Cover Girl!

I'm proud to announce that Woozley and I have made the cover of the November publication of the Canberra Weekly Magazine! WOO HOO! Big thanks to the Canberra Weekly, Cole Bennetts for the awesome photos and Allison Redman for the great story!

Mary's awesome photos!

Mary Luckhurst, aka Sealegs Imagery took some amazing photos of me and my puppet creations.
Thanks so much Mary!

Atlanta - The Center for Puppetry Arts

However heartbreaking leaving Kansas City was, I’m not even half way through my adventure and I must press on . So, I board my 5th plane so far to Atlanta in Georgia to visit The Center for Puppetry Arts.

Security on Segway: usatoday.com

Atlanta airport is one of the world’s busiest airports - however, I don’t seem to have much trouble getting around as the airport is pretty efficient - it even has its own underground train network (to get from terminal to terminal), so I found it all pretty exciting! Also, I found it amusing that all the security guards driving around on segways and scooters!

Pigs in Space

I catch an airport bus to my hotel and sleep the best night’s sleep I’ve had since I left home - however, I woke feeling like I could do with another another day or too - but I’m up and ready for my big adventure to the Center of Puppetry Arts!

THIS WAS INCREDIBLE! Highly worth the whole little side-stop to Atlanta. I don’t have any photos though, as cameras weren’t allowed inside, so here’s a couple I got of the website: http://www.puppet.org

‘Star struck’ is probably the right word to use. I came face to face with some of my childhood (and adult) heros - such as the puppet cast from The Muppets and Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, The Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and pretty much puppets and memorabilia from every Jim Henson production to date. Along with hundreds of all other kinds of interesting puppets from all around the world, which was just fascinating.

The Electric Mayhem: amoeba.com

I was eye-ball to ping-pong ball with Kermit the Frog, the original Swedish Chef, Ernie, Sir Didymus (The Labyrinth), Big Bird, one of the Skeksis (Dark Crystal), Dr. Teeth, the list goes on and on... It was so incredible.The lovely Kiera took me on a guided tour throughout all the exhibits, including the Jim Henson exhibit and told me a great deal of background on all the things I didn’t know yet!

I also got the chance to hang out with Kiera and some of the staff at the center who were kind enough to take me backstage and behind the scenes to see where all the actions happens! I also met a whole TEAM of puppet-builders who work downstairs full-time just making and developing puppets! Now there’s a fantastic job!!!

Everyone was so lovely to me and I almost felt like royalty being shown around, since I came “all the way from Australia to see the centre!”.

All Hands Productions

As well as trying to absorb what felt like information overload about all the puppets and trying to take as many mental images as possible, I also got the chance to see a puppet show while I was there! The show was called Billy Goats Gruff and Other Stuff by All Hands Productions (David Stephens) and performed by Jeffrey C. Zwartjes. It was just fantastic and really good fodder for inspiration towards the kind of show I want to eventually create - full of music and original songs! I was later told by David himself - that normally he performs the show playing banjo live, but since he had such a heavy tour schedule this summer, he recorded his banjo so Jeffrey could perform the show as well.

Jim Henson with Sam & Friends - late 1950s

The show had so much life and character and the puppets were so funny and fantastic! I loved it! I was laughing and smiling the entire time and totally forgot that I was the only adult sitting in a hall together with a couple hundred school kids.... (yes, some thought I was rather odd sitting there by myself...)

After some quick purchases at the fantastic gift shop (a badge, a book on Elmo’s life and a CD with music from Seseme Street all around the world), I caught the airport bus straight from the center back to the airport to catch my flight to Wilmington in North Carolina...

Phew! That was a busy day and luckily, my meticulous planning paid off and it all worked out! However, after relying on myself and my planning and being slightly stressed - I was relieved to find smiling faces at the airport with a wonderful welcoming sign proclaiming “Puppeteers here”! Brilliant.

Kansas City: The Paul Mesner Puppets Theater

www.paulmesnerpuppets.org

After six days of Puppet Festivities and barely being able to stand up from too much partying and sleep deprivation - myself and a few other festival stragglers dragged ourselves to visit the wonderful Paul Mesner Puppet Studio in Kansas City (about 1-2 hours from the lovely town of Trenton). But the drag was well worth it as we ended up having yet another fantastic day!

