Overweight puppets

[Melonpool]

I know this is a little off the subject -- but has anyone else noticed that after you've been puppeteering for a few years, your hand doesn't seem to sweat as much? I can remember when I first started that my puppets were almost soaking wet when I was done with them. These days, I don;t have that problem at all. At first I though it was difference between Scott foam and upholstery foam, but I don;t seem to sweat in either very much any more. Just curious.

 

[D'Snowth]

I haven't really noticed...

I learned from one of my mistakes early on by not having any kind of fabrication on the backside of the mouthplates (where your hand is): Steve's first mouthplate was made from cardboard, which really deteriorated quickly from my sweaty hand, so after that mistaken, I made it a point to make sure all mouthplates have some kind of back fabrication to protect it from sweat, usually felt.

But again, I haven't really paid a whole lot of attention, but I think, most things considered, my hand doesn't really sweat a whole lot anymore. My arm doesn't get sore as quickly as it did when I was first starting out, either.

 

[staceyrebecca]

Naomi Guss wrote an excellent little write-up with the help of Andrew Young about the different types of foam used to build puppets. That should help a little, if you haven't discovered it on your own already.

http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/...-a-foam-puppet-aamp-what-kinds-of-foam-to-use

Essentially, yes, L200 is fun foam, but you can get it in different thicknesses at an upholstery or foam shop. I've only built one puppet using this type of foam, under the guidance of Nick Barone, who has (with his wife) a lovely website chock full of resources for purchasing all types of things for building puppets (including foam), here:

http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/building/index.html

Some of the links are old & no longer hosted, but it's a good place to start.

 

[D'Snowth]

I've only built one puppet using this type of foam, under the guidance of Nick Barone, who has (with his wife) a lovely website chock full of resources for purchasing all types of things for building puppets (including foam), here:

http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/building/index.html

Some of the links are old & no longer hosted, but it's a good place to start.

I'm surprised the site itself is still up; I remember looking at this thing, like, ten years ago. O.O

 

[staceyrebecca]

I'm surprised the site itself is still up; I remember looking at this thing, like, ten years ago. O.O

I know Rose adds to it periodically. Probably less so, nowadays.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Mjolnit is right; strength is largely irrelevant when performing puppets live. What you need is muscle endurance, which is completely different. I started my career working for a company where I alternated with a guy who was seriously in to lifting weights. He had 2-3x my strength, but his arms were tired much faster than mine. It's similar to the way that a weight lifter trains for the Olympics is much, much different than the way a sprinter does.

The best exercises to do would depend on the design of the puppet(s) you're performing and how they are performed, but I think in general that pull-ups (if you can do them) and core exercises are an excellent idea.

Re: weight on puppets, don't use 1.5 inch upholstery foam. As others have said, it's way too heavy. For hand and rod puppets, I like using L200 foam for a puppet's body and 3/4 inch or 1/2 inch reticulated foam for the head. That would probably cut the weight of your puppet in half, if not more!

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Naomi Guss wrote an excellent little write-up with the help of Andrew Young about the different types of foam used to build puppets. That should help a little, if you haven't discovered it on your own already.

http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/...-a-foam-puppet-aamp-what-kinds-of-foam-to-use

Wow, I completely forgot that I wrote that for Naomi.

 

[Mjolnir]

Alright, I'm convinced. Despite the fact that I'm actually getting used to the weight, I'm going shopping for 1/2 inch foam and some L200 this weekend and will re-do Fred's body. I put this much time into him, might as well get him as close to perfect as possible. Thanks for the links staceyrebecca!