What was your weirdest puppeteering experience?

[Cookie3001]

I know I'm not the only puppeteer on this site, there is also @Amish Guy, @D'Snowth, @Doctimelash and many more. I'm sure we have all had weird or interesting experiences (I have many) so on this thread we can talk about them

 

[D'Snowth]

I've shared this story many times before, it's not necessarily "weird" so much as it was unique and rewarding. Any puppeteer will tell you that when kids are able to connect with the puppet you're performing and you, as the puppeteer, become virtually invisible to the kids, you know you're doing your job right. I once had this experience with a grown man: my first year doing pledge drivers for PBS, we had a man from the local zoo in the studio with us on the puppet set to talk about the various different animals he brought that day (an owl, a tarantula, a gecko), and even cameras weren't rolling on us inbetween our pledge breaks, this man was talking to Steve D'Monster like he was real and I was virtually invisible - so that told me that I not only was doing my job right, but that I was doing it very, very well if a grown man was able to connect with the puppet on my hand.

 

[Cookie3001]

I've shared this story many times before, it's not necessarily "weird" so much as it was unique and rewarding. Any puppeteer will tell you that when kids are able to connect with the puppet you're performing and you, as the puppeteer, become virtually invisible to the kids, you know you're doing your job right. I once had this experience with a grown man: my first year doing pledge drivers for PBS, we had a man from the local zoo in the studio with us on the puppet set to talk about the various different animals he brought that day (an owl, a tarantula, a gecko), and even cameras weren't rolling on us inbetween our pledge breaks, this man was talking to Steve D'Monster like he was real and I was virtually invisible - so that told me that I not only was doing my job right, but that I was doing it very, very well if a grown man was able to connect with the puppet on my hand.

that's awesome, it's great when a kid thinks of a puppet as a real living creature but it's even better when an adult does

 

[Cookie3001]

okay so I was at a child's birthday party and I'm behind the stage performing a puppet show. The stage was nothing more than a board covering the steps to their basement. The child was a Sesame Street fan so I was using the Muppets from Sesame Street, I was doing Grover's near and far bit and as he was running far I leaned to far and fell down the stairs. I guess you could say that I was "stuck in character" because when I fell I screamed in Grover's voice. Also the Grover puppet went flying off of my hand and hit the wall. The kids laughed because they assumed it was part of the show and I am actually very happy that happened, It was an unplanned but funny scene

 

[Froggy Fool]

I think my weirdest experience was when I puppeteered at a birthday party, and one of the kids kept wanting to pull the puppet's arm off, and their parent didn't even say anything about it; in fact, they encouraged them to continue doing so! I eventually had to break character to tell this kid to get the **** off my puppet lol.

Luckily I had sewed it on pretty well, but from that point forward I use doll joints to secure puppet arms!

 

[Cookie3001]

I think my weirdest experience was when I puppeteered at a birthday party, and one of the kids kept wanting to pull the puppet's arm off, and their parent didn't even say anything about it; in fact, they encouraged them to continue doing so! I eventually had to break character to tell this kid to get the **** off my puppet lol.

Luckily I had sewed it on pretty well, but from that point forward I use doll joints to secure puppet arms!

oh I have dealt with that before. Once I was doing a show at the library and a little boy kept digging through my puppets and props and stuff and I asked his mother to take him away and she just sat there and said "oh he will stop eventually" until I had to literally trap him out of the stage by pulling the walls to the side to keep him out

 

[MuppetSpot]

Weirdest puppetry experience for me was when I was doing a movie at a college and everyone was taking selfie’s with the character, plus asking me questions of how I was able to make it look so good.

 

[Cookie3001]

Weirdest puppetry experience for me was when I was doing a movie at a college and everyone was taking selfie’s with the character, plus asking me questions of how I was able to make it look so good.

I didn't know you puppeteered, did you make the puppet yourself?

 

[MuppetSpot]

I didn't know you puppeteered, did you make the puppet yourself?

I was using one of the Whatnots from years back.

 

[Cookie3001]

Once I was performing at the library and the kids got a little crazy, I couldn't even hear myself think over the sounds of kids screaming and digging through toy bins. They got so crazy that one of them chucked a block at the stage, it din't hit the puppets or me and my puppeteer friend but I remember making the puppet look towards the audience and say "WHO DID THAT?" and immediately the well behaved kids (a third of the audience) ratted a little boy out. The middle of the stage had a small slot that I could look through to see the audience and I was annoyed since the little boys mother was just off to the side texting on her phone