What do you do with your puppets?

[Puppetainer]

Okay, I've been coming to this site for almost 3 years now and have been working on and off on making puppets of my own for some of that time. My question to all of my fellow puppet lovers is what do you do with the puppets you make? Are you doing puppetry somewhere? Do you plan on starting to do some puppeteering someplace? Do you sell them? Or do you just like having furry friends around for company?

I'm creating them because I want to start a puppet theater here in Wisconsin with my wife. Haven't quite figured out where we'll get all the money that will require, but I thought it would be kind of important to get my puppet building/performing skills up to speed in the mean time. (Also, I have to admit I like having furry friends around for company)

 

[staceyrebecca]

I started making puppets because we needed them for shows. Then I got ideas and wanted to see them in puppet form. Then an art gallery asked me to make some for them (seriously, to this day I have no idea why!). Then a friend told me that I should start selling them online. All of that funds my making of more puppets for shows which funds making more puppets. I do keep quite a few around. Some simple ones I just absolutely won't part with & some huge ones that I'm so ashamed of I hide in a big box for no one to see ever again. Some I give away to someone who will really appreciate a puppet. My mom, for instance.

 

[Puppetainer]

Okay staceyrebecca (I'm not at all surprised that you're the first to respond!) you say that you built them for "shows". What shows? Where and for whom do you do performances? As someone who is driving towards making a (meager) living through puppetry I'm VERY interested in hearing about people who already are.

 

[staceyrebecca]

(cowers just a little) I get notices in my email...I'm sorry, it lets me know every time there's a message...*hides*

The puppet theater at which I work holds semi-regular puppet slams. I perform in those. They're at the theater and they're for grown-ups over 21. We get a liquor license for the event.
I also perform a children's show or two at a theater in a city about 45 minutes away. That's apart from the theater at which I work (We try to do any of our performances further away than they normally travel because we love them so much). We've also performed in quite a few art galleries/performance spaces & have opened for many-a-band. Because we do humorous adult shows (think adult swim), it fits in with that scene a little more.

*sigh* now I'm going to go off and hide in my corner.

 

[Puppetainer]

Ah ha! So that's how you're so quick to respond. (jots down note to self)

So would you say your puppetry pays the bills, pays a bill, pays cab fare, or just barely covers the expenses of making the puppets in the first place?

(sneaking off to account settings to get that email alert thing going)

 

[staceyrebecca]

See? there it goes..."HEY YOU HAVE AN EMAIL!" *sigh*

Its stuff that I do all over the place under one large umbrella of puppetry that allows me to pay for gas, a month or two of our mortgage, or ice cream and a lactaid.

Shows:
It really depends on the venue & the turn-out.

Working at the Puppet theater (who is currently in need of a male puppeteer!):
Helps big-time. Its a steady income & provides more than enough to send our boy to pre-school so I can stay home and play with puppets...

Holding Workshops:
Wow these are great. Keep in mind that I teach this stuff to children for a living, so seeing adults doing it makes my head explodie. One of the workshops led to an opportunity to give 6 more workshops to the county's library system at the end of January-March. You know what they say about those who can't

Selling Puppets:
Think of this as a drug dealer earning money for the habit.

It also helps that I have a husband who has a "real" job. So we don't *need* to measure things by paying the mortgage. If it wasn't for me doing all of these things, we'd be a lot less poor than we are.

 

[SUPERPUPPET]

Puppetainer ! Where in Wisconsin ? I'm in Greenfield Near Milwaukee?

 

[Puppetainer]

Actually I'm only a couple of miles away in a small town west of Janesville that you probably have never heard of. Good to know there's another puppet person so near to home!

 

[Onath]

In regards to your question What do I do with my puppets? First off as an art school graduate it is nice to make something some actually wants to buy. Many of my puppets are made for specific people. It seems that recently I have been making more puppets for other people than myself. Which is a good thing. The puppets I do have I use to practice with. A big hobby I have at home is to mouth a long to music on the stereo great practice. I also have been using the puppets to work on my performance skills in front of a camera you can see the videos here www.youtube.com/countonath You can see a steady improvement if you watch the earliest video and work your way to the most recent. I have also been doing puppet slams here in boston at the brookline puppet showplace theater. I will be in another one in about a week. Someone told me once that find out what you enjoy and then find someone else to pay you for it. That is what I'm trying to do. Puppetry may not pay all the bills but it is definately helping.

 

[Puppetainer]

Ah, a fellow Art student. I'm very proud of my art degree. As I've told many people this degree really opens doors! Why, I can work at any convenience store in the country, and there isn't a fast food chain around that would turn me away.

But seriously (or as serious as I'm likely to get anyway) I really appreciate everyone's responses thus far here. Yeah Onath, I have a Kermit puppet that I bought some years ago that I have used while driving in my car. I have used him to lip synch along to a variety of music and things. What's really funny is how people don't react to this rather unusual sight. They all seem to become very interested in the road ahead of them.

I haven't tried working in front of a camera yet, but look forward to doing so.

Thanks again staceyrebecca for your quick and earnest responses! I'd love to audition for that open spot at your puppet theater but I'm not sure I could justify the commute even with Kermit to sing along for the drive.