Anyone Performing in Professional Puppet Shows?

[crazy chris]

hi there everybody!

im new here and i see alot of puppet making activity on the forum which is soooooooo cool! i am amazed by what ive seen! and quite envious of your talents!

i was just curious who all is running puppet shows?

and if so what tips if any can you give?

what seems to work the best? schools? libraries? private functions?

i started up a puppet show on a whim a couple months back (childhood dream) and i am allready booked for several private events through word of mouth ...

i pre engineer all the sound and music and perform it as a lip synch... its worked out well so far... and insures a professional performance with less chance of glitches

i hope to add some video soon!

thanks for any and all future responses!

take care

cc

 

[spcglider]

I've eschewed the live performance route in favor of strictly video presentations. And I've eschewed doing kids' shows in favor of providing sorely needed puppetry for grown-ups. Not that I have anything at all against all you folks out there who DO kid's shows or family shows... I like it all. I just find myself more attracted to making entertainment for adult audiences.

While I cannot actually proclaim "professionalism" as I'm not being paid for the efforts, I do a web series called Transylvania Television and it can be found at www.transylvania-tv.com or on iTunes under podcasts

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/transylvania-television/id319227108?ign-mpt=uo=4

And that's my story. I'm sicking to it.

-Gordon

 

[crazy chris]

GREAT STUFF! i am thoroughly impressed!

i definately respect you gearing your puppetry towards an adult audience... ive been lucky at my events to have had more adults in attendance than children... so i base my scripts on a dual layer of maturity...

the puppets themselves and the general atmosphere of the show serves to entertain the children but our humor is sometimes a bit more complex and entertains any adults stuck there being good parents for their children...hahaha

we have the kids sit up front past a certain line (in front of the light rig with bubble machines and blacklights) and i normally find that i direct certain jokes over the heads of the kids onto the adults behind them.... its an interesting dynamic... but as the adults laugh...the kids normally follow suit ...and ofcourse they laugh at the simple things like a puppet acting angry or dancing funny

im pushing 40...and i consider this the happiest time of my life all because of finally pursuing puppets as a career of sorts.... i dj'd most of my life in niteclubs and never found true fullfillment in entertaining drunken party goers... lol

cc

 

[CoOKiE]

Welcome to the boards!

I entertain for a company. But really the best way is to do EVERYTHING. Its almost like networking your business. Someone will see your work, and want to share it with their group, and someone there may want to share it with another group. SO its all about doing a much as possible.

As for the group i work with, Big Nazo, we have done ALOT of free events in the city. And we've been known around the world. because of this the group has gone to places such as Japan or Indonesia, and most recently opened every night for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

Alot of jobs are along the similar line where you have to suffer doing free gigs to get somewhere.

 

[crazy chris]

very cool gigs cookie!

thats amazing!

cc

 

[aaronmojo]

Chris, that is super cool that you're succeeding at doing puppet shows. I am on the verge of doing the same thing full-time. I've spent years working as a freelance illustrator and, lately, sitting in a cubicle in the corporate world. The money is good but the soul-crushing monotony is bad. I've done some shows for friends and their kids and have a business plan and everything ready to go... just haven't made the leap yet.

How'd you get your first gig? Did you do something at a local library? Put an ad on craigslist or something?

Also what kind of setup do you have? I've got a laptop w/ speakers and I run background music and sound effects thru it, but I do the puppet voice "live." How many puppets are you using? Any pictures or video of your show on the internet?

 

[crazy chris]

hey aaron! great to hear you might take the leap!

my first gig was for a large kids party that my extended family threw for all our little neices/nephews/cousins etc... and it seemed that everyone enjoyed it so much that each child/parent went home and told everyone they knew... and its blossomed from there... so much so that i recently overhauled my show and added a huge array of puppets to the roster

at this point im at 10 characters and hope to add more everytime i feel inspired

i have 5 puppeteers on call...but i have sequenced my show to work with 3 hardworking puppeteers with strong wills and lots of energy...hahaha

my audio set up is two alesis transactive live pa units (daisy chained) and just running an mp3 player into it.... i love the alesis units because of their portability and 12 hour battery life for those gigs that seem like the closest plug in is a mile away...they work great for small venues

i also have a huge array of stage lighting... including a large panel LED black light and bubble machine for a segment sang to OCTOPUS' GARDEN using blacklight fish puppets and a blacklight lighted octopus

my show runs 30 minutes and its great fun! though a bit tiring....at one point my arm is in the air for 17 minutes straight...lol... we also sing about 5 songs per show...

our stage is a multi tier stage using multiple tripods / crossbars and custom curtains

behind the stage we have 2 full size tables holding puppets and my lightboard which i control from my main center stage puppeting positing...

this is my roster right now...

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/8795/tshirtfinalnewcharacter.jpg

this is a logo added to t shirts we wear and sometimes give out as prizes if we have them in stock

we also give out the oobi hand puppet eyeballs to all the kids and encourage them to learn to use puppets themselves

it is such a rush to do these type shows and really see the reactions up close!

photos and video will hopefully be coming soon! next show in about a month!

cc

 

[aaronmojo]

The puppets look fantastic! From the sound of things, your show is MUCH more elaborate than mine! I'm just one guy, so it's one main puppet and a few other "walk on" simple puppets.

I bought a stash of the Oobi eyes to give out, too. Also a bunch of brightly colored socks and stick-on eyes.

So how long are your shows? And (this is more of a "business related" question) are you having to carry any kind of specialized liability insurance?

 

[crazy chris]

The puppets look fantastic! From the sound of things, your show is MUCH more elaborate than mine! I'm just one guy, so it's one main puppet and a few other "walk on" simple puppets.

I bought a stash of the Oobi eyes to give out, too. Also a bunch of brightly colored socks and stick-on eyes.

So how long are your shows? And (this is more of a "business related" question) are you having to carry any kind of specialized liability insurance?

my shows last 30 minutes...

and as far as the insurance...i really should check into that...lol... great question!

if anyone else knows the answer it would be great to hear!

cc

 

[Puppetainer]

Well I'm sort of in Gordon's camp I guess. Though WAAAAAAY behind him. I'm working on a puppet video production but am in the very early stages. I have spent over 25 years in retail management. More than half of that time was spent running independent businesses that I owned solely or in partnership. Now I've been unemployed since April and spending A LOT of time building puppets in preparation to do a YouTube type puppet show. I've written a couple of scripts and am moving forward. Still have to build a couple more puppets and the sets. Then we just have to rehearse, film and edit. So...give me another 2 or 3 years.

Now unless a miracle should happen and my little show is "discovered" and picked up by a major network...there isn't likely to be much in the way of income from that. For that I'm going to take a shot at selling some custom puppets to bring in a few extra bucks. My wife and I have dreamed of starting a puppet theater but right now don't have access to the capital that would require so the YouTube thing will have to suffice.

I give you a ton of credit for taking the leap! I can say that I ran a business for several years as a wedding video photographer that survived COMPLETELY on word of mouth advertising. That is the small business owner's best friend! You might consider giving a premium of some kind if someone gets you a new client. My favorite kind of a premium was always a discount on a future purchase (a 15% discount on a future puppet performance?) because that gives them a perk that benefits you as well. Best of luck and welcome to the forum!