“Great songs for kids and parents! Silly Joe is a great performer and Poor Gill is full of memorably funny and clever songs. My three young kids love "Dad's Car" and "Princess in Training." We recently saw Joe at an event in Delaware, and he was terrific in person, too!” - Senator Chris Coons of Delaware
— CD Baby Website
“Silly Joe is a children's entertainer, who performs his own silly songs while playing guitar or ukelele or whatnot, sometimes with boxer shorts on his head if the song calls for it. ("Underwear"). Though I didn't find his humor to be tasteless at all. He's also a local high school English teacher whose class my daughter took. I recently got to hear him perform at a six-year-old birthday party at the Stone School in Claymont (my previous review) after having heard about him for years. He's kind of a Northern Delaware kids entertainment fixture, like Jungle John, in that you're likely to run across him at public events sooner or later. Anyway, during this party, he had the kids total attention, told some funny stories that kept the parents amused as well, and allowed the birthday girl's parents to relax for a while and enjoy the show. Great fun guy. Visit his website to hear some song samples.” - Bob K
— Yelp
“Children's author delights students with stories and songs Monday November 16, 2015 12:01 AM By Matthew Nojiri READING, PA The laughs, cheers, stomps and claps reverberated throughout the gym at Glenside Elementary School. There, Joe Consiglio sang his unique songs and told stories about sharks, dogs and an "evil, sinister and wicked" ice cream truck driver who just wouldn't stop for kids on Sweet Street. Consiglio, a children's author, musician and ninth-grade teacher in Wilmington, Del., came to make the elementary students laugh, but he also urged them to write their own stories. All you have to do is start with a character, give that character a problem and go from there," he said Wednesday afternoon. The author of "Big Billy and the Ice Cream Truck That Wouldn't Stop (Tales from Sweet Street)" picked up a guitar about 15 years ago and started writing music because he felt the typical children's songs were not very relatable for kids. Some of his songs, with lyrics like "are we there yet" and "don't make me pull over" scored big laughs from the crowd, as did a ditty about sharks. Another song about Pablo, a possessed dog that can't bark but can sing lines from popular Tom Jones songs, drew similar laughter. Consiglio mixed his songs and stories with a central message about writing. I'm here because I write, not because I'm a writer," Consiglio said. "I enjoy writing. Most of what I write is terrible, and I want the kids to understand that writing is something you just do. You do it to express yourself, to communicate. You do it because you love it. It's a process you just commit to and you can do this. There was also a Sweet Street connection Wednesday. Sandy Solomon, founder and CEO of Sweet Street Desserts, decided to sponsor the event after receiving a call from state Sen. Judy Schwank, a Ruscombmanor Township Democrat and a volunteer tutor at the school. Each class is receiving a copy of the book, as well. I thought this was a match for things that are important to me and for Sweet Street," Solomon said. "The kids are so excited to have an author in the school. If that excitement can continue on in their lives, what a gift we can give them. Consiglio's Sweet Street story has a surprise ending that he hoped the kids would keep with them. If you do something nice, even to someone who doesn't deserve it, you might change the world," he said. "So try it out. Kasonei Wood, 8, a third-grader, said it was exciting to have a children's author speak at the school. It made me want to write my own stories," he said. "Every time when the ice cream truck driver drove away, that was kind of funny. Contact Matthew Nojiri: 610-371-5062 or mnojiri@readingeagle.com. See more at: http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/childrens-author-delights-students-with-stories-and-songs#sthash.i6sdO2Vm.dpuf” - Matthew Nojiri
“Silly Joes's journey to Sweet Street Published: Wednesday, August 19, 2015 by Anne Neborak aneborak@delconewsnetwork.com View and purchase photos HOLMES>>“Silly Joe” spins yarns from everyday life. He creates song from the crazy things that kids say. You might have caught his act at libraries or at Linvilla Orchards. If you have a smile must cross your face as you remember the Underwear song or Princess in Training or the Ballad of Poor Gil, a fish who is flushed down the toilet. Joe Consiglio performs over 150 shows a year in the Tri-State area. Consiglio makes you smile at life’s little moments when kids and parents say innocuous things like ‘Are we there yet?’ or ‘Grow if you must.’ Everything can become a song. The Media resident started as a children’s performer at Camp JCC in Wilmington where he worked in the summer. When the children’s performer didn’t show up, he was asked to keep the kids entertained. The St. Joseph College grad didn’t know how to play an instrument or Hebrew songs. But he learned to play guitar and was taught the songs by the Rabbi. From that day on his second career was launched. He became children’s songwriter and performer. His quest was to do it perfectly. “I listened to Kids Corner countdown on WXPN and only found two songs by John Flynn that I liked. I wanted to see what made a good song. It clicked to write a kid’s song the most important thing is listening to my kids and other kids. It’s the things they do and say,” said Consiglio. “I sat at Bodyworks in the waiting room while my son learned karate. I wrote 20 to 30 songs. The ideas came as I listened to what was said started writing, “said Consiglio. He drove his son, Joe and his friend Danny to karate when they were talking about Danny’s fish and out of that came The Ballad of Poor Gil along with fourteen other songs on his CD ’Poor Gil and other stories.’ His son Joe is 21 years old now. Consiglio started with $500 and recorded the songs in his basement in 2001. It dawned on him that he had something when a family he knew played the CD all the way to Disney World and back. Parents loved his work as much as the kids. “Every time I do a show, I know what works. Kids tell you. You have to be real. Stories just happen,” said Consiglio. His business card sums up his belief that he has a mind of a five-year old. “Sing like a princess, quack like a duck and dance with underwear on your head. It’s something he tells his Creative Writing students at the beginning of class to spark them on. The singer-songwriter and English teacher is now an author. Consiglio teaches Creative Writing to freshmen at Concord High School. He self-published a book called SPORKS for teens and adults. But “Big Billy and the Ice Cream Truck that wouldn’t stop,” his first children’s book was published by Schiffer Publishers and illustrated by Joe Simko, known for his Topps Garbage Pail Kids trading cards along with other Wacky packages. More books are in the works for his imagery but based on reality place he calls Sweet Street. “In Big Billy, my daughter Margaret, 14, is the hero. In one of the ideas I am pitching my daughter Lizzie, 17, will be the hero. The stories are about making a connection with someone or fixing something that is broken. It can take years from idea to publication, “said Cosiglio. “I wrote a query letters and had piles of rejection letters. You just keep knocking on doors but not too hard. If you wait, you will be invited in,” said Consiglio. For more info or to contact Silly Joe Cosiglio go to www.sillyjoe.net. ” - Anne Neborak
“From underwear to silly songs about childhood, Silly Joe finds music Joe Consiglio answers questions about his songs and why he has underwear on his head By Kate Harmon kharmon@ydr.com @katesharmon on Twitter UPDATED: 07/09/2015 09:39:14 AM EDT It started off with Joe Consiglio singing for himself while working at a summer camp and teaching himself to play an instrument. The teacher was looking for more material to learn, and when he didn't like a lot of what he was finding, he started to write his own songs. From there, "Silly Joe" was born. Consiglio still teaches high school English, but in his free time travels around doing parties, school events and on Wednesday, made a stop at Bermudian Springs Elementary School. Armed with underwear on his head — a trademark you can thank his son for — Consiglio performs songs like "Everybody wants to pinch my cheeks," "Grow if you must," and of course, "The underwear song. Levi Kuntz, 3, holds still as Silly Joe puts a superhero cape around him before the superhero song. (Clare Becker — The Evening Sun) Q. What's your favorite thing about your job? A. I love the honest interaction with kids. Sometimes kids need to let off steam. Sometimes they need to be validated. Sometimes they want to be challenged with irony and word play. Whatever it is they need, I try to offer it. I never plan out an entire show. I always leave most of it open to improvisation. My favorite part of most shows is the time before and after when I get to put down the guitar and really talk to them. The best thing about kids as an audience is that they tell you what they think. You can't fake it with them. Q. How do you come up with your funny songs? Do the topics come from real life? A. The ideas come from many places but mostly from my family. For example, when my daughter was 3, she was having a bad day. I offered her a lot of things trying to cheer her up, but nothing worked. So I asked her what she wanted, and she said, "I wanna be grumpy." So I wrote her a song. The irony is that the song, "I Wanna Be Grumpy," cheered her up, and it cheers up a lot of kids who hear it. The song works because it acknowledges real feelings. It doesn't try to impose an adult expectation upon a child. Nova Lee Ard, 6, fistbumps performer Joe Consiglio, aka Silly Joe, as she leaves the gym after his performance at Bermudian Springs Elementary. (Clare Becker — The Evening Sun) Other ideas come from funny events. One day my younger daughter put lipstick on the dog, and my wife shouted, "Margaret Lois!" I turned to my son and said, "You know you're in trouble when you hear your middle name," and the song was right there. Q. How did you start wearing underwear on your head? A. The world can blame my son for that. I asked him to help me fold laundry, and he told me it was boring. So I put boxer shorts on my head and asked him if he was still bored. He pointed to my head, and I said, "Don't look up top." Then he looked to the floor, and I said, "Don't look down there." He said, "Why not?" and I started shaking my tushie and said, "It's under here. It's underwear." The song took about three minutes to write. I played it the same day and got calls that night about it. What can I say? A hit is a hit. You can't plan them. They just happen. Joe Consiglio, known as Silly Joe, reads a story to the audience during a performance at Bermudian Springs Elementary. (Clare Becker — The Evening Sun) Q. What do you think is the most important things kids get out of their visits with you? A. It's hard for me to gauge what they get, but I know what I want them to get. I want them to feel like they are understood, that someone is listening to them and giving a voice to their experiences. I want them to laugh at the silly things that happen in childhood. And I want them to be free to act like kids. Related Learn more about Silly Joe, his songs and appearances at sillyjoe.net. Performer Joe Consiglio, known as Silly Joe, laughs as a young participants puts a pair of underwear on the head of his stuffed animal during a dance skit at Bermudian Springs Elementary. (Clare Becker — The Evening Sun) ” - Kate Harmon