Hi there! I'm new here so I'm hoping I'm posting this in the correct forum.

I'm making a Jabberwock puppet for an Alice in Wonderland-based play. It's going to be controlled by multiple puppeteers. I don't know what this type of puppet is called. The closest term I've found is "bunraku".

Anyway, here's a very basic drawing of what it will look like.



So there is 1 person inside the creature, supporting the body. I would like for them to be in a harness that is attached the frame of the body, because I feel that would be easier on the performer.

Has anyone had experience with something like this? I'm thinking of trying to find a frame backpack or a load-bearing harness and working out some way to attach it to the puppet's frame. Any advice/suggestions are much appreciated.

I would suggest an aluminum backpack frame with PVC pipe connecting the frame to a PVC frame onto which the body of the puppet could be attached. This would be the main puppeteer with others handling the head, tail and anything else you want. If you can't find an aluminum frame, make one out of PVC pipe. I've made and used several and they work fine. The aluminum frame would be better, but hard to find.

Cruppetman

I did something similar once with a giant rooster puppet. I wore stilts and had the puppet on a backpack frame. The puppet's legs were built around the stilts, my sister worked the head which was mounted on a pole.

Flickr won't let me hotlink the images but here it is from the front. I'm holding the pole to control the head myself before the pageant thingy starts. Don't have any pictures from the side unfortunately.
front view chicken

two chicken heads

Walking With Dinosaurs did something similar to what it sounds like you're going for with their baby t-rex puppet. The puppet wasn't on stilts but the feet were attached to the puppeteer's feet. It was pretty effective. Hopefully something from these links is helpful.

Somebody here not to long ago was building a giant Pterodactyl.  I haven't been abe to find the thread, maybe someone elese remembers.

Julie

Just thought I would embed the two images Cantata was speaking about. Turns out they where shareable.

A common rigging for something like this is a harness much like that used for flag carriers. In simple terms it is a belt with suspenders that has a small "cup" mounted where the buckle would be on a belt. The pole that would support the main frame of the puppet would rest in that cup. The nice thing about this set up is that it allows the puppet to be picked up quickly in order to perform. 

http://www.usflagsupply.com/item_5273/Flag-Carrying-Belt-Single-Strap-White-Webbing.htm

This would be the kind of thing that Shawn refers to. This is the low end of prices, you can get fancier ones and leather ones for increasing prices.

You can get the same effect by using a screw driver pouch for about $2.50.

You can get the same effect by using a screw driver pouch for about $2.50.

What a great idea!  In fact since they normally have more then one pocket in them perhaps you could support the main pole in the center one and then have others that rested in the side ones that could be pulled out and used to manipulate other parts of the puppet. Of course with something this large that may be a bit of a challenge for the puppeteer.