My school's Puppetry Club!

[Herman]

yeah, it is the same High School club! we are gearing up for our next big show in may!

 

[Kiki]

Sounds great! A few years back, my art teacher (who has worked with the Muppets before! ) actually asked me if I'd like to start a puppetry club, but never got around to it, and being at an all-girl's school, people are just "too cool for puppets" Never got around to it. -_- Grr.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll do great and I wish you all the best!

 

[davidmartiste]

First meeting is Wednesday afternoon! Yay!

Excited to hear how it went! Be sure to fill us in!

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

Excited to hear how it went! Be sure to fill us in!

It didn't go according to plan, but it went well. I spent the whole time running around the school with one of my puppets attempting to recruit people, which I succeeded in (1 freshmen, 1 sophomore, I'm the only junior for now and 2 seniors). This pushes back my plans slightly but I'm hoping WOM once people find out what we're doing will help the club. At this point, I want at least 10 members, we're 1/2 way there.

 

[davidmartiste]

It didn't go according to plan, but it went well. I spent the whole time running around the school with one of my puppets attempting to recruit people, which I succeeded in (1 freshmen, 1 sophomore, I'm the only junior for now and 2 seniors). This pushes back my plans slightly but I'm hoping WOM once people find out what we're doing will help the club. At this point, I want at least 10 members, we're 1/2 way there.

5 is a great start. 10 would be cool but, 5 is still a company. Rock on! Keep us updated.

 

[Teenager's]

It didn't go according to plan, but it went well. I spent the whole time running around the school with one of my puppets attempting to recruit people, which I succeeded in (1 freshmen, 1 sophomore, I'm the only junior for now and 2 seniors). This pushes back my plans slightly but I'm hoping WOM once people find out what we're doing will help the club. At this point, I want at least 10 members, we're 1/2 way there.

Yea, don't worry about it. It's always good to start small, build a following and then it'll probably catch on. The word of mouth is a pretty powerful thing.

Does your school have televised morning announcements? If so...try to get a puppet on there advertising the club...either being interviewed or make a commercial...or Both!

And....the age groups of the members was something that was always interesting to me. When I started MOST of the club members were seniors....and then the next year when I had to start all over (basically) Mainly Freshmen joined. and then my third year I got a nice mix of Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors.---I was the only senior.

 

[The Shoe Fairy]

Wow! You are so lucky to have that!

 

[mike short]

I find the soft sell works better. Teenagers are super-judgmental people, and running around with a puppet can look like the height of dorky and uncool. I remember back when I was one of the founding members of my college improv troupe, recruiting people involved hanging out with them, saying "sh*t, you're really funny. I would love to get you on stage with us." and then hoping they might take us up on that.

To me, puppetry is a combination of a few things. It's all about stagecraft and movement. It's also about technical work, special effects, and theater magic. With improv, we approached all manner of other disciplines; people interested in comedy, theater, public-speaking skills, writing. Seek out your dancers, your actors, and your stage techs. Half of my college troupe's members were not performers; we had stage managers, treasurers, lighting and sound directors, and campus liaisons. Someone in your school wants to be involved in staging a show, even if it's behind the scenes. Find those people and your group will grow.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

Well, WOM flew pretty quickly. I set up a Facebook group for the few members we have last weekend and sent everyone an update message and the end of it, I encouraged members to convince their friends to join the club. I go back to Facebook an hour or so later, BAM! 22 members! If all these people are actually serious about joining us, we now have two freshmen, one sophomore, four juniors (counting myself) and a surprising fifteen seniors. None of them except one of the senior girls have really formal theater training (she's probably going to be vice president once I give out officer positions) but I'm more than satisfied right now. I hope these folks end up sticking around.