New Company Member

The Puppet Improv Project is excited to introduce our newest company member, Jesse Overright. Jesse has performed with the PIP in "Crack!" the improvised puppet musical, and most recently as the character "Skittles" in "Elf Employment".

Swazzle Muppet Xmas

I'm in LA visiting friends.  I was checking out SWAZZLE's website & demo reel and saw they did the Simpson's Puppet Christmas Special. Here it is!

2012 Season Tickets on sale NOW!!

We have made a slight change to the 2012 Season order to accommodate the research and development we wanted to do for our experimental show, "TRASH".

• "Off the Reef" (summer | rated "G") -- an improvised underwater adventure with black-light puppets
• "TRASH" (fall | rated "PG-13") -- an improvised puppet allegory set in a garbage wasteland
• "Elf Employment" (winter | rated "G") -- the popular improvised puppet musical set in Santa's workshop returns for another run

You can see the show descriptions here -- http://www.puppetimprovproject.com/2012-Season.html

SEASON TICKETS

• Options
• single ticket = $24 / 1 seat to all 3 PIP shows in 2012 (20% DISCOUNT)
• double ticket = $42 / 2 seats to all 3 PIP shows in 2012 (30% DISCOUNT)
• Payment
• Contact Sara Farr to make payment arrangements -- sara@puppetimprovproject.com

FREE TICKET CONTEST!!

Hey Puppet Fans! The PIP is starting a CONTEST!! Our posters are going up around town. The first FIVE people to find a poster posted around town in a DIFFERENT location, take a picture of it, and share or post it here on our Facebook page will get a FREE TICKET! To our upcoming show, ELF EMPLOYMENT!! (One winner per person, please.)

Our "Elf Employment" poster looks like this

click me to go to the FACEBOOK page

Good Luck!

PIP's 2012 Calendar Sneak Peek!

The PIP Company members this weekend and discussed our calendar for 2012. Though we are still fuzzy on some of the details, here are the 3 shows we will be producing in 2012:

1. Experimental (Summer) -- Though I am trying to make each of our shows unique, this "experimental" show is for us to test new technologies and directions for the company. IN 2011, we discovered that the experimental Blacklight part of Puppet Katamari was a big enough hit to make it into its own show. The 2012 show is pushed back into the summer so that we have time during the Winter and Spring to research and develop the technology.  We are still working on what the Experimental show of 2012 will actually be, but it will include something you haven't seen us do before -- something NEW.
2. Underwater Blacklight Adventure (Fall) -- We found that the blacklight undersea adventure we did in Puppet Katamari was a really big success. Enough so that we are building the idea out into its own show, with additional puppets and an extended training period for our puppeteers.  This will be our biggest production of 2012.
   
3. Holiday Musical (Winter) -- This year it's "Elf Employment". The show is an improvised puppet musical set in Santa's workshop. Each performer playing one elf throughout the run of the show.  We are also having a new Guest Star each night playing the role of Santa. Depending on what we learn from the 2011 "Elf Employment" show (and from our other 2012 shows), the 2012 "Holiday Musical" will be a narrative show of some sort set in a holiday setting.

American Short Fiction Launch Party

The PIP is doing a bit of Puppet Improv at the upcoming "American Short Fiction" event on Nov. 19th! They will be reading the animal-themed stories they've recently published. The event is at Domy Books, a really cool arts bookstore at 913 E Cesar Chavez.

Perhaps we will see you all there!!

The Art of the Musical

This holiday season the PIP is bringing you an improvised musical set in the magical landscape of the North Pole and Santa's Workshop. Each night we will have a Special Guest Star playing the role of Santa, while all the elves and woodland creatures will be played by puppets.

Though the PIP has created puppet musicals in the past, this show will be unique in its focus.  We are trying some new skills with that will make it unlike any other improvised puppet musical we've done. First, we are really focusing on character development and will be creating puppet characters that will have a life of their own outside the show.  We are doing this by developing character histories, and working closely with a small cast who will consistently play the same puppet character(s) throughout the show.

In addition to building our character skills, we are bringing in Susan Dias -- a veteran Sesame Street writer, and NYC musical theater improvisation instructor -- to help train the cast to strengthen the "book musical" quality of the show. We also hope to be joined by a few new musicians and musical guests.

"Elf Employment" (title by Valerie Ward) is directed by Sara Farr, who will join the cast in playing in the show. Other cast members include: Kate Bojanek, Topping Haggerty, Howard Katz, Patrick Knisley, Amy McKenna, Jesse Overright and Chadwick Smith.

The show is presented by Gnap Theater Projects in their mainstage show for the first 3 weekends in December. For more info and tickets, visit the http://www.gnaptheater.org website.