I prefer Dancing Dans. Softer percussion and you get to watch a neat little puppet. I've seen people use them all my life, but saw a guy at a festival last summer who brought the little guy to life and was perfect backup for his guitar and mando playin' friends.

For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, it is a wooden stickman usually dressed like a stepdancer, with loose-jointed limbs. They are 'danced' on a wooden paddle, and make a lively tapping sound. They're called other things, but I always knew them as Dancing Dans, though I can't find a mention of 'em through Google.