"I'm cloning myself. With my ear wax."
"Behold! The amazing multi-mallow roaster!"
"It's Tuesday. I don't do yellow on Tuesday."
"Snickersnaps!"
These are a few phrases flying around this household just now, thanks to a new show for "quirky" kids called Flummox and Friends. We're genuine fans, and I know you will be, too. With your help, we may someday be more than fans. The Beakers Kids want to go play in Flummox Labs. Awesome.
Flummox and Friends is the collaborative bouncing baby brain child of three women: Christa Dahlstrom, a Northwestern University television production alum and the mother of a young boy with Asperger's Syndrome; and award-winning speech therapists Jordan Sadler and Liesl Wenzke Hartmann, who specialize in social communication for "quirky" kids on and off the autism spectrum.
Dahlstrom wanted to make a show for her son and kids like him that had the energy and intelligence of classic "edutainment" shows like The Electric Company. She describes Flummox and Friends as Big Bang Theory meets Pee Wees Playhouse. (It's an accurate description.)
Carried by a terrifically funny cast (most of whom are professional comedians and/or stage actors), the pilot show manages to inject a lot of respectful humor into a potentially exploitable topic (social awkwardness) without caricaturing their subjects --proof of the scriptwriter's (Dahlstrom) and Sadler's sharp eye, and the cast's intelligence and their affection for their audience.
And they work in a science lab. So, of course, I had to meet them. At least Jordan.
Jordan Sadler, one of the show's co-creators, lives here in Chicago.
Sadler's therapy is a pro at Floortime/DIR and Michelle Garcia Winner's developmentally based and affectively based therapy. This is a fancy way of saying, "She likes to play and laugh" when she works with your child because she thinks emotional connections are key to creating better communication. Additionally, she teaches workshops for teachers and parents who want to get "app savvy" with their kids. Technology is powerful with poor communicators. Flummox and Friends is just another form of "bridging" technology to help her kids succeed. She's thrilled at the response she's getting from kids about the show. "I saw a first grader --a FIRST grader!-- at my son's school who was so excited about the show. All he wanted to know was when was there going to be new one!"
(I can personally vouch that my ten year old daughter has watched the show at least once --sometimes three times a day for the past week-- and is desperate for new Flummox shows. This, from a "no thanks if it's not Phineas and Ferb" fan.)
Yesterday Jordan and I met for lunch, and over Ann Sather's famous cinnamon rolls chatted about our individual projects --and
where they might possibly merge. Much of that is secret for now, but it's obvious that The Beaker Kids are natural friends for
Flummox and Co. and we hope that in the future you'll see both
together.
Alas, as AWESOME as Flummox and Friends are, they DO need $$ to film additional episodes of the show --shows that may include The Beaker Kids, too!
One way you can help costs nothing but your time: simply watch the pilot episode. The more views it gets, the better future backers will see it's popular potential. Just a month ago they launched their pilot episode out to the world from their own website. F&F want 10,000 visits by Christmas. After just a month, they've gotten four thousand visits, so it's totally do-able! I'm plugging it in below so you can watch it --and pass it on!
Share the laughs and help Flummox Labs keep experimenting!
Social Skills/Social Thinking