Cuplog

Get your fix of puppet performances at Videos of Puppets.

This could prove to be an excellent resource, especially for those of us who do not have many opportunities to observe live performances of puppet shows.

To update a previous entry, I decided on 2′ marionettes, and made my first marionette head yesterday. I need to buy more materials before I can complete it, however, and as I am skinned, it will have to wait until next weekend at the earliest. Also, I learned that I do have access to a rudimentary sound system. I can use Danny Boy’s amplifier (which I had forgotten he owned) and his microphones (if he can find them). It’s basic, but it will suffice for now (and will certainly serve better than the borrowed karaoke machine to which I unhappily resorted during the last performance when the expected sound system was not present at the venue).

Danny Boy and I sculpted four additional puppet heads of the glove puppet variety (and all for Punch & Judy). Daniel made another Joey the Clown (he was unsatisfied with the previous one), a Hangman, and another Devil. I made yet another Punch (and this may be the one).

The marionette I started, incidentally, is a pirate. Once I get the hang of it, I’ll start making characters of a more definite identity.

I’m not sure I like the term “puppet builder,” a term that seems to be popular at the moment. Making puppets is a craft that is sometimes an art. “Building” infers the laborious construction of something more or less utilitarian and stationary, which doesn’t describe the process of making puppets at all. Take the first definition of “build” in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition:

1 : to form by ordering and uniting materials by gradual means into a composite whole : CONSTRUCT

It may be accurate for a house, dam, or pyramid, I suppose.

The simplest name for the craft and art of making puppets is puppet-making, and those who engage in the activity are puppet-makers. Let’s see the relevant definition of “make” in the same book:

3 a : to bring into being by forming, shaping, or altering material : FASHION

Yes, I think that is a much more satisfactory description. Where the creation of puppets are concerned, I am a maker. Where the construction of puppet stages are concerned, however, I am indeed a builder, but that is a subject for another article.

I am posting this for the benefit of those who may be confused about the categorization of puppet types. The easiest way is to list examples.

body puppet

Big Bird (Sesame Street)

glove puppet

Punch & Judy (Punch & Judy), King Friday (Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood), Kukla (Kukla, Fran and Ollie)

hand and rod puppet

Kermit the Frog (Sesame Street; The Muppet Show)

hand puppet (a.k.a. hand-in-mouth puppet)

Crocodile (Punch & Judy), Ollie (Kukla, Fran and Ollie), Lamb Chop (The Shari Lewis Show)

human arm puppet

Swedish Chef (The Muppet Show)

marionette

Pinocchio, Howdy Doody (The Howdy Doody Show)

marotte

a jester’s sceptre

rod marionette

typically represented by Sicilian and Czech theatre

rod puppet

wayang golek, a traditional Indonesian puppet type

shadow puppet

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

My brother and I have a number of Punch & Judy puppets waiting to be painted, but I can’t afford our preferred paint yet. I tried using acrylic paint in liquid form, but we had much more satisfactory results when we used acrylics that came in tubes. Alas, even the least expensive tubes are beyond my means at the moment.

I am still debating whether to start making 2′ or 3′ marionettes. The former would allow me conserve money and space with a smaller stage, but it also means it would be more difficult to see for larger audiences. I should experiment, I suppose. It doesn’t hurt to make one of each.

I still need to modify my current glove puppet fit-up. I need to find proper striped canvas above all else.

And before I attempt another performance, I must acquire a sound system, and preferably one of those headset microphones.

As for the marionette stage, I worked out the minimum dimensions for my purposes, which at this point would mean a total width of 18′, a height of 9′ (or 10′), and a performance area 6′ wide by 3′ high, elevated 2′. That’s a lot of PVC pipe sections and connectors.

I made another puppet head of Punch the other day because I felt the first was not Punch-like enough. Meanwhile, Daniel has made puppet heads of Joey the Clown and the Policeman, as well as finishing the Devil he made some time ago. Everything needs to be painted, but that will have to wait until I can afford the proper paints. Other Punch & Judy characters remaining to be made are the Baby, the Ghost, the Hangman, the Crocodile, Hector the Horse, and Toby the Dog. Daniel made a Ghost already, but the neck is too thin and fragile, so we shall either try to reinforce it or make another puppet head.

I also need to start working on the hands. I am undecided about whether to make molds or make each one individually.

I’m still brainstorming about marionette construction, marionette theatre construction, and marionette plays. I know it will involve much more time, work, and expense. It is a longterm goal.