We not only saw his current show “Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs”, but we got a whole guided tour backstage and all through the several levels of his massive theatre with workshop spaces and huge storage spaces filled with hundreds of puppets.

Seeing such a theatre was yet another inspiration of where puppetry could lead me and was already imagining the future of owning my own little theatre, filled with laughter and puppets all day long... How wonderful.

Paul also has some wonderful DVDs for sale of his shows - you can find them here for only $10!
I personally own 'Sleeping Beauty' and it's FANTASTIC! I especially love all the behind the scenes it comes with and a little personal workshop as well! :-)

Back stage - taken from: www.paulmesnerpuppets.org

PuppetFest Midwest - Some thoughts...

PuppetFest Midwest, as described at: http://www.puppetfestival.org

“PuppetFest MidWest is an independent, annual puppetry festival that is presented, organized and financially supported by puppeteers as a gift to other puppeteers. It is an affordable puppet festival, with an emphasis on showing and teaching the traditional skills of good puppet theatre.

Attend the festival, participate in a 4 day in-depth workshop, and treat yourself to world-class puppet performances. The intimate setting enhances the workshops and performances that are lead by some of the top puppeteers working today.”

This is what PuppetFest Midwest was for me:

It was much more than inspiring. It was watching world class performances each night seeing the different styles of puppetry and watch the puppeteers at work in their element. It was being on an equal level with such artists which was both humbling and encouraging. It was picking the brains of so many other puppeteers and hearing stories and experiences from so many perspectives. It was the support network of 50 puppeteers who believed in you and laughed at all the right places. It was the friendships I made where age had no barriers and who I’ll keep in my heart forever. It was the immense laughter I shared, where your belly and your cheeks would never recover.

It was the ‘something’ that was missing from my life to make me feel complete. It was the longing for knowing there was something out there - but didn’t quite know what it was. It was realising there are a group of amazing, loving, passionate people who had devoted their lives to puppetry.

This was something I could have never even start to imagine if I hadn’t have experienced it first hand.

Puppet Jeopardy - funniest event during the festival

PuppetFest Midwest - An overview of 6 days...

There was so much that happened in the six days (six days that felt like a month, they were so intense) - so, I’ll try to break the rest of the festival down into sections.

The Food:

During the festival, we got fed about 6 times a day. It was incredible how much food I ate in six days.

My week consisted of getting up about 6:30 to shower and join the rest of my new found family for breakfast in a real American canteen - just like you see in the movies. Then classes start at 8:30am until the next food break (morning tea) where I rejoined my puppet family to share stories of life, puppets, experiences and hopes and dreams. Then back to class until lunch - back in the canteen. After more food, conversations and more laughter than I’ve had in a lifetime - it’s time to back to class. Of course, just until the next food break of afternoon tea (as if you haven’t had enough food yet) and by this stage I know every person and their stories so well - I spend even more time laughing together and telling even more stories about hopes and dreams. But the best part is - these people know how to get your hopes and dreams - because simply, they’ve already got them. Then, after the last class session for the day, we break around 3:30-4pm for a small nap (or just digestion) and some afternoon activities until dinner time.

Food - so much food and merriment!

I honestly had to ask the canteen ladies every day at every meal time what all the meals were. Some things seemed so foreign to me, mostly because everything is coated in a strange yellow cheese and also because everything also had very different names. Tatters and Tatter-tots are something I’ll never forget - especially because the next day was followed by ‘Tatter-tot casserole’! And every meal - even breakfast - was served with a desert. Honestly - even with my determination of living like an American for a month and experiencing the ‘real’ American way - after a few days I found myself going to the salads bar more and more... But I must say I did enjoy it all - even if my waste-line suffered...

Then in the evenings after dinner - it was back to the theatre for more world-class puppetry and then partying at Pam’s Place with drinks, MORE food and so much laughter at your cheeks and belly would ache (from too much food as well as too much laughter).


The performances:

Suspended Animation - by The Huber Marionettes (Phillip Huber)

This was just amazing. Phillip made his puppets really come to life to the tiniest details and characteristics - his technique was really impeccable. So good - you nearly don’t want to even attempt to become a puppeteer - but at the same time is so inspiring your bones ache.



