Any Tips for Arm Fatigue?

[Animal31]

yeah...we have a hard enough time walking passed each other... let alone doing wheelies and stuff...hahaha

cc

I don't know how intricate you want to go, but how about rails that the chairs would sit in? They could roll side to side without getting in the other one's way...

I'm surprised they never came up with some sort of arm rest that your arm could sit in to give you a rest during a performance? Something out of view that would attach to the chair in some way?

 

[SesameKermie]

Another option might be to rewrite the scene blocking so the character ducks out of sight but keeps talking. That way the story still gets told, but the puppet is not in the air so long. Granted it depends on the gag because it still has to be believable, but it might help.

 

[crazy chris]

I suppose this could be an expensive idea, but for characters that have a long performance, you could have another duplicate puppet made and another puppeteer,and build the set so there is some kind of object that the puppet can go behind or aside and do a switch, but still keep talking, to give yourself a break.

thats pure genius!

cc

 

[crazy chris]

I don't know how intricate you want to go, but how about rails that the chairs would sit in? They could roll side to side without getting in the other one's way...

I'm surprised they never came up with some sort of arm rest that your arm could sit in to give you a rest during a performance? Something out of view that would attach to the chair in some way?

i agree....i tried creating a arm resting bar ...but my puppets have different mouth entrances...some are in the back of the neck...and some are the normal hole in the bottom....so for the ones with the hole in the back of the neck...the arm wresting bar was useless...

ive actually devised a way for it to work now... my puppet has a furry human hand attachment...which i use alot... but at times the character puts his arm behind his back the way mark twain might when delivering a monologue... i have an 18 inch deep table directly below the front stage and i put 2 milk crates on it behind my character.... i rest the furry arms elbow on the crates and brace my puppeting arm until its recharged... then im back in business for a few more minutes..... so far its working great in practices

cc

 

[crazy chris]

Another option might be to rewrite the scene blocking so the character ducks out of sight but keeps talking. That way the story still gets told, but the puppet is not in the air so long. Granted it depends on the gag because it still has to be believable, but it might help.

very good idea!

my character is sorta the ring leader... and he introduces each of the characters and sings some songs in between... so he just seems to always have to be up there

cc

 

[Jinx]

You're not likely to find a mechanical solution that works in all situations, although you may come up with something that helps.

As Buck mentioned, conditioning is the key. We're asking our muscles to do something that they don't do everyday, so fatigue is naturally going to occur. But if your objective is to hold a puppet up for a long time, start practicing holding a puppet up for increasingly long periods.

I did a show a couple of years ago that required the puppet to be in full view for the entire show, which was about 55 (!) minutes. It was not fun but I had built up the stamina to be able to pull it off.

One nice thing, at least for me, is that the conditioning seems to have remarkable lasting power. The first time I did Little Shop of Horrors I thought I was going to die, both from the strain of the heavy puppets and the heat inside. The second time I did the show it only took about 2-3 days to come up to speed!

When all is said and done, fatigue is just part of the gig...

 

[crazy chris]

woooooooooooow! 55 minutes...thats insane!

cc

 

[Onath]

You would be amazed how strong your arms can be with some training.

Couple of tips I have picked up.

First always remember to stretch. This includes you legs, arms, back, hands, fingers, neck, etc... It is no fun to pull a muscle.

Second any strength training is great. (Pushups, pullups, lifting weights)

Personally I find that the puppet thing is an endurance excercise.
One of my favorite things to do is puppeteer while I watch TV or a movie. Basically throw the puppet in the air and lip synch along to the actors. I can sit with my arm up through an entire movie no problem now.

My recommendation for starting this method.

Watch a half hour tv show- puppeteer through the show rest at commercials. Try it for one show a day. Then work up to two shows a day for another week.

Once that gets easy- try going through the whole show and commercials then two shows.

Once you can get through two half hour tv shows. Throw in a favorite movie and see how far you can get without stopping. Then try and beat that time. Before you know it you will be able to puppeteer for hours non-stop.

Please remember to STRETCH!

Hope this helps.

Becareful you don't work out so much that your forearms are to big to fit in a puppet. I'm on the verge of not fitting into lots of puppets.

 

[crazy chris]

great tips onath!

i will definately use those!

cc

 

[spcglider]

Chairs...official Muppet rolly chairs. Here's an image of the one Dave Goelz used on-set when filming Extrememmakeover home edition:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3308475&id=637074117&ref=fbx_alb

I saw the underside of it. It had no less than eight casters inside the bendy-board "skirt" at the bottom. The seat portion is from a riding lawnmower.

-Gordon