human arm puppets

[johnthepuppet]

Hi

I'm new to this forum and this is my first ever post .
I'm John a cheap - and cheerful - puppte - little boy of about 8 years of age - I work extensively in my local church and usually make an appearnace for major services such as nativities, mother's day etc.

My owner wants to get another puppet ! a human arm one. It needs to be big - and not human - bit like cookie monster really. Anyway the thing is
this sounds like a heavy puppet and with 1 arm for the head/mouth and one for the arm in a big puppet thats a lot of stretching up - is it impractical ?
Would it be better to actually get into the puppet or is this not "propper" puppetry ?

PS sweedish chef rules !

 

[biblebetty]

Hi
I have 4 large puppets i brought from oneway street. Yes they are very heavy. they are impressive and the kids really like them but if you plan on using it for long periods of time you need to work out your arms, your hands are also affected because the head is very heavy and the mouth is hard to manupulate. I will general ask my husband (who is very strong and has large hands) to manipulate the puppet and even he gets very tried. My team had six shows using a large glowing girl puppet angel to sing. we had two shows in one day (one at signal hill, and then we drove to los angeles for the second) and the puppeteer (who is are team leader) who used the large puppet hurt his forearm musle and could not do the show in LA, we had the wise men singing by themselves without the backup angel. he was very tried and in pain. So if you buy these large puppets beware not to use them too long of a time. (ps these shows are only 20mins long)
Alice

 

[Onath]

I made this giant green guy out of foam and fabric he's not too heavy, it took a little while to get used to it but I can use it for a long time now. He is about 3ft tall and a pretty big arm span your hands slide in at the elbow. You can see a video of my guy here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ-6_tzo5EU

 

[biblebetty]

how cute, love the green guy you did a great job.

 

[Whispers]

Its not very impractical really and it adds a lot more believability to the show. I used a human-arm puppet in our New Years performance and controlled the right arm and the head, for a 7 minute monologue. It was very tiring but its worth it. Its definitely a crowd-pleaser but the main thing is just building up strength in your arms

@BibleBetty What i did with the OWS puppets is U bought the HA Shirt Pattern and just made different shirts so I could convert any puppet into a Human arm puppet, its really a good way to lower costs :]

 

[johnthepuppet]

Thanks everyone for the great input - I'm so pleased I joined up here.
I'm still thinking and planning things out here so nothing concrete yet (should that be foam ?) The sweedish Chef that's 2 human arms which means 2 people to work it ? must be quite cosy - 1 standing 1 kneeling for the hands.
I suppose 2 arms are a lot more useful than 1 in any cooking demonstation.

 

[MuppetFozzieBe]

that sounds like a cool project
-nicknap

 

[SesameKermie]

Actually, John, it depends on the particular effect. For a character like the Swedish Chef, who is rather clumsy, it works better to have his head and his hands operated by different people. In Avenue Q, characters like Nicky and Trekkie Monster were operated with the puppeteer in the head and (usually left) hand and an assistant operating the right hand. I think it was Jim Henson, who said that they don't just use one type of puppetry. They use whatever it takes to get the shot.

Take a look at Elmo on Sesame Street. (Yes, I'm invoking the name of the little red menace, but that's another discussion.) Depending on what the sketch calls for, I've seen him as a bunraku-style puppet, a hand/rod puppet, and a live hands puppet. Use the method that works.

 

[johnthepuppet]

Thanks yes thats good advice "use the method that works" this is developing into "cooking monster" appearing for 4/5 short sessions as part of a holiday club held at our local church this summer. Each day he'll attempt to cook something (really just make a mess) so 2 arms will be required.
and a high table to cookon/crouch behind