Encore Performance! "The River Otter Circus"

I am delighted to get to do this show "once more, with feeling". If you're in the area, come see it!

Ray D Prueter Library
510 Park Ave.
Port Hueneme, CA 9304
Ray D Prueter Library

From the Road: Dublin Library

Uh-Oh! Marshmallow is looking hungry!


One of my roadies from last year, Gabriel, came to see the show and Marshmallow decided to say "Hi!"

Water Color Puppets

Whilst i was in SoCal for rehearsals, I got to see some of the work for "Water Color"




Elizabeth Luce helps stitch up stuff for "Water Color"


Russ Walko


Artie Esposito

Rest of the River Otter Rehearsal Pics

Buster tries on his clown costume.



Sean makes the ruffle for Buster's costume



The Animal Trainer, Esmeralda and Alfonso, the Daredevil - hanging backstage for rehearsal.

Buster and Me

First show today! In San Jose!

River Otter Rehearsals!

Here's the new stage for "River Otter Circus"!


Puppets set up backstage for rehearsals.


Momma River Otter practices the on the High Wire!

Redwood City Main Library

A pic of the set up from Redwood City! Always a great show!



Love the room set up! The Redwood City staff did an amazing job of getting the room ready for the show. It makes getting ready a snap!

S. San Francisco July 18th

Here's the show all set up for "Bugsy Brown: Private Fly" at the South San Francisco Municipal Building. It was their Summer Reading Program Finale and there were loads of folks who turned out for the performance! Once the show was over, the Librarians and volunteers served cake and juice to the attendees (I got a piece of Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting - YUM!). Now that's a good time! A puppet show and cake! What could be better?

I'm off to San Diego this week to enjoy Comic-Con! If any of you folks happen to be there, stop by the Red Window booth (#4800) and visit us! We'll be selling Jeff Pidgeon's Happy Beaver toy alongside the amazing talents of Bill Pressing and Scott Morse

NW Santa Rosa

Just finished my sweep of the Sonoma County Libraries! Whew! Lots of shows in a week! They were all wonderful and PACKED! Thanks Sonoma County!

The pic above is a snap of the sign left for us at the NW Santa Rosa Library. The staff there kindly arranged for yummy snacks (cookies, fruit, water) and gave us a little quiet time in their break-room. NW Santa Rosa, you are very gracious hosts!

I've got more puppet pics to post...keep your eyes peeped for them sometime this weekend!

TIME CHANGE! Mountain View 7/19

My show on July 19th (Saturday) was changed to 11:30am. Since we're all on tour, it's tough to update the main site--this blog, however, is strictly up to me to update (which, I've been neglecting for the tour too!).

So, mark your calendars if you were planning on going to the Mountain View show and please, note the time shift!

See you all at the shows!

Space Bugs - Zeta

Sean is touring with Space Bugs Zeta. I took this pic of Bobby Drone while Sean was rehearsing the show. I gotta' tell ya, I love these Space Bugs shows! They stand alone but, really, you should see them both! It has a sweeping epic feel to it! A puppet show epic! Who knew?!

I'm off to Sacramento tomorrow, so it's unlikely I'll get to posting. I'll try tho! See you at the shows!

Puppet Pile - Space Bugs Alpha

The pile of puppets on the floor between rehearsals. This one is a close up. I think I've got one from further back!

Robo-Locusts

A pic of the Robo-Locusts in Space Bugs Alpha. These puppets are so cool! They look like they're made from metal. They move great too!

Space Bugs Alpha is on tour now!

Space Bugs - Alpha

Patrick is touring with Space Bugs Alpha and I got the chance to see the rehearsals for this show. It's a really great one! Here's a pic of StarFly with the mini-locust.

Summer 2008 Rehearsals!

So, here we are again! Rehearsing puppet shows galore! This is a shot of the Space Bugs set up. Both Space Bugs shows have similar stages but, wow! The puppets for each are so amazing! In addition to rehearsing two Space Bugs shows, we're also touring "The Magical Misadventures of Walnut the Wizard" and "Bugsy Brown, Private Fly". That's a lot of stuff to get done in a week!

PuppeTales article (Feb. 2008) Part 1

Here's Part ONE of my PuppeTales article for Mr. Anderson's Company! Download the entire newsletter here!

Creating a Storytime Mascot!

In many libraries, and classrooms, it is traditional to sit the children down on the floor and read them a story. This is a wonderful time to introduce whimsy and play to children and one of the ways to do that is to create and use a storytime mascot!

There are many ways to use a puppet as your mascot! You can pick a single puppet to read stories to the children for storytime, or you can rotate a “team” of mascots to read stories that “fit” them (I.e. a bug for bug books, a dog for stories about dogs, etc.). Generally, I use only animals for storytelling. It reminds me of Aesop’s Fables, in that the individual hearing the story can see bits of themselves portrayed by the animals and identifies with them.

How can you use these puppets to read stories? Simple! Pick a puppet with a moving mouth and a full body! You can sit the puppet in your lap and use one hand to hold/operate the puppet and the other to hold the book. Now, here’s fun tip on using full bodied puppets: pick on that had good “arms” on it and those puppet arms can help you balance the book on your lap and act as page holders! For this “season” of storytime, many people are trying to use bugs to keep with the theme “Catch the Reading Bug”. Ithink this is a wonderful idea and have spotted a great little character that fits the mascot needs! Gund has a great full body character line called “Kooky Kreatures” that features an ant (I’ll admit to having one myself...full disclosure!)! Is the bug thing too much for you? Well, my FIRST storytime love was a sitting dog created by Folkmanis. He was sitting up to “beg” and had the sweetest face! His hands were perfect for holding a book! I don’t know if they still make this little guy but, if not, I’m sure there are alternatives! (Turns out, they DO! Check him out here