Pippin

This little guy was built by Emmalee Pearson for The Glorified Sock Puppet Contest. Unfortunately he did not make the top ten, but I think it deserves special mention because it was Emmalee's first puppet, and it was my favorite of all the puppets. Great work!

The Glorified Sock Puppet Contest

Project Puppet's Glorified Sock Puppet Contest is in it's final round. The judges ( of which I was one) have picked their ten favorites and now it's time for you to vote. I was so impressed by all 27 entries from all over the globe. It was tough for me to pick just 10. The last day to vote is July 31, 2006 - so don't delay. Good luck to all the contestants.

Rex and Boots

Anita and I have already performed Rex and Boots for over two weeks, and the show has been very well received. It is always exciting to see how the show changes, grows and evolves during the course of a tour. I hope you all will get a chance to see it.

Red Crab

This is a crab that I built for Puppet Up! Featuring the Henson Improv Company. He is based on a green crab that was built a while back by the very talented puppet builder Eric Englehardt. Eric is a veritable encyclopedia of puppet building knowledge. He happened to be out from New York and working in the Henson Creature Shop, at the same time I was building the crab. He gave me so many great tips and advice - I could not have built this puppet without him.

Meet Herman

I built this puppet for Puppet Up! Featuring the Henson Improv Company. He made his debut this past week in Hollywood, and he will be traveling to Edinburgh when the show tours this August.

Herman was designed specially for the show by long time Jim Henson Company puppeteer Julianne Buescher. I built him in the Creature Shop under the watchful eye of Jane Gootnick, an extremely talented builder that has been with the Jim Henson Company since the second season of The Muppet Show. Even though I've been building puppets for over 10 years, I learned so much from Jane.

A small trivia note for all you Jim Henson Company fans: Herman is made from the same fur as Sprocket from Fraggle Rock.

Puppet Up!

I hope some of you were able to check out Puppet Up! Featuring the Henson Improv Company in Hollywood this past week. Last night I performed in the 8:30 show and Patrick performed in the 10:30 show. Both shows were hilarious - in my humble and unbiased opinion. The next stop for the show is the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, August 4 - August 20.

James Wojtal Interview

James Wojtal is a talented puppet designer and builder. During his career he has worked on projects like Avenue Q, Bear in the Big Blue House, Crank Yankers, Saturday Night Live, Sesame Street (the American and various internationl versions), Mop-a-Top's Shop, Kermit's Swamp Years, Animal Jam, and more. In this interview I asked him to share his thoughts about puppet building.



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2006 Tour Begins

Our 2006 Summer Tour has just begun. Last week we premiered our two new puppet shows, B.A.R.K. The Robot Dog, and Rex and Boots Super Sleuths. Check out our schedule to see when we are coming to your town.

Jim Henson's Puppet Improv Live in Hollywood!

Puppet Up! for adults only, Featuring the Henson Puppet Improv Company, The Improv, 8162 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046. June 21, 8:30 pm, June 23, 8:30 pm, and and June 24, 8:30 pm and 10:30 pm.

Patrick and I will be performing in the show on Saturday. I'll be in the 8:30 show and Patrick will be in the 10:30 show.

From the company that for fifty years has celebrated irreverence, creativity and performance comes PUPPET UP! (for adults only), featuring The Henson Puppet Improv Company, a demonstration of what happens when the perilous and provocative forms of traditional comedic improvisation are mixed with a bunch of puppets. With a motley group of characters brought to life by the world renowned puppeteers of The Jim Henson Company, this is not your average night at the improv and it is definitely not for children. But all others are welcome to enjoy the uninhibited anarchy of live puppet performance as never seen before.

Click here to buy your ticket.

Busy, busy, busy

Whew! Summer is nearly here and this has been a productive and busy week for me. Patrick and I have been building puppets at The Creature Shop for Jim Henson's Puppet Improv, which has been a blast. In the evenings we're rehearsing our Swazzle puppet shows B.A.R.K. The Robot Dog and Rex and Boots Super Sleuths. Until my schedule lightens up a bit my posts may be a bit spotty, so please bear with me.