McNeese State University

Nanny Doodlehead (Tim Allured) talks to Harvey Rabbit and Laura Allured at a recent library performance in Hackberry, La. Tim and Laura, McNeese State University alumni with degrees in vocal education, have toured libraries and schools throughout the south with “The Harvey Rabbit and Friends Show,” which was a Parenting Pick in the 2001 issue of Parenting magazine.

Laura and Tim Allured, creators of “The Harvey Rabbit and Friends Show,” have discovered a common thread among the children in their audiences. If a joke isn’t funny, they won’t laugh.

“Adults will usually laugh a little, even if they don’t think something’s funny, out of sympathy. But children? They’re honest and uninhibited,” Laura said, while setting up for a recent performance for the Cameron Parish Library in Hackberry. “They won’t laugh just to make you feel better.”

When the material works, however, their honesty pays off. Children don’t chuckle calmly in their seats. They shriek, clap, point and double-over – uninhibited responses that you don’t get from adults.

“That’s the biggest difference between adult audiences and child audiences,” Tim said. “Children laugh louder.”

That’s why the Allureds, who received their bachelor degrees in vocal education from McNeese State University, left behind professional gigs as headline entertainers on a cruise ship to develop “The Harvey Rabbit and Friends Show,” a production that tours elementary schools and libraries throughout Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi and has been seen on “America’s Funniest People,” “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight.” In 2001, “Harvey Rabbit and Friends” was a Parenting Pick in the October issue of Parenting Magazine.

After graduation, Laura won first place in the Senior Ventriloquist Contest at the 1985 International Ventriloquist Convention in Ft. Mitchell, Ky. She said she developed a passion for performing as a little girl, when she took dance and ballet. Her dance company often performed at McNeese theatre productions, such as “Oklahoma” and “The Merry Widow,” when the students needed additional cast members for their musicals. Tim was also exposed to music at a young age; his father was a church organist and choir director.

The couple, who met at McNeese, performed skits for children at libraries and schools while they tried to secure full-time jobs on a cruise ship. They were eventually hired as headline entertainers for a company out of Miami. They performed family-friendly shows for mostly adult audiences, but the lure of younger audiences called them home to Louisiana.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of mood I’m in or how I feel before I start a show, once it gets going, I forget about all that. It’s impossible to feel bad when you hear a child laughing,” Laura said.

Tim said the idea for Harvey Rabbit developed from one of their cruise ship shows – he spotted Laura walking around with Harvey one day and sensed something special.

“Laura has an intangible connection with kids,” said Tim, who admits that before Harvey Rabbit, he often served as “dummy” to her ventriloquist – a task he was more than happy to relinquish to Harvey.

“The Harvey Rabbit and Friends Show,” which incorporates ventriloquism, puppetry, music, magic and comedy, also includes Cecil the Orangutan and T-Boy the Alligator.