Due to my current lack of a regular, paying position anywhere I had been looking for something to fill my time. In November I found it.  I have been spending my Wednesdays volunteering at the International Puppetry Museum in Pasadena. There I've been tasked with the challenge of properly organizing all the puppets in their collection.  The storage system is broken down by continent and it has been my job to go through the boxes starting with Europe Box 1 and get everything in line with the system that they've set up.  It can be tedious work to unwrap each puppet, re-write each card (two per puppet), then tag, re-wrap and re-box everything, however, I get a huge kick out of being able to see so many different types of puppets and that alone can make my day.  On top of this, the individuals running the Museum are a joy to be around. Alan Cook, who it seems owns majority of the collection, radiates excitement and will tell you anything that you want to know about the art of puppetry. I look forward to getting back there after the holidays.

After a 6 1/2 hour workshop with Michael Earl (a retired Jim Henson puppeteer) on Sunday I was beat. 

Things I learned

• The Three Holy Requirements - Breath, Gravity, Focus
• Stillness is a necessity
• Be Specific
• Pupil visibility helps keep the puppet alive
• The four voices

It was a pretty fantastic day. I enjoyed the whole experience. During down times Michael told us stories and explained how the Snuffeluffagus puppet worked. And otherwise we went through exercise after exercise and learned how to do puppetry for film. I learn things about Frank Oz, The Henson's, sweat, and some horror stories about Hollywood Thievery.

The puppets he brought were of such great quality.

And we did some improv from time to time.  I wasn't super proud of my stories and ideas, being to caught up in focusing on the puppet and the camera, however I was a part of a really good improv during the day. There were three characters at a bowling alley, and then Timmy got stuck in the pin return. It was higher level of improv that any of the other ones we did because it had semi defined characters, a little plot arch and was, you know... interesting.

These muppety puppets were created by a genius. Not that I want to praise any one person to much, but they really were well made. Michael created them himself, and possibly because he'd worked with the Henson company for so long, and they fit like a glove. The only foam is in the creation of the mouth, the rest of the body is just cloth with no real support and this fact alone makes it possible to play with them above your head for hours with very little arm fatigue. I MUST STUDY THEM.. So simple yet exquisite in their construction. The body, the eyes, the rods!! It's orgasmic... alright, awkward, but it gets my point across. With some very simple ingredients these intensely expressive creations are there for play time. I LOVE IT!!!

Bradly, one of the other puppeteers in this "troupe" had worked for 3 years on some Disney shows and he's great to work with because he knows how to get the characters to life.  Denis and Warren both create some fantastic voices.  All things that I strive to become better at.

An exciting plus was that we used music quite alot and I was really excited that one of the exercises was to the Mahna-mahna Song!!

Below are two clips of puppetry work done with Michael Earl, HOWEVER they are not something that I was a part of, I believe these were done during one of his regular classes. I post this more as an example of the puppets (and for general entertainment) than anything else.

Aren't those puppets mind blowingly cute?  I do love the dog bunny!

Just finished a video called, Brotherly Memory, and it's up on the website. Just click on the Video Tab and it's the New Top Video.  You can also find it at Gallant Flea's You Tube Page or more directly, by clicking here. It stars the puppets that I created for Shakespeare Orange County's production of The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare: Abridged. They are on a quest for PASTRY!!  It is really worth the few minutes, if I do say so my self.  You get to follow in yet another of my growing as an artist moments.

Back in the Theatre World, I've been working pretty hard to memorize and properly characterize Viola and Maria.  We've got about a month now before the show run starts and I still don't know which character I'll be portraying.  On the bright side, I only have 3 more scenes to lock down in my brain.  My plan is to finish them off this week, and then I'd have about 2.5-3 weeks to go over, and perfect cues. 

I'm feeling pretty golden.

The weeks have shown some improvement. I've been moving forward with the puppets I've been creating for Shakespeare Orange County's "Green Shows." This year there are three, a whale, and dragon/serpent, and a St. Bernard.
-  At the moment the Dragon, though there have been a hiccup or two, is
   pretty close to finished and looking snazzy. 
-  The Whale hit a wall, I made a huge and I mean gigantic puppet out of
   0.5in foam that can't support such an endevor.
-  And the St. Bernard is still in the planning stage.

Beyond that life is picking up
-  I may have a job.
-  My hand puppets for SOC's production of The Complete Work's of
   Shakespeare Abridged got mentioned in the OC Register's review of the
   show.
-  There are two bookings for Flutterby Puppets that I'm to be a part of the
   "acting" side! (If you book on tell them Phaedra Sent you!!)
-  My place is shaping up nicely.