I got to meet Rick Lyon

[Onath]

Hey everyone,

Just coming back from the Avenue Q lecture in Boston. It was great and really nice to see the puppets up close. There were very few puppeteers in the crowd. Much more broadway fans than puppet fans. It was great afterwards I was able to talk to him for a while about puppeteering and all sorts of stuff, really and incredibly nice guy. That is it for me just wanted to share.

Jon

 

[Teenager's]

That's Great.

What kind of things did he talk about?

 

[Onath]

Lets see, He spoke about how he got involved with avenue Q. He spoke about the design process of making the puppet similar to muppets but not. He spoke about how during the design process that he wanted the main characters to be self sufficient by having them use arm rods but he also wanted to have puppets with live hands as well. He said that part of the charm of the show is the ability to see the mechanics of the puppets working. The real gem was seeing him put on some of the characters and bring them alive the way only a true master puppeteer can. After wards I was able to have a candid conversation with him for about 20 min. We spoke about puppet building, what it takes to be a puppeteer, the 1987 workshop he was part of that Jim Henson taught. We were discussing how we are doing everything we can to perform anywhere we get the chance. He said that is the key, he said puppeteer for free, five dollars, to get a drink or whatever. Basically you just have to do it. He also told us it is not about who you know but, who knows you. There was much more awesomeness but those are some of the highlights that I can remember right now.

 

[D'Snowth]

He spoke about the design process of making the puppet similar to muppets but not.

I thought Avenue Q. WAS muppets?

 

[Toasty]

That's so cool that he was so generous with his time! I've been following Rick's work for a long time (since my first jump onto the interweb back in '96, in fact). I've always been impressed by him, and other talented "lesser known" puppeteers and builders like him that have worked in and out of the Henson system for so many years.

If anyone hasn't seen Rick's own site (which doesn't get updated much since the Avenue Q thing exploded in popularity), it's worth checking out.

http://www.lyonpuppets.com/

 

[Buck-Beaver]

We spoke about puppet building, what it takes to be a puppeteer, the 1987 workshop he was part of that Jim Henson taught.

That sounds like an awesome experience Jon. Is Rick still doing the Broadway show?

I think most people have seen these by now, but videos from the workshop Rock was referring to were recently put on YouTube By Gary Friedman. Check out this thread for more details.

 

[ravagefrackle]

Unfortunately , Rick is not currently in the Broadway show, But I know he is still involved in the Puppet Building/Puppet Refurbishing end of the show,

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I should add that "Rock" in my previous post was a typo (I meant Rick). Too bad he's not on Broadway anymore...his Rod and Trekkie Monster were hilarious.

 

[puck]

I just saw it in NY last week!
Anderson was doing those roles and he was really good too, though I am sure Rick Lyons is just amazing!
I got to meet Jennifer Burkhart, who was also really nice. We didn't talk too much about puppetry though, just a little about UCONN and life and stuff.

 

[Bear Man]

I should add that "Rock" in my previous post was a typo (I meant Rick). Too bad he's not on Broadway anymore...his Rod and Trekkie Monster were hilarious.

Just to be picky, he performed Trekkie and Nicky