I'll be puppeteering on Saturday!    At the mall.  For the The Great Cloth Diaper Change.  hahaha!  That's funny. I'll be getting my created puppets walking, talking, and dancing to the audience.  I hope I make people laugh.  I am going to be one nervous son of a @#$%%.    But hey, this is what I wanted to do.  I have a 8-skit puppet show.  But I'll be thinking of some more skits to make.  Any advice for this grasshopper?        

I don't perform myself. But you will do fine! Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Don't forget improv! Try telling stories Mad Libs style:

"Once upon a time, there were three little pigs... Hey, I bet you know this one. What if they weren't pigs? What do you think?"

Ask the kids for suggestions, and turn The Three Little Pigs into The Three Yelling Crickets. Kids love the absurd!

And good luck! You're braver than I am!

I agree with Dr Megan that it is good to remember to ad lib in your shows. Always good to have prepared dialog or skits but especially in situations like malls it is good to feed off what the audience can give you also.

I am sure  you'll do fine. Just remember to have fun!

P.S. Congrats on getting your first gig.

Wow! Congrats!  Are you performing at a diaper store? So many jokes there. Good luck!

Congrats! My only advice is to double and triple check that you have everything when you arrive and everything when you leave... and to keep checklists if you need them.

Thanks, Na.  I will. 

I am guessing I am only doing a half hour show, that's all.  But if it's more than that, how do I take breaks?   

If you are the only one puppeting, 30 minutes is a long time to have your arms up.  I advise you to plan your show with some intervals of different things, to give your arm a break.  Do you have someone who does this with you?  You could have them talk to the puppet from the front of the stage or have the puppets talking/singing together but maybe in the script the puppet goes down to "get something" just enough to give your arm a break.  I'm assuming you are doing venting right?

Even if you are the only one doing it you can have an "Emcee" puppet that is simple and less work to use, like a stick puppet or rod puppet that you can easily work with your weak arm to give your strong arm a break.  Also it's a good idea to practice with both arms to build up your weak arm to give you a break too.

In any kind of live theatre, instant forgiveness is very important.  If you make a mistake on stage, don't spiral into a terrible mood and ruin the show.  Just take a breath, accept that mistakes happen, and keep going.  You were probably the only one to notice, anyhow.