Improv Puppets! @ No Shame, this Friday 6/5 10pm @ SVT

Lovers of the off-beat meet once a month at the SVT second stage to see "No Shame Theater", produced by Gnap! Theater Projects. For $3 you can watch or participate. Rules are your piece has to be under 5 min, and you can't hurt yourself or the stage.

This week, the PIP will make at least ONE appearance by opening up the puppet stage for whoever wants to join in. We will try to do some improv using several puppet performance techniques, as many as we can fit into 5 min! If we have a bunch of volunteers and need more time, we may commandeer a second 5 min slot. I've already lined up a couple of people who want to try this. If you want to join us, email me! or just show up before the show. SIGN-UPS are @ 9:30pm!!

If you can't make it out to No Shame, or performing in front of a crowd is too intimidating, then SIGN UP for the Puppet Improv workshop I'm facilitating through Merlin Works.

"Improv with Puppets!" (June 20th)
Presented by Merlin Works as part of a "Summer Speciality Series"
Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road
Saturday, June 20th 2009
$25
REGISTER HERE

Summer Workshop w/ Merlin Works

The Merlin Works School of Improvisation is offering a summer speciality series of workshops. Each week there will be a guest instructor, and I will be leading one focused on puppet improv. I'm looking forward to sharing what I've learned so far and playing with other improvisers who like puppets. Here are the workshop deets (taken from the Merlin Works website)...

"Improv with Puppets!" Saturday June 20th 12pm - 3pm

Puppet mania is sweeping the nation and improvisers are catching the bug, too! In this 3 hour workshop we'll play with the basics of puppet manipulation (eye contact, breath, emotion, etc.), before we get into some improv games & scenes to explore how improvising with puppets can get you closer to PLAY and out of your head. A fun class to take, whether you're looking to expand your improv tool-belt with puppets, or just looking for a fun afternoon with puppets. $25

REGISTER HERE

"Avenue Q"! & Sherwood Forest

Went to see "Avenue Q" with some friends this weekend, after the Wild Wild Puppets show (which was fun and getting funner!). The traveling Broadway show was also really fun! I had a bunch of questions for the performers, but didn't get a chance to chat with them. The show had 8 performers, 4 puppeteers (each doing 2 puppets) and 4 actors. Throughout the show the main 3 puppeteers would need to be interacting with their other puppet character and so the 4th puppeteer would take that puppet and move it around while they voiced it. It was great! Though I was very curious about the technical aspects, I still got wrapped up in the show and would forget to watch the puppeteers! They also had a GIANT puppet at the end of the 1st act. It made me wish I had a few GIANT (body or bigger) sized puppets.

Also on my mind... SHERWOOD FOREST! The Sherwood Forest Faire Acting Company is looking for "faire folk" to populate this new 100 acre faire for their 2010 season!! More on this later.

More Puppets!

The first 2 Wild Wild Puppet shows have gone great! We had a sold out crowd on opening weekend, which was a great way to kick off the run. Last week we had a repeat cast from the first week and were able to refine the show a bit. I also improved some of the props by gluing and color coding the puppet theater PVC skeleton. Unfortunately, it created a problem with the curtains being able to fit over them. Two steps forward, one step back.

"Wild Wild Puppets" Begins!

Hey everyone! Wild Wild Puppets," our first improv puppet show, launches this weekend. And for the show, Gramps got a new outfit!

Lost & Found Puppets

In researching puppets, I discovered Lunatique Fantastique... or rather, someone (several people, actually) heard what I was doing and told me about her. "Performance alchemist Liebe Wetzel and her ensemble release the sweet, sad, naive, and lustful beings inside "ordinary" objects." Check out their videos! http://www.lunfan.com/


What a great idea! I mean, why be limited to "character" looking objects. Why not let an inanimate object be animated into life? Disney's "The Illusion of Life" book talks about how we as humans WANT to anthropomorphize everything. Some cultures believe EVERYTHING has a spirit... Animism. Which is why its interesting that this group is exploring how to bring life to "ordinary" objects.

I had hoped to go to No Shame this past Friday night and do some puppets, but I forgot my box of puppets. With no puppets, I thought BRIEFLY of doing something like this found-object puppetry. Then it reminded me of Shannon McCormick's "Ghost Hat, the Hat Ghost" and the "Tom Waits Borrowed CD" from earlier No Shame Theater shows. But then I felt like I needed something intelligent to say, and chickened out. However, I would love to do something with found-object puppetry in the future. It's funny, but Gnap Theater Projects is preparing a new show, "Lost & Found". Perhaps I can talk to Shannon about doing some kind of "preshow" puppet thing using found objects. Hm.

Instead, for No Shame, I went to Toy Joy and purchase a couple of "characters" that I had intended to have "dialogue" about evolution versus creationism (which was inspired by watching my friend, Dano, doing a similar thing at a party). Anyway, I arrived late and the show was already over. Timing is EVERYTHING. Good news is now I get to work on it a bit (1 month) before presenting it.

Now that No Shame is over (for 1 month), I'm really focusing on the Wild Wild Puppets show... which starts a week from tomorrow!!!

The Illusion of Life

The PIP had a good puppet tech rehearsal on Sunday. We met with Connor Hopkins at the Trouble Puppet Theater space at SVT and talked about how to bring life to our puppet object. Highlights include:

A) Be conscious of puppets movement
- Be efficient with the puppet's movement... Talking is mostly small movement(thumb); use big moves (wrist-elbow-shoulder) for emphasis
- Let puppet look around and "see" environment
- Stand/hold puppet where you get the biggest range of motion
- Start movement with a "breath" (anticipation); accelerate into movement; stop with a POP
- Show, don’t tell -- nod for "yes", shake head for "no", head tilt for "whatever"
- Have the puppet look out at the audience often

Example:
- A to B: "Hey Doofus, I wanna to ask you a question"
- A to audience: "Can you tell me where the herd is?"
- A to B: "Hm?"
- B to A: "Oh, well."
- B to audience: "That's a good question, Sheriff. Now let me see. 'Do I know where the herd is?'
- A nods
- B to audience: Uh... (looks around)... hm... (shakes head)...Nope."
- B to A: "I give up. Where is it?" (looks around)
- A slow look to audience

B) Keep eyes & eye-line still... drop jaw with thumb

D) Everything you do, do it through the puppet

C) PUPPETRY is a physical art form and you will get tired!
- FIGHT the tendency to let the puppet go flat/dead
- Look at your puppet; helps keep the energy in your puppet; helps pull audience focus to puppet
- Strengthen your thumb muscles: When someone's talking to you, rest your hand on your hip, thumb out, then "puppet" your thumb to whatever that person is saying

E) Practice in a mirror
- You can use a video camera, but mirror is faster
- Have your puppet lip-sync to a song you know