Swine are the stars of fair midway show
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ESCANABA -- One new element at the Upper Peninsula State Fair this year is attracting curious attendees and existing fans. Pork Chop Revue and Friends features trained animals performing tricks alongside Les and Nina Kimes while music plays and Les drops quips into a microphone in a sort of barnyard cabaret.
The act may have garnered its most recent wave of attention after making it to the quarterfinals of America's Got Talent in 2020, but current showrunner Kimes -- who reports that he's been in the act since he was a baby -- explained that said appearance only adds to the fame surrounding Pork Chop Revue, which was started by his father in 1956.
"He'd done all the major TV shows that were popular at the time -- the '50s and '60s. Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin … We grew up doing fairs, festivals, theme parks, TV shows. My dad played nightclubs, like, Nashville."
To date, Pork Chop Revue has performed in every state except Alaska, said Kimes. He and Nina and the animals travel the country and camp comfortably: Les drives the larger of their two vehicles, an enormous climate-controlled custom Freightliner with stalls for the animals. When parked, one side of the trailer becomes the backdrop of the show; on the other, the couple erects pens for the pigs and other animals, which are new this year and add a surprise to the act. Nina drives the vehicle that serves as human living quarters and parks hidden from view on the other side of the pigpen. Audience members rarely notice it, but the position of their traveling home allows Les and Nina a vantage point for keeping an eye on the talent.
And just what can be expected by those who have yet to plop down on the bleachers in front of the swine show? Here's the cast:
– Mac, who looks like he might outweigh half the population of the beef barn, plays the part of "Oink the Singing Pig," a character created by Les's father in the late '50s in a sing-along featuring a volunteer audience member.
– Teddy is a little fellow whom Nina said has only been performing about six weeks.
– Red, the "comedian," helps Les make a pun.
– Nelson, part Russian wild boar, is an acrobat.
Three other four-legged friends perform yet more stunts, but Les and Nina prefer to keep their audience guessing until showtime. One fills a role that reportedly used to belong to 16-month-old Les himself.
Also on the road with the rest of the gang are a few animals in training, who hang out in pens up front between shows. Nina sells cups of veggies for people to feed them, and says that letting these animals become socialized in this petting zoo is fun for everyone.
Pork Chop Revue's first appearance in Escanaba Monday evening followed a drive up from the Boone County Fair in Belvidere, Ill. After the U.P. State Fair, Pork Chop Revue will be heading to the Genesee County Fair in Mt. Morris, Mich. Les and Nina's permanent home is in the country in Myakka City, Fla., where their daughter resides along with all the older animals retired from the show.
This year, the couple reported, their daughter actually travelled to Hawaii with a smaller version of the show. Six years ago, the whole act, custom semi and all, travelled across the Pacific Ocean on a ship to perform in the 50th state. Les said, "On the giant freighter, they let us set up our pens and everything."
Nina said that it was a hit, but this year, the main act was fully booked in the lower 48, so off went a little satellite for a few weeks.
The animals are asked to perform on command, but never forced, Les said.
"People see our relationship with our animals," he said. "People see that the animals, they listen to us and they want to do it. It's fun. And I think our formula for, quote, unquote, success has been -- people see that the animals are having fun. We're having fun. We feel like the people have fun … They just feel the energy and it's just, it's silly. It's a fun, silly show. And I think people feel it."