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Made for the Funginears

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.

Okay, so I am thinking that for someone who wants to try their hand at animatronic puppetry, but doesn’t know where to start…could Lego Mindstorms be the answer?  People who know me, know that I enjoy the challenge of thinking aoutside of the box, especially when it comes to mechanisms for puppets.  I just think that Logo Mindstorms offers a very unique application possibility.

I may just have to try it out.  Unless anyone out there wants to beat me to it.

Forget your spacebook and myface, there’s a new network for puppetmakers, puppeteers or just fans of puppetry.

A lot of the usual faces are already there but it looks like it could be good place to make some new contacts and learn some new things, why not pop along.

Visit Puppet Hub

The film is called Agent Crush and it looks very interesting.  The puppets are very reminiscent of Team America, but it seems that the movie is not intended to be as silly of a comedy (but I may be wrong).  I have always been interested in the use of puppetry in dramatic or adventure film and video projects. 

To read more about it please go to their website here.  You can also see the trailer along with behind the scenes video here.

I am all for puppetry clubs, especialy when they are Canadian.  I was contacted by Neil Noble-Pattinson who is trying to organize a puppetry club in Calgary, Alberta, CANADA.  So far he has started a website (unfinished) and has posted a couple of videos on Youtube.  If you are in the Calgary area and are interested in being a part of the club then feel free to contact him for more details.

Here is a great Youtube video of lipsyncing to a song by hip hop artist D-Sisive.  I love the song, and the puppeteering is very refreshing to watch.  A little note is that the cute little green puppet is build by local Toronto puppet builder/puppeteer Joel Brubacher.  If you want one you can visit his website here.

There has been a good amount of buzz (here, here and here) about this new online series called Apollo’s Pad.  I recently had the opportunity to visit the set and see first hand some of the amazing puppets and puppeteering that goes into each episode.  The concept is simple and there is really only one set.  So how is it so interesting?  Amazing characters.

 Too often puppeteers seem to focus on technique at the expense of a great character.  The truth is that Ed The Sock and, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog are not amazingly puppeteered, but they are amazing characters.  If you haven’t seen Apollo’s Pad yet please do check it out.  Also, it is a great time to watch as these characters evolve.  Admittedly the puppeteers are still  getting a sense of who each character is and it makes for a very interesting study. 

You can also view the episodes on Youtube here.

*Please note it is grown up puppetry and contains mature themes and course language.

I am a fan of lots of different forms of puppetry and Bunraku is a form that interests me greatly.  Here is a great video of a Toronto based group called Unraku.  They performed this at a local puppet slam.  Enjoy.

 Thanks to Joel for the link.