How do I get a job as a Muppeteer?

[TheGirlIsABear]

I get to perform improv with a very sexy puppet. The moment adults look at the female puppet character, they know it's not entertainment geared toward their children. I keep the interaction clean with humor based on inuendos and it's incredible to see the audiences reactions. Adults see it as hillarious when they are FORCED out of the notion that puppets are only for kids by the obviously adult puppet. But then, on the other hand I want to keep the comedy clever; not too bawdy, slapstick, or raunchy. No. That's for "Crank Yankers."

I think, if you have control over your puppets persona... make it a character that is appealing, cuite, and funny, but that demands a little respect when dealing with children so that they won't abuse you. Would those children in sunday school have abused or ripped off the arm of the sunday school teacher? Puppets are people too... well if children truly believed that, they wouldn't dis-respect them. It's a tough situation.

 

[Blink]

I get to perform improv with a very sexy puppet. The moment adults look at the female puppet character, they know it's not entertainment geared toward their children. I keep the interaction clean with humor based on inuendos and it's incredible to see the audiences reactions. Adults see it as hillarious when they are FORCED out of the notion that puppets are only for kids by the obviously adult puppet. But then, on the other hand I want to keep the comedy clever; not too bawdy, slapstick, or raunchy. No. That's for "Crank Yankers."

I think, if you have control over your puppets persona... make it a character that is appealing, cuite, and funny, but that demands a little respect when dealing with children so that they won't abuse you. Would those children in sunday school have abused or ripped off the arm of the sunday school teacher? Puppets are people too... well if children truly believed that, they wouldn't dis-respect them. It's a tough situation.

Yes very true,

Some people might say, "well some children push boundaries with adults/Sunday school tecahers as well."

This is also true. But think of it this way. If an annoying child (young or old) still doesn't seem to listen to the puppet charcater, your character has the same options as an actual person.

If a child keeps poking me and I have asked him/her to stop and they didn't, I would probably walk away from that child (of course some situation don't allow for that...but...). By simply saying that you (your puppet character) will leave if they keep doing the negative behaviour you will have set a clear boundary.

If that child crosses that line, just put the puppet away and follow through with your warning. It is incredible how children can police themselves. The group will not be very impressed with that child. You can then point out that only positive behaviour will bring the puppet back.

I agree with TheGirlIsABear though, it is a very tough situation.

 

[Rowlf the dog]

I have a question to all those who make/ build there own puppets.....No I am not looking for you all to spill your secrets out to all of us here. I just want to know what kind of Glue you use to glue the foam together...I was using rubber cement, but after painting my puppets the cement bond failed and the puppet fell apart. Is there a better type of glue or bond that will work better?

Use contact cement!
No these puppets are not for kids. You can find allot of information on the web. And by the way, puppet makers are not like magicians who wont share the :how to do this" answers there are no secrets because some day when you win an award and you say "I want to thank everyone who helped me get where I am." I will be smiling because I will know I was one of them.

Check out Nick Barone's site: http://www.puppetbuilder.com/info/index.html

 

[Fuzzhead]

My own experience at trying to get a job with the Henson company:

Back in 1995, I was going to school at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. I was taking a class on animatronic puppet making, and decided I would like to do it for a living. Our instructor had some contact info for the Henson creature shop. I believe it was still in New York at the time. It may have just been a general phone # for inquiries at the Henson studios. Anyway, A couple other students and I decided to call and ask about jobs. After being put on hold and re-directed to about 20 different extensions, a girl just said to send a resume and portfolio of our work if we were interested. She gave us an address, which I have long since forgotten, and told us she would make sure they got into the right hands. We all stepped back, evaluated our talent and lack of experience, and quickly decided we weren't ready for the big leagues. A couple of the other students later did some work for Mark Wiener with the Wienerville stage show, but I never got any puppet jobs. And that's it for me. My dream of working at the Henson creature shop was very short-lived. I think a lot of people get so caught up in the dream of working for Henson, they forget to stop and think about whether or not they are qualified. And for anyone interested, here is a picture of my final project from that puppet class. At least it got an A+.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h258/CMB_76/GoblinHead.jpg

 

[gfarkwort]

WoW....That's Pretty Awesome!....what all does it do? Do they still have that Class in Pittsburgh?....I am gonna try my hand at an animatronic character soon...

 

[Fuzzhead]

WoW....That's Pretty Awesome!....what all does it do? Do they still have that Class in Pittsburgh?....I am gonna try my hand at an animatronic character soon...

Thanks. Well, he doesn't do anything now. The foam latex dried out and fell apart. Now I just have the fiberglass skull with the eyes and the cables hooked up to it. When it was new, it had a working jaw movement, a back and forth eye movement, the nose had a sniffing movement, the eyes could blink and there was an air bladder in the throat area for a swallowing effect. It wasn't actually animatronic in the true sense of the word. There were no servos or anything. Everything was cable or wire controlled. Except for the air bladder, which had a long tube that I blew into.

I'm not sure if the Art Institute still has that program. You could call them for some info, or check the website. Another alternative you might want to try is the Douglas school of business in Monesson, PA. They have a really good program for special effects makeup and animatronics. One of my old instructors teaches there, and has won an Emmy for his work on Babylon 5. You should check out the site
http://www.douglas-school.com/pages/savini.html

 

[gfarkwort]

Wow, Thats pretty Awesome! the site is Sweet! Thanks for the Link, all the Student work is Great!

 

[jacobsnchz]

Find the website where you sign up for the "AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MUPPET" show!

 

[Giar Fraggle]

Thanks for crushing my hopes and dreams. =)

 

[GabeFirestone]

i'm only 14, so could i possibly get some some sort of internship? i'd do ANYTHING to even be the person that scrubbs the bathrooms at the studio... PLEASE pm me or email; me at artzykidg91@sbcglobal.net!