I mentioned this in my introduction thread and some people were asking about it, so I thought I'd share.

Earlier this summer I got cast in a show that will take place in August here in Austin, Texas called Crack!: The Improvised Puppet Musical.

I've been performing improv comedy/theater for a while now here in Austin as well as some other more traditional theater, sketch comedy and other performances.  I have done some work with the Puppet Improv Project in the past and I'm really excited about this show.  It should be a huge challenge (improvise songs and scenes with puppets to make a coherent narrative?!?) and will push me as a performer.

They did a test run of the show last November which I wasn't a part of but I went to see.  More info here:
http://gnaptheater.org/crack/

Great Job! Thanks for updating us. Looks so exciting.


billy D.

This one song sounds like fun......looks like a new concept and I wish you all the success with it!

Daryl H

Hey, I live in Austin and had not heard of that show, thanks for the news. Sounds like fun.

We had our first rehearsal yesterday.  This is going to be fun...and difficult.

I actually feel pretty good about my skills.  I have a bit of background in all of the basic skills--puppetry, singing, improvising.  Some of the folks come from a more strict improv background, some people have a bit of improvised singing background or some work with puppets.  But it's hard to combine all those things at once.

I am now certain this show is going to make me a better improviser and puppeteer.

Crack! goes up next weekend.  The trailer is online now:  http://puppetimprovproject.com/crack-trailer.html

Loved the trailer......................... wished I could see it. It looks like a lot of fun. Goods luck with the show.


Billy d.

Did you make some of the puppets?  I recognized a few mass production puppets and did I see glorified sock puppets?

It looks like so much fun!  I live in Texas, but not near Austin enough to see this show. :'(

The director of the show and her dad made most of the puppets in the show, a lot of them are based on Project Puppet patterns, but some of them I don't know where she got the pattern or if she made the patterns (there's a few dragon rod puppets and a really sweet combo rod/hand snake puppet and maybe my favorite is a big two person hand in mouth puppet).

The show opened this past weekend and it was a lot of fun, I played both nights.  We had pretty packed houses for both nights and did some crazy wacky puppet musicals.  One set in Valentine-Town where all the puppets were in love but the mayor wanted to end that and one set on Mars where Earthlings (puppets) were terraforming the planet much to the chagrin of the martians, who forced them back to Earth at the end.  Good times.

Man, it is HARD (but incredibly fun and still good) to improvise musicals with puppets.  Just a lot of balls up in the air.

who doesn't love a healthy heaping of raunchy puppet fun?