Hey everyone,

So I was digging through some of our old footage and found this gem and just had to share. Nothing better than a puppeteer who is bored at home with a captive audience.



Feel free to share similar experiences,
Jon Little

Funny thing with kids who grow up with a mom who likes puppets - they think puppets are very ordinary, not magical at all like I thought at their age.  I get better feedback from neighbor kids because puppets are new to them.

My husband, on the other hand, will occasionally walk up to a puppet in process in my workshop and say with a smile and a jealous overtone  "Lucky devil, she puts her hands all over you."  He'll say it to get me to smile and laugh.

That is very funny Puppet Lady but I can relate in a different way. My elderly Mother lives with me and becomes very jealous at times. She thinks the puppets are cute but resents the time I invest in building them. I have tried to get her involved in the building process but she has yet show any interest. So I take the mornings to spend time with her and tend to puppetry related items in the afternoon and evening.

Billy D.

I wonder if part of all this is that the marrionettes (puppets in general?) are a bit like a puppateers' alter-ego--maybe that's why they seem almost like real people--or am I over-analyzing?

My kids are like Puppet lady's they don't think my puppets are nearly as cool as the kids that see them only in performance.  My wife hates it when I get into a new build because the creative process takes over and can absorb hours at a time.  Right now I'm not into any puppet building projects simply because I know I have too many other things I need to do that won't get done if I build another puppet.

Klaus is right about my characters they tend to be an extension of at least one part of my personality.  Often combined with characteristic of my frineds and family.

I wonder if part of all this is that the marrionettes (puppets in general?) are a bit like a puppateers' alter-ego--maybe that's why they seem almost like real people--or am I over-analyzing?

I have no doubt that my best work as a puppeteer is when I feel particularly close to a  character. That does concern me a bit, as my favorite characters tend to act out a fair bit. I've often thought that a good therapist could have a field day with some of the things that come from my puppets' mouths.

My wife has seen only a few of my puppet productions, my puppet world exists mostly well away from her world. She always brags on the puppets and me, but I think she is mostly puzzled by the whole thing.

Since my whole family is a puppet family - although I am the only ventriloquist - we understand each other VERY well.  HOWEVER, everyone else in the town we live in thinks we are strange!!  They look at us as a "curiosity".

My wife's probable pet peeves are finding body parts strewn about the house and losing sight of me for hours at a time. There tends to be a lot of bits of foam stuck to everything as well - me, the furniture, the dog... static-y stuff!

I've on ocassion used a habd-puppet of a very realistic dog (Spitz, I think; my dad brought him over from Germany about 50 years ago)--the crazy mutt's a total love-able wise-ass--the only way I can get away with that attitude without getting clobbered by someone in the audience! Thank God for marrionettes & puppets!

OK, has anyone gone shopping with your puppet to get clothes for them?  I usually make all the clothes for my puppets but I had a client who wanted a puppet that wore children's clothes so he could have a larger wardrobe and go shopping for more outfits.  Hmm. I thought people would smile.  I got the strangest looks.  I had the distinct feeling they thought I was nuts.