Okay, I love puppets.  Yes.  And although I am not always a big fan of ranchy humour I can always appreciate well made puppets and well made puppet videos.  I had a chance to watch a new online puppet series called *Time Suck.  It is definately not for children (*adult language and themes).  It may not be to the tastes of all but I quite enjoyed it.  The production value was very good, and especially liked the dog puppet (it was very well made).

The video series was made by Brooklyn based prodcution company Charged and included a familiar name in the puppeteers credits.  James Wojtal was listed as one of the puppeteers.  James is a fellow puppet builder and puppeteer and it is nice to see familiar names attached to projects that I have enjoyed.  I will definately keep tabs on the series and I look forward to more updates in the near future.

A big thanks to Alex for the heads up.

The Ontario Puppetry Association has some pretty cool things going on.  First of all they have a new website.  Secondly there are some really amazing new members that I have had the pleasure of meeting over the years.  Just recently they have started a new OPA group on Facebook, so if you are a Facebook person then go and join.

 It has been a while since I have been an active member.  To be honest I didn’t see the need to join, but there seems to be very exciting new things in the works and they may just get another member soon.

My apologies for being late on this one.  The winners for the Once Upon a Puppet Contest have been announced.  It was a great honour to be one of the judges for the contest and my personal congratulations to the winners and all those who entered.  Go and see who won here.

It’s rapidly approaching……the skipton puppet festival runs from the 20th to the 23rd September. If you live in the uk or are visiting at that time get yourself along there. Puppet companies from the UK will be there of course as well as from France, The Netherlands, Germany and Belgian.

See their website for more details

I have posted about puppet builder and puppeteer Matt Ficner before.  Matt has started a series of videos called “The Creepy Puppet Project” with this one titled “Blind Rage” being the first installment.  The film is a horror film with lots of blood and gore and thus the reason for my warning in the title of the post.  The entire short film was made (including building all the characters) in 20 days.  Matt also had help puppeteering with two other great puppeteers/builders, namely Vicki Veenstra and Stephen Brathwaite.

 I look forward to posting more about these films as they come.  So stay tuned…if you dare.

Well, Project Puppet is doing it again. They are having their latest puppet building contest and this time there is a theme, Fairy Tales Characters! It’s called the “Once Upon A Puppet Contest” and I am honoured to be invited back as on of the official judges.

Honestly there have been few puppet building contests that I feel have been as well done as Project Puppet’s.  My hat goes off to Pasha (one of our contributors) for all of his great efforts with helping the puppetry community.  Way to go Pasha(pronounced “Posh-Ah”)! 

This years deadline will not be pushed back for any reasons, so I am encouraging anyone who is interested, to look at the official rules and start building. I want to see the best you’ve got!

(Cross-posted from the Chensational Blog)

Although most of the puppetry world knew of the details  behind the giant puppet clips some time ago there has now been an official reveal and a slight reworking of the clips into one full clip along with music. Go along to watch on youtube or read more info here and here.

Many of the puppeteers that are part of the online community are involved in Christian ministries. For those who fall under this category, the Fellowship of Christian Puppeteers is hosting their annual conference at Winthrop University in South Carolina on July 23-27. Anyone in the area may find this an educational opportunity to refine your puppetry skills, learn new skills or perhaps gain encouragement and inspiration for your ministry as you use this powerful medium. Information and registration is available here.

Quite simply, Tableau Vivant Nouveau art coming to life. This example is a recreation of a painting through live performance, originally inspired music, and puppets!  I really like the cute little puffer fish puppet in the video.  The piece has been created by a newly founded art group called “The Imaginary Light Bulb Factory” from Sarasota, Florida.  They do not have a website yet but there will be one to follow soon.

This New Art Group is a worldwide Art Networking Troupe of Artists that features everything from Art Shows on Location to Avant Garde Theatre, Experimental Projects, Tableau Vivant Nouveau’s “Art Come to Life”, and any other great interdisciplinary ideas. “The Imaginary Lightbulb Factory” was founded and is directed by Michael Pukac and Dicapria Del Carpio.  The show was inspired by the art of Michael Pukac and Rye McNeil.

More performance than plain puppetry, it is a great example of how puppets can be used in a variety of applications.

Thanks to Dicapria for the link.

Okay, so here is the question.  What exactly is Showbeast?  It is hard for me to describe really.  It is an online puppet series featuring puppets and people, and it is the brainchild of Benjamin O’Brien (a.k.a. Snow Beast).  It has some catchy songs and some really cool greenscreen work.  It reminds me of a puppet show that The Beastie Boys might have created (if they were into that sort of thing).

Definitely not your typical puppet show, I invite you to venture into the zany world that is Showbeast.  Be sure to check out the Showbeast Blog as well.  They are currently making a really cool Grandma puppet.