Al the Alien

I built this alien puppet for the Jim Henson Puppet Improv show “Puppet Up!” Al the Alien made his stage debut at The Improv in Hollywood.

I had a great time working in the Creature Shop, located in "The Barn" at the Jim Henson studio in Hollywood. The Barn once held the carpentry shop for the Charlie Chaplin Studio, and is one of the oldest continuously operating buildings in Hollywood.

Al the Alien was designed by puppeteer Julianne Buescher and built under the guidance of longtime Henson builder Jane Gootnick (Dark Crystal, Muppet Show, Muppets Tonight, Muppets Wizard of Oz), with valuable input and advice from talented puppet builder Eric Englehardt. Jane and Eric were both very generous with their time and taught me many new building techniques.

The alien's head was carved from a block of soft foam that I smoothed out with a belt sander. He's painted with a mixture of flock glue and acrylic pigment.

Al's next stop is the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.