Finding Home - By Monica Leo

This performance was so full of such heart, I found
myself unable to recover with tears at the end. She told a story of her life growing up as a second generation German in rural Texas after the war. She told her story with such honesty and with humor about her family - a type you can only have when you share so much love. She used a type of pop-up books for her sets and found objects and finger puppets to tell her story.

Tangle of Tales - by Grey Seal Puppets (Drew Allison)

One of the funniest performances I’ve ever seen. His style was hand-puppets and moving mouth puppets. During his performance, he showcased a bunch of fairy tales that were linked with some
comical weird-object puppetry dance - highly entertaining. His comedy was so funny and got the crowd crying with laughter and the kids screaming and yelling along with enthusiasm. His show was definitely one of the highlights of my festival experience and it gave me such inspiration for my own shows!

Puss in Boots - by Paul Mesner Puppets

Paul had a team of puppeteers and was the only show at the festival not to do a solo show - which was very valuable for me to see. It was again extremely funny and with humor that was both for the adults and the kids. He had some fantastic rod-type puppets that were just a joy to watch (even some puppet nudity) - so much so - that I often was so entranced I couldn’t follow the plot line!


Randel McGee and Groark

This was fantastic. A ventriloquist where his puppet could not only talk while his puppeteer had his mouth closed - but could also play guitar. Groark has so much life and character and presence, that even as an adult I forgot that he was only a puppet. Truly incredible. The pair had such a loving rapport with each other - it was like a cheeky father and son pair.


The workshop:

Randel and Groark

At the festival, you have a choice of intensive workshops you can follow but you can take only one (e.g. puppet-building, marionette skills, puppet business skills, etc.). I took Randel McGee’s ventriloquism class. Why? I’m not entirely sure - it drew me in and was the main reason I applied for the scholarship to the festival. Mainly because I saw his videos online and thought his act was one of the most fantastic things I’d ever seen - and also because I’ve always been a performer on the stage, rather then behind a stage, so the idea of being on-stage with your puppet appeals to me.

Performing with Suzie

On the first day of the workshop, I honestly have to say I felt a little overwhelmed - and we hadn’t even picked up our puppet yet! I had no idea ventriloquism was so complicated! It’s almost like learning a whole other language as you not only have to try to keep your mouth closed when you speak - but you also have to replace certain sounds with other sounds that are similar so that you to keep your mouth still. Like replacing a ‘b’ sound with a ‘d’ sound, e.g. no longer ‘bag’ but ‘dag’. But after a few days I started to get the hang of it. It also helped that after the first day of classes we were no longer allowed to speak in class normally and could only speak in ventriloquise, which was quite amusing when visitors would come into our class from time to time.

Groark, Randel, and his wife Marsha

The most important thing I learnt in Randel’s class was about the interaction you must make with your puppet, i.e. you are no longer one person - you are two and you have to think for two. We also spent time in developing our puppet characters, puppet performance techniques and professionalism, script writing and also just lots and lots of insight into Randel’s 30 years of experience performing with his puppet Groark and the amazing support of his wife.

By the end of the 4-day (all day each day) workshop, I had put a 3-4 min skit together to be performed with my puppet, Suzie the Dinosaur. Randel had mentored me with my performance techniques and gave me directions of how to be on-stage, polished my script writing and my interaction with Suzie and even helped me with my comedy skills. With some practice in class and in my downtimes between classes - I did start to feel a little confident at the end. Although I knew I still had so much to learn - I was confident with what I had achieved in order to pursue my new found skills on my own. I must say, it also greatly helped that we were all ‘forced’ to perform our little skits on-stage, in front of the entire festival for both the highly experienced and the total beginners like myself.

My ventriloquism class:
Suzie & Me, Groark & Randel, Mikey & Jenna, Jenny & Carol

I think I was more nervous then I was walking by myself down the streets of Downtown L.A. - but I did it and I conquered. And to my surprise - everyone was laughing. And not laughing at me - but laughing at all my jokes in all the right places and loudly too! I couldn’t believe it! I’d have to add - this was the most supportive bunch of people I’d ever met (besides my parents of course) so I think a lot of it was in support for me as then seen how far I’d come. But even still - I couldn’t have been prouder.

