If you've ever heard someone do it right, and it sounds as though some of you have not, you'd be amazed at how this lowly instrument can transform. Early jug bands have included kazoo players. I have heard only a few folks today who could match their efforts but there are some out there doing just that and even surpassing what those earlier pioneers have accomplished. One outstanding example is a fellow who calls himself The Paper Horn Man, a street performer who works the Pike Place Market in Seattle. He only uses a rolled up piece of paper or sometimes a paper cup (like the body of a kazoo) as an amplifying chamber and does not rely on any reed or artificial vibrating membrane as with a kazoo. The sounds he produces are beyond what could be produced by the use of such a reed. The sounds he conjures within his mouth are simply outstanding. In some early examples by those jug bands I've heard kazoos emulating incredible horn lines in the same way that The Paper Horn Man does. I wish I had that same gift but alas I'm merely a hack on my kazoozaphone by comparison.

So for those of you who would balk at this tiny toy-like creation, I say, hold your tongue and do some research before you write it off. Don't dicount man's ingenuity to take even the most unlikely of his creations and turn it into something astounding and entertaining.