers, we take the time to get to meet the staff of the teams who hire us, and we strive to make the fans’ experience at the game something special! Another thing about our show is the fact that kids love us the minute we first appear, but the adults appreciate it even more than the kids by the end of the show. For some lucky reason, people just love our shows!
Gameops.com: Did having another act help you launch the second act?
Dominic Latkovski: Without a doubt, having that springboard helped us out! Since most baseball teams knew us, it was natural for them to trust that we would come up with something at least as good as BirdZerk! was at the time. We already had the knowledge and experience of how things worked, so we just applied everything that was good with BirdZerk! into ZOOperstars!
Gameops.com: Are you considering any new shows, or are you focused on keeping the bird and ZOOperstars! fresh?
Dominic Latkovski: We always talk about new concepts for shows, as well as things that may help out what we already do. I would never announce to your large audience what we are going to do next, but stay tuned… As far as keeping things fresh, that is always one of our toughest tasks. We don’t want to do something that someone else is already doing, yet there are only so many new ideas out there. We know that if we do a great show, even if it is not entirely different than we what we have done before, then those fans at that game are going to love it and rave about it to the team. Some fans will say “It’s the same thing,” but many new fans will love it! And, the ones who have seen it before often want to see it again! They ask for certain routines!
Gameops.com: Share your best "on tour" story(s).
Dominic Latkovski: Here’s three: One of our smarter performers (Steve) was in the locker room before the AA All Star Game in Norwich a few years ago. There was a guy standing nearby, priming his voice to get ready to sing the National Anthem. Steve asked him if he was singing the Anthem and the guy said “YES.” Steve told him to “Knock ‘em dead,” and then walked away. He never realized it was Michael Bolton!
Earlier this year, we had a funny episode during a routine where Roger Clamens eats someone on the ice. Our guy getting eaten cracked his nose on the ice when he fell to the ground while being swallowed. His nose was gushing blood, but he had to continue on with the routine. So he jumped on the other guy’s (Steve again) back just like he was supposed to and proceeded to get tons of blood all over Steve’s hair and down his back. Steve was freaking out, but there was nothing he could do! That costume still has blood stains all over the inside of it today, because they just wouldn’t come out!!
My brother was working the crowd as Whale Gretzky at a hockey game for the Motor City Mechanics. We knew Kid Rock was in attendance that night, so we went by his suite. Kid Rock, who had been enjoying himself a little too much that night, sees us coming and hangs over the
rail and starts laughing at Whale Gretzky. So my brother sprays Silly String all over his face, in his long hair, and in his beer. It took about 10 seconds for the guy to even realize what was going on. His drunk friends just laughed at him and gave Whale Gretkzy high-fives!
Gameops.com: Who’s better looking, you or your brother?
Dominic Latkovski: My brother Brennan is better-looking, smarter, and he drives a nicer car. But I can still beat him in golf, basketball, pool, darts, and “bite the bubbles.”
[Brennan was unavailable for comment on this contentious question.]
Thanks to Dominic and Brennan for sharing some of their experience with our readers. One of the most common questions we get from teams and acts is "how do new acts break through". While it is very difficult to make the step from act concept to successful touring act, the Latkovski's have found the keys to success twice.