Pam’s Place:

I think Pam’s Place made the festival for me. It was the perfect place to unwind from the heavy studying and eating all day and form strong friendships and connections with some amazing people that I know I will have for the rest of my life.

Pam’s Place is a shop front that was hired and transformed into a cafe/bar setting, complete with fairy lights and a small stage for impromptu performances and round tables and chairs that were ready for festival spirit to be enjoyed in. Apparently, in previous years, it actually was a cafe called ‘the Wild Onion’ - but Pam, who owned the cafe had sold it this year and hence “Pam’s Place”.

Every night was filled with so much merriment and laughter - your ears could bleed. Every night, typically, you’d find me at the table dubbed “the loud and rambunctious ones”, where we played games and drank until the very wee hours of the morning.

The funny part was that you’d imagine this being a group of people in their 20s - however - this you would assume wrong. For I being 25, was the youngest there and our table would vary from my age group to people, dare I say, their 60s or 70s? It was fantastic.

At this festival - age doesn’t come into the game at all. Also this is because most the people look much younger then they really are - so I don’t even want to begin to imagine how old some of the biggest party-goers were, but just hope that will be me one day.
Early in the evening (when I say early, I’m talking 9-10pm), there were 5min, open-mic type performances that were for anybody who was daring enough at the festival (which honestly is everyone). So the performances ranged in skill, experience and talent - but each one was equally praised and supported.

As I didn’t yet feel confident enough to perform a puppet-act (even though the performances here were ONLY puppet acts), I ended up performing a song of my own (see video below). This was so praised, more than I have ever been at any performance in Australia - and I’ve done my fair share of performances.

This was different - their praise and beautiful comments were so from the heart with so much honesty - it was incredibly overwhelming. But for me, it was also so special - since these people had shared and given me so much, it felt so good to return the favour and to my joy, it was more than appreciated. So much so - I had to return and perform another song the next night.

PuppetFest Midwest - First day at the festival

Trenton, Missouri

Walking up and down Kansas City Airport looking for the Puppet Festival pick up/meeting point for the bus to Trenton, I try to guess what puppet people look like - I really have no idea what to expect. So I proudly show/wear my Elmo T-shirt and smile at people, seeing if the shirt registers - but they look at me as if I’m strange....

After four trips up and down the airport - I finally stumble into a group of friendly looking people, all busily talking as excited as a bunch of preschoolers. These must be what puppet people are. I’m welcomed and praised for “coming ALL the way from Australia” and I feel right at home and just know it’s going to be a fun festival.

My new friends, Kathy and Heather

Finally, I’m on the bus to Trenton, Missouri. However, the drive gets further away from ‘city life’, passing fields and fields of greenery and huge rolled up hay balls... We even see some Amish people pass by in a horse and buggy! I’m having a few second doubts about where I’ve found my puppet journeys taking me... But hey, anything is better then hearing gun shots at night in Downtown L.A. right?

We finally get to the cute little, albeit ghost town, of Trenton and the college where the festival is held. Suddenly it’s like a stampede of elephants - no hang on - they're puppeteers! All swarming to get inside and I feel slightly overwhelmed... But I get to my dorm room to recollect myself and get to meet my wonderful room mate Van, I start to feel more and more at home. She was last years recipient of the scholarship that I now have, and we get along just great.

Phillip Huber and his puppets

*Phew* I can finally relax. I even take the ‘just in case’ money from out of my shoes and place it like a normal person in my wallet. It’s the little things that make you feel human again.

After we all settle, we have orientation, dinner (real American food) - we see the most amazing marionette puppet show I’ve ever seen. It was by world-class puppeteer Phillip Huber. At that point I was so in awe - I said; “This show alone was worth the entire trip to America and this is only the beginning!”

Partying late night...

That night we partied, like only a bunch of crazy puppeteers could. I wasn’t left alone for a second, because everyone wanted to talk to ‘that Australian girl’! I felt so overwhelmed by everyone’s open hearts and arms and how I was welcomed into a family of 50 other puppeteers. It was fantastic - I don’t think I’ve ever felt as welcomed into a community as I did that night.

I didn’t sleep that night. I was too overwhelmed and excited and couldn’t wait to start my ventriloquist class in the morning.

Bob Baker’s story

Bob Baker and I at his theatre

Bob Baker’s story - how he told it to me in a one-on-one conversation on the 3rd of July, 2010.  For more info on his life and theatre and performance credits - visit his website.

