The UPS man brought my Terry Fator dvd this afternoon. I really enjoyed it, but I'm enjoying even more the commentary on the special features. Yes, some people actually listen to the people talking over the movie on those disk 

At any rate, Terry is talking about his relationship with his puppets, and what he says is very important, I think, to a top quality performance. Here's my transcription of a brief section:

"I wanted to mention this. When you see that I'm walking -- me and the puppets are having conversations. So I actually start the illusion of the puppet being real from the second I pick that puppet up. So as Em and I are walking down the stairs at the beginning of the video, we are talking. I'm saying, "You look lovely tonight." And she's saying, [high pitched voice] "Thank you so much . . .". And then, of course with this one [Dougie, the world's worst neighbor] we talk about lawsuits, because he reaches up and grabs her [Terry's lovely female assistant] neck, and I'm like, "You're gonna get me sued!" And he'll say, "I don't have any money." And I'll say, "I do!" So I'm just having these conversations, I'm really having these conversations, I'm not just pretending. I've actually started the illusion of life from the second I pick these characters up. There's never a time when these puppets are with me that they are not pretending to be alive, or acting alive."

[back to Chris]
I know that when my puppets are singing a song, my whole body is into it. I may be behind a curtain, but if I'm not dancing to the tune, then I don't think the puppet will be believable. Last Christmas I had a couple high school students help me with several performances, and they laughed at me when my Santa Claus character was dancing and singing to the music even before he came on stage.

If I don't think my friends are alive, how will I convince the audience that they are?

Link no longer available.


Thanks Chris

Billy D.

Chris,
I agree with you 100%.  When you are preforming with a puppet it is not just from the elbow up. It needs to be with your whole body.  It is one thing I try to stress when I am trying to teach actors to work with puppets.  While it may seem corny I want them to take the character as if they where playing it and then extend that down their arm into the puppet.

i have never seen puppets as just toys or piles of fabric like some people, when i use nicky or any puppet I look at him as if he just happened to show up or if im acting i simply become him and my own body is simply standing behind him. its strange because ive now seen puppets from the inside out but i still believe that as soon as its a finished product it becomes something real. Im the only one in my family who can watch puppets and find them more entertaining and real than most of thier favorite actors. Jim Henson knew what potential puppets really had and bless him for what hes hade made of it. p.s. ive waited a long time for that dvd and i cant wait to see it!

I'm still waiting for my DVD. It should be here soon. For those that attended Vent Haven, paper was passed around to sign and, and Terry Fator was going to have his DVD mailed to you. WOW.

He was at last year's Vent Haven and what a humble and personable guy. Signed some 400 autographs and took a gilzillion pictures.

I almost feel guilty for having mine already. I don't watch a whole lot of tv, so although I knew kind of what "America's Got Talent" was about, I had never heard of Terry Fator. Instead, because I had bought a couple of Jeff Dunham's dvds from Amazon, that was one of their recommendations to me. I decided to sign up for early sale, so that they would ship it as soon as it was available.

It turned out to be a good deal, I have really enjoyed the disc. The guy is good, and Julius is fabulous!