Different things catch my eye for different reasons.  I stumbled across videos for Irish basedNoel Lambert Touring Puppet Theatre on Youtube (please check out there site to find out more about them).  The thing that jumped out at me was the colourful set design.  I think that there is a balance that needs to be achieved between great visulas and great puppeteering to make a wonderful show appeal to a wide audience. 

Too often people forget that the background or set is a part of the visuals.  Not just the puppets.  THis company had some wonderful puppets. Just look at the grren guy to the left. Now that doesn’t mean that shows can not be wonderful with simple puppets or no set at all.  In fact I have seen some amazing shows with a simple puppet and no set (but it had amazing puppeteering).

What I am saying is that simply adding lush green fun fur for grass, made me stop and watch the videos.  Something to think about when making a set for your next show.  Ask yourself, “Is my set a strength or weakness for my show?”

Check out more videos here and notice how bright and wonderful the colours are visually.  Enjoy.

 In English that translates into “Wonderful Puppets!”  That is exactly what you’ll find from German puppet builder Norman Schneider (please note the website is in German so you may need to use an online translation tool to fully understand it). 

I had a chance to visit his website and I can say that I am an instant fan.  His characters are wonderful and he using a great combination of painting as well as standard puppet fabrication techniques in his building.

 I am personally interested in using more painting with my own puppet building.  Norman has given me some really great inspiration.  To see more of his work be sure to check out his company website called Figurenschneider (which I believe means “Figures by Schneider”).  They are beautiful!  He also has an awesome blog with tons more pictures here.  Check it out.

All I can say is “fantastic!” (and from the other half of me…”it’s about time”). Sesame Workshop Has just launched a new section of their website - video.sesameworkshop.org - with clips from Sesame Street, old and new. You can search for your favorites or browse the videos, watch them full-screen, and enjoy that warm fuzzy feeling of seeing some old Muppet friends.

You don’t need to be a seasoned pro to have fun with puppets.  No, in fact more and more I see new people online who are just having fun with puppet building.  One of those people is Jeffrey Barnes from Arkansas, in the USA.  Jeffrey has always been interested in puppets and puppetry and like many people had no idea where to begin building one of his own.

He was lucky enough to stumble across Pasha Romanowski’s fantastic website called Project Puppet, that helped to send him on his puppet building journey.  Armed this these super patterns and a book called The Foam Book from Grey Seal Puppets he bagan to build many of his favourite characters from television. 

See more of Jeffrey’s puppets here.  I think the puppets are cool and I love the fact that he is just building. 

So build I say!  Take a page from Jeffrey’s book and take the plunge.  Cool things can happen when you do.

In the puppet world, at least here in Canada, there is a very well respected puppet troup/company called The Old Trout Puppet Workshop.  The don’t often come to Toronto and actually offering a workshop is even less typical.  That makes this news all the more exciting.  They are well known for a very cool style of head puppets that are worn as hats and puppeteered from below, it is an amazing way to puppeteer.  Anyways, The Puppetmongers has this announcement to make:

The Toronto School of Puppetry triumphantly announces that it has taken advantageof the presence in Toronto this October of Calgary’s famous Old Trout Puppet Workshop Company.  While they are performing Famous Puppet Death Scenes At the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.
We are delighted to be able to offer a Three-Day Course with Peter Balkwill.  Not to be missed by anyone serious about performing theatre with puppets.

October 24 through 26. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Fee $250 for the three days. Limited places available.

Alas, I will be working during this workshop and there is no way for me to make it.  Trust me, if I could go I would be there for sure.  However, if you are able to go to the wrokshops then, I would highly recommend going.  Book now because I have a feeling that spots will not last long!

I have been meaning to post about these clever little puppets for a while now.  These are simply small stickers that you can attach to you hand to create small puppets.  They are the brain child of puppet builder, craft expert and all around artist, Nikole Horkin.  Nicole sells these cool puppets in her online “Etsy-store” called Puppets and Pals.

Nikole is a wonderful artist with a great imagination.  She is currently doing a double major at the Univeristy of Hawaii, where she lives with her husband and son. 

As a primary school teacher and puppet builder/puppeteer myself, I have a great respect for her desire to teach children drama and art through her use of puppets. I for one will be very interested to hear about when she gets her Masters in Puppetry and opens up her own small children’s theatre, which is something that she hopes to do.  Check out Nikole’s stuff and hey, whilke you are there why not buy something.  The prices are great!

After coming back from the Puppets Up! Festival in Almonte, Ontario, I have been rejuvinated in my puppet passion and I have decided to write about some of the acts (and people) that I have enjoyed.  When the festival first started (three years ago) I was asked to help out doing puppetry improv from the balcony.  I agreed and did some puppetry on the balcony for maybe two or three 20 minute stints.  I can tell you it is hard work. 

 Talking for 20 minutes is challenging enough, but in the direct sun too, now that was hard.  But that is nothing compared to the other people who helped out.  One of those people is Jamie Douglas.  The truth is that he along with Will Richardson and Allan Martin, ended up being in the hot sun a lot longer than me. 

There is a great video interview of Jamie Douglas talking about The Balcony Puppeteers on the MuppetCast website here. The acts were a hit and before you knew it, they became their own puppetry team.  The are called “The Balcony Puppeteers“, and what is great is that the passion that these individuals have becomes infectious.  They are all super entertainers and have the ability to do it in the hot sun for rediculous amounts of time.  After my short stint on that balcony I have a huge amount of respect for the stamina it takes and for them as performers. 

I am happy that I was able to meet these guys and I encourage anyone visiting the Puppets Up! Festival to pull up a chair and watch them in action.

In my opinion Philip Hatter is an amazing young talent when it comes to puppets.  As the owner of Thistledown Puppets in Virginia, he has done a bunch of puppet videos for Youtube that has received some attention.  Most recently he has decided to make a little introduction video that has him talking a bit about his puppets and his studio.

I think this is a great idea.  It acts as a sort of demo reel, but with more of a personal touch.  After watching it, I feel like I know him personally.  This works really well in creating customer confidence.  I have long been planning to make my own demo reel and after watching this video I am convinced that I need to do it sooner than later.

Make sure that you check out some of the puppets that Philip has made and check out his new blog called Thistledown Puppets: Behind the Curtain.  Awesome job all around Philip!

This little nugget of puppety goodness, though its been in circulation on the web for a while, recently resurfaced over at PuppetBuilding.com. The article was originally published in a 1969 issue of Women’s Day Magazine and includes a play, The Purple-Necked, Black Bearded Blatch, written by Jerry Juhl, and patterns and instructions for four puppets, the characters in the play. You can’t get much more “vintage Muppet” than this!

Here’s the article - Script, Pattern & Instructions

And, for your convenience, here’s the pattern pieces, full-size and ready to be printed - Full Size Pattern Print

Judging from the size of the pattern, it appears the puppets are just the right size for kids. Have fun!

Cross-posted from the Project Puppet Blog.

Monkey Boys Productions, working from designs by James Wojtal, built these seven puppets for a TV commercial for Mexican Televison. The above video is a movement test filmed during the build. What I thought was especially cool, and should be noted, about the puppetry in the clip, was that each animal has its own unique dance style - a very nice detail and a subtle clue into the personalities of the characters. Great stuff!

You may also want to check out this video of an unfinished giraffe puppet showing off his dance moves before falling victim to a violent crime (just kidding - watch the video).