When Bob was 6 years old, already trained in piano and dramatics - he went to see a puppet show and was so entranced, he went back twice after, so he could understand how it worked.

Having an understanding mother, he received his first puppet and lessons in puppetry every Sunday for a year. After much training and passion, he did his first puppet show for the payment of $15 in the affluent Bel Air and continued on doing shows until WW2.

Bob went with his puppets to every movie star's home in Los Angeles, taught puppetry when he was in high school, manufactured puppets and became an accomplished Vaudeville performer before even turning 17.

When he turned 17, he was in the army airforce camouflage division, teaching camouflage to older men. After the war - he worked on movies, receiving credits as a puppeteer, alongside some of the world's greatest entertainers, such as Elvis Presley, Shirley Temple and Judy Garland, just to name a few. He was responsible for moving animated objects in box-office classics such as Bed Knobs and Broomsticks, Adams Family 2, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and many more (see his website).

He also became well-known as the ‘Butterfly Man’, when he would make little ‘butterflies’ with bits of mono-filaments or cellophane at the end of long rods and strings, and dangle them over dogs in order to get them to do tricks for the camera.

Bob was also one of the first people to start using Technicolor, and realised that TV could be a pre-recorded medium and not just live. This opened up a whole new world for the art of puppetry and his work appeared in many TV shows, television variety shows and commercials.

Bob also had a very fruitful manufacturing line and supplied puppets for large companies, such as Walt Disney.

More recently, Bob supplied a series of puppets for the animated motion picture The Polar Express. But after the company asked if they could have the copyright to his creations and Bob rejected them, they ended up ditching his puppets, while changing them only slightly to get out of crediting Bob.

Bob told me about his frustration with such practices and more generally with a world of computer-generated imaginary (CGI) and 3D animation. When I asked him what he thought of the future of puppetry and if it had a future, he gave me a cheeky smile as if he had been to the future and seen puppets being ingrained in entertainment again and
said; “We just need to wait it out”.

To hear this coming from a man in his mid-80s confirmed my own view that puppetry is much more precious than we may think it is and we all need to help keep this world alive.

Bob Baker Marionettes Theater

Bob Baker www.bobbakermarionettes.com

After what felt like the walk of my life, I finally arrived in what felt like heaven - The Bob Baker Marionettes. In hindsight, I should have taken a taxi, but a 20-30min walk from my hotel in the heart of Downtown L.A. looked so simple on Google Maps at the time.

I count my lucky stars that I made it through the bewildering alternate universe. Along my little journey I encountered one too many a gang of threatening looking kids with knives, one too many a shady character concealing things under their shirts and one too many open roofed cars pumping harsh rap music and yelling out to me if I wanted to join them...

Being a person who tends to get lost even with a GPS navigator - I felt a high probability of getting lost and ending up in situations I didn’t want to think about - so I found myself praying to any god, spirit or angel that would listen for me to not loose my way...

Miraculously, the spirits must have been watching over me - either that or pure fear and intuition helped me navigate my way through the nightmare and I only managed to turn the wrong way once. Headstrong and determined, I kept walking through sweltering heat with my head and my heart pounding as I cursed at myself for not spending a few extra dollars to take a taxi. But, at that point I had gone too far and there was no taxi or familiar sight to be seen and all I could do was keep going and hope it wasn’t much further.

But in the end, the journey was worth it, and in hindsight - it probably seemed much worse then it really was. Of course it helped tremendously that the journey’s reward was so very sweet, as I got to see the America’s oldest running 50 year old puppet theatre and also meet the legendary Bob Baker (now in his mid-80s) himself.

I was treated like a celebrity - being that I came ‘all the way from Australia’ and taken backstage to meet all the puppeteers and their puppets and see the workings of a theatre that is been built on pure love. From the 3000 puppets - each one was his child - to the hand-made coffee-can stage lights, this place has a real history and carries an immense sense of passion I’ve never felt anywhere else.

Most of all, the emotional warmth the theatre holds in such a cold part of town is striking and knowing it has survived the elements and surroundings for 50 years now, without losing any sense of pride and integrity, is truly astonishing.

