#puppet school

[janetrash]

Yeti Stardust makes a music video in his Bedroom! I was lucky enough to go to Puppet School in LA last week. If you live there and you haven't gone....you have to. It's real Muppet style building! There's also one in SanFran and NYC. The best class of my life. I learned so much and brought this guy home.

[puppetsandstories]

Chapter 4: Mischievous Sibling

"All grow'd and still scared of the dark?" A voice bellowed from above. 

Little Amy jumped  three feet and fell flat on her bottom. She instantly recognized it. "Duke!?!" She gasped. 

Duke laughed. "Been hangin' with them city folk too long. Ya lost your forest legs!" 

Little Amy angrily swiped dirt from her dress. "That was mean! And I never had forest legs!!"

"You a squirrel! Of course you got forest legs!"

Ignoring Duke's predictably poor grammar, Little Amy cut to the chase. "Why'd you call me in the middle of the night?"

Duke's tone grew serious. "We's got problems. I tell ya when we's get home."

[thevioletvalentinecompany]

Michael Earl

Not to stray off topic, but I just heard Michael Earl was diagnosed with colon cancer and that he has no medical insurance.

Michael Earl most notably played Snuffaluffogus on Seasame St, as was generally an ever present part of the classic-era Henson team.

I, personally, have had an interest in puppets for years, but not until I took his workshop, 'puppet school' did I feel empowered with good knowledge enough to put it all together. Earl had been the first to take what were classically industry secrets and share them with the world, empowering not only myself but a whole cadre of contemporary, passionate people working in what all would agree is a pretty complex and difficult medium to work in. Just meeting the guy inspired me to appreciate the art in a new way and his passion and discipline were obvious and infectious.

Apparently he was doing fine working in Hollywood, then left the industry to teach puppets and while he has been getting his school off the ground, is when his health care lapsed and this tragedy occurred. This is an unjust tragedy and my heart could not go out to him more. He's a genuinely good man and a truly inspired artist and the fact that society would shrug their collective shoulders rather than help him on the day that he lost the lottery is unacceptable in it's nightmarish implications. 

That we all could be as inspiring.

[thevioletvalentinecompany]

Puppet School? / Some Kind of (Cookie) Monster

I met most of my puppet posse at Puppet School (http://www.puppetschool.com). It is a workshop taught by a one of Hensons' old crew. Pretty much the exact guy you want to teach you puppets. And, as far as I know, pretty much the only legit puppet guy kicking down True Street Knowledge (Sesame). He played frigging Snuffaluffogus. When I took his workshop, I found him to be a great teacher and an interesting guy and I learned an insane amount about the craft in the 2 days I spent with him. The puppet networking was worth it's weight in puppet gold as well.

He is teaching an intermediate level class on the first and it is 300 dollars. I feel like I should take it, but I don't know how much more there could be to puppets. Not to diminish the level of skill involved in puppetry, but a lot of the curriculum is listed as teaching improv with puppets. I took Second City classes in college and the most important thing I learned about Improv was that it was boring bullshit, roughly equal in entertain value to an episode of The Drew Carey show. Puppetry conventions are already kind of stuck at the cutting edge of 1981, it's not like I need to pay 300 bucks to prepare in hopes for a big Johnny Carson appearance.

Ultimately, the biggest turn off to the class is that the teacher refuses to share his patterns for puppets with his students. I have a huge respect for the man, but in an era of wikipedia, sharing and open-sourced everything the idea that a simple puppet pattern that could be figured out in a few days anyway would be closely guarded as some sort of "Industry Secret" is arcane thinking at best and moderately insulting as worst. It may seem a small gripe but if I pay someone to teach me a craft, I can't be comfortable knowing they are purposely holding back information. I want a teacher that is working with me to make me the best that they can make me.

Because, admittedly, a lot of things in the puppet culture might be lame. Sure, Jim Henson was a genius and we all want to be him, but it seems like most of 'em just end up Crank Yankers. It's terrifying to look in the puppet mirror and be honest with yourself about which one you are, imaginative, creative Jim Hensonian genius or anti-social high-school drama reject that can't even justifiably rolling his eyes when he passes a lewzer mime at the park.

Jesus God, please let me be Jim Henson and let me not be the nightclub ventriloquist. Jesus God, I have a puppet in my hand. Please, oh God, do not let me be lame.

But the thing that is an undeniably the comfort and consolation of wandering the existential trenches of puppetonia is that most of the people involve are truly the opposite of assholes. My puppet posse shares puppet information excitedly, does each other small favors without thinking and work on each others projects for free because they genuinely love doing it. That is how shit should be. And as much as I respect the teacher of Puppet School and his 5 Emmys, I just can't be comfortable with the idea of a guy that is into something as dorky and wholesome as puppetry but approaches it with a shady, capitalist attitude.

And honestly, it's not like puppetry is that hard to figure out on your own. Jim Henson didn't go to puppet school.

If somehow someone involved in Puppet School ever reads this, I want to re-emphasize here my deep respect for him as a teacher and puppeteer. My gripe is a philosophical one and I would ask him or anyone involved in puppetry to seriously consider there motivations and attitudes. Do you want to live in a world where everyone shares information, has unlimited music to listen to and laughs merrily at the latest Pirate Bay blog post or do you want to be a Lars Ulrich about it?

Some Kind of (Cookie) Monster.