Hi

My Name is David i'm 21 years old and i live in the UK. I'm unfortunately disabled with having many problems incl. a crippling spine so i have to ly down all the time (thank god my pc is a laptop) and being a full time wheelchair user outside, i can walk but 5 steps at most. My Hobbies include being a geek basically, i love computers i was taught by my dad since i was 4 who unfortunately passed away a few years ago (not going into that subject), i like video games surfing the interent etc. I am currently in no further education and wont be never liked school and now ive finished college good bye good ridins (Sorry if thats not spelt right). I am not employed because with being disabled  have income because im not fit to wrk.

Right enough of me which is probably boring to everyone here, now the reason im here.

I am completely new to puppets, to making puppets, but i need to make one in the near future and have no idea where to start. The idea is:
I currently watch an online show on UStream (its a free live broadcasting website). Anyway i've always wanted to use it for my own show so i thought of a weekly webcast show only problem is aswell as being disabled i am also overweight it didn't cause my problems but it doesn't help, because of it when in my house i don't wear many clothes because i get uncomfortable, so for a weekly show it would be a problem. Then my brin clicked, why not make the host of my show a puppet of my own character. That's where im hoping i can get help, but i;m not going to post that part yet incase it needs to go somewhere else.

Anyway this sounds like a great place and i'm afraids that it for a intro, so its nice to meet you all and Thanks for Reading.

Hi Dave, welcome to puppetsandstuff,
Its great that you have found this site and im sure you will find alot to help you with your webcast puppet host, there are many posts on here about making puppets, its just a case of searching around for the posts and asking lots of questions, and we are always happy to help, there are some amazing puppet builders on here and many of us are highly experienced at puppet building and performing, so im sure you will find what you need!!
Good luck and have fun!!
Ben.

Welcome to PandS! Since you describe yourself as a geek... do you have an xbox? The reason I ask is because with the new connect some puppeteers have been exploring using the technology to create a virtual puppet.  Might be something you would be interested in. Here is a link to the original post about this: http://puppetsandstuff.com/community/index.php/topic,6065.0.html

thnx guys, thats looks super cool but i really need a real puppet anyway, and i use kinect ver often becuase of my problems though. Heres my Idea,

He is a male character around the age or 8 or 9 i prefer 8, mainly becuase i want something young and cartoonish like a muppet but human and his name is Dave, which why my show was going to be called Big Dave and Little Dave and my name to match.

Only problem i hope annyone can help want to build a mouth puppet but i want legs on him similar to jeff dunham's puppets (love him). It was mainly becuase another part of the short was going to be him coming outside with me in the real world from his perspective, and if i could build him with legs, then i could steer my electric chair with one arm and have the other arm up the puppet to make it look like hes sitting on the arm of my chair.

Oh and if its poosible i want to make so i can make the naked body, so i change his clothes, and make him new ones when i feel like like real people.

Nice to meet you Dave! I like your idea. I know from my expierience that puppet therapy works quickly. I did several marionette mini-courses for disabled children and adults last summer. It really works and my students were very creative. It is also a good way of communication - with puppet in hand everybody is equal.

Hey Big Dave, welcome to P&S!

Sounds like you have a great idea and vision for what you want to do. One thing I would recommend to make things easier for yourself when dressing the puppet is to build the body in a size that can fit toddler clothing. This way you have 1 less concern to worry about as a newcomer to the hobby since you know once the character is done you'll have no trouble getting new clothes to fit.

nice to meet you amarionette and Steve

Steve thats a great idea, the only custom thing i wanna make is theres a Transformers Convention i go to every year and if he gets enough fans im taking him with me this year, so if i do im gonna make him a custom Transformers Shirt, or maybe i should see if theres one small enough

Welcome to Puppets and Stuff!

nice to meet you Billy