Bob took me into his office and welcomed me like his long-lost granddaughter and told me about his life and how he got started and how he became what he is today while showing me all his photo-albums containing photo after photo of all his creations, like one would about his children, and the stories each of these characters held.

He opened his heart and explained how he still continues to this day to create theatre, tell stories and spread puppetry to the hearts of the youth today. Even though his arthritis-ridden fingers won’t let him manipulate his marionettes and his body won’t move the way he wants it to - this man carries more hope and faith in his work and the art of puppetry than anyone I have ever met. (read next blog entry for Bob’s story he told me).

The show I got to see was called “It’s a Musical World”, a musical variety show with music from Bob’s life and generation, performed with countless puppets by four young puppeteers who have trained under Bob.

I was fascinated to see a full house of people had come to see the show and that it was full of families with grandparents and all. Each person equally entranced by the movements and colour of the wonderful array of puppets and it was amazing to see that children as young as 2 years-old were enjoying music that was popular way before even their parents time.

You could almost say Bob has kept his theatre and acts so persevered, unmoved and uninfluenced by the fast pace of the outside world that you almost feel transported through time. Transported to a time where Bob was in his peak - performing variety shows for the rich and famous in their Beverly Hills homes, back in the era where cabaret and vaudeville variety acts were highly sought after. This only gives you a little insight of Bob’s integrity, pride, determination and love for his art.
 

But what struck me the most - that any notion that the show was ‘out of date’ was countered by its success, as evidenced by the fact that Bob’s puppets could inspire children and adults of any age in any time or any generation.

Here is a video (not of the show I saw) of a Bob Baker Marionettes show.

Packing light

With the plan to travel through America for a month and surviving only on puppetry and carry-on luggage, I must pack wisely and only take the bare essentials.

The backpack:

• Folder with A4 book sized itinerary complete with maps and mini-adventures all planned out day by day for the entire month.
• Puppet (Suzie the Dinosaur, which I designed specially so she was small enough to squash and fold into the bottom of my backpack)
• “Just in case bag”: small zip-lock bag with essentials eg. band-aids, aspirin, plastic spoons...
• Small travel sewing kit to fix clothes, bags and of course, my puppet
• Small HD video camera with still photo function with flash
• 2 x 4 gig memory cards
• 1 x usb drive kept around neck with copies of all documents and photos
• 4 gig MP3 player full with music and fold away headphones
• Fold away shopping bag
• Fold away raincoat
• Sunglasses
• Jumper and scarf for air-conditioned air-planes
• Toiletries, floss and sanitising hand-gel
• Laundry soap for hand washing clothes in hotel bathrooms
• Empty water bottle to fill up after passing customs
• Bed socks for in the plane

The Pink Suitcase:

• 10 pairs of underpants
• 4 pairs of socks
• Extra pair of shoes (black leather low-cut converse that fold small)
• 1 pair of jeans
• 1 summer dress
• 1 3/4 pants
• 5 t-shirts
• 2 singlets
• 2 long sleeve shirts
• Small bag with adapters and chargers

This will be my life for the next month! Hopefully I haven’t forgotten anything!

New Puppets!

Just thought I'd share my newest friends with you and get you all acquainted.

Suzie the Dino Age: 5 years old Gender: Female Height: 40cm Likes: Dancing and singingDislikes: Being alone Favourite Colour: Purple Ambitions: To become famous

Woozley Age: 4 years old Gender: Male Height: 57cm Likes: Marshmallows Dislikes: Evil Fairies Favourite Colour: Blue Ambitions: To help all the magical creatures and find his lost family.

Tinkersnot Age: 369 years old Gender: Female Height: 55cm Likes: Magical power Dislikes: Goody-two-shoes Favourite Colour: Gold Ambitions: To steal all the magical power and rule the Fairy Realm

Wilfred Age: 46 Gender: Male Height: 40cm Likes: Women Dislikes: Bad dancing Favourite colour: Black Ambitions: To find his true love

Sexy Mama: Age: 33 Gender: Female Height: 59cm Likes: Female Empowerment Dislikes: The toilet seat left up Ambitions: To liberate all monster women and create equal rights

Papa Joe: Age: 38 Gender: Male Height: 59cm Likes: Sexy Mama Dislikes: Other men hitting on Sexy Mama Ambitions: To marry Sexy Mama