I loved the Muppet Show as a kid. It was because of that I decided to go to school for special effects in Pittsburgh. I was in school in Pittsburgh when Jim Martin of the great space coaster (among many others) came and did a muppet workshop. I was facinated and begain building and eventualy took over the workshop at my school. After school I built puppets and mascots for the Kincaid company and toured the country with Bits-n-Peices Giant puppet Theater. Then I went out on my own building free lance and doing shows.

Soon I will be finishing my first degree (this week woot!!), and I am considering going back to earn a degree in Puppetry from WVU.

WVU is where my son will be graduating from this May!

Well, as a kid my mom had quite a few puppets (unfortunately most of them were improperly stored and were damaged beyond salvage). And of course I watched the Mpuppet Show, Sesame Street, and Mr. Rogers as a kid.
I've also made plushies, sculpted for latex masks, etc.
But it wasn't until after my dad had a stroke that I got into puppetry. One day I looked in a newsletter and it mentioned the Cup Of Cold Water at the Tri-State Fair. My parents and I have helped at it in the past and at some points someone did puppet shows. So, my dad wanted to try to use puppets. Unfortunately things didn't work out and we didn't end up doing it after all. But I did research which lead me to puppet making.
Currently I'm still trying to build up confidence in my puppet making skills. I've been doing a show on Blogtv for months due to prodding by Stiq and a few others and I'm the co-founder of the Saturday Night Puppet Block.
As for the future, I'd love to either find a church or something to work with high school or college students for doing some puppetry. Or one day even make some sort of show(I'm thinking sci fi or fantasy).

Wow puppets are cool . I enjoy them. I enjoy talking with you folks too. Keep it coming this is great stuff!

I got hooked on puppets when i was young,I grew up with howdy doody,captain kangeroo,garfield goose...puppets were a part of my everyday life .They facinated me back then and i'm still just as facinated by them today..it amazes me just how much can be expressed thru a puppet even if they don't utter a single word.

I got started much like many others did. I've had an affinity for puppets for as long as I can remember. I loved Sesame Street, Captain Kangaroo, etc.; then it was the Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock that kept me going. Of course I also love the Muppet films as well. I remember making one when I was a kid, in 4th grade or so, out of a sock and an old shirt and other odds and ends.

I became more serious about building them for several reasons. Around Christmastime, I decided that I wanted a nice puppet and started searching the web. Unfortunately, unless you are willing to shell out hundreds (or more) for a custom puppet, there really didn't seem to be anything that I liked that was "affordable". I was drawn to the Muppet Whatnot's available at FAO dot com, but quickly realized that for one, they really aren't "Muppet extras", they are mass-produced; and two, the "customization" is still rather limited, meaning anyone could order the exact same one.

I stumbled on Project Puppet one night while doing yet another google search, and was really interested, but at the same time I wasn't sure about my needlework and crafting skills, so I kept that idea on the back burner while I continued the search for something to suit my desires.

I finally decided to go back to Project Puppet and ended up purchasing the Roly pattern (since it is very muppet-like in appearance). I also watched many tutorials I found on YouTube.

I also think I've become so engrossed in this project because I quit smoking about 3 months ago, and building puppets keeps my mind and hands busy. I have several people now asking me to make puppets for them, and they are willing to pay me for them. I'm still trying to come up with what would be a "fair" price to charge since I am definitely still a novice and my techniques aren't perfected or polished yet.

Was it nature or nurture for me (or us)?

My first ever movie was The Muppet Movie...at age 5....at that stage I was already addicted to Sesame Street and the Muppet Show.  I few more years later I started to make puppets out of everyday materials around the house.  Always getting books from both the public and school library for inspiration.  My parents tried (in vain) to get me to do sports no matter how many Nerf soccer balls and throw balls they all got turned into puppet heads with moving mouths (next stage) and I would perform for company and friends and kids of the neighbourhood.  In High School I discovered acting and started performing and theatre.....after many about 10 years I got back into it and found I still have the natural talent for performing and still developing my skills in making puppets.  I love it a lot.

Daryl H

Awesome responses keep em coming so what is your story? Puppets are the best hobby I can think of . It is so rewarding to see how they end up.

I got started when my parents enrolled me in a Saturday-morning puppetry course at a local theatre.  I learned how to carve foam rubber there.  When I was in University I discovered a book about the Bunraku puppet theatre in Osaka, Japan, and that reawakened the drive to make puppets in me.  My father got me The Dwiggins Marionettes for Christmas after that, and I've been building marionettes ever since.