Something New
Something to think about this week is the question of what is your left hand doing?
If you are right handed, that would indicate that your right hand is inside your puppet and is controlling his head and mouth movements. So often we see a lot of folks who let there other hand basically appear to be paralyzed.
It just hangs off of their shoulder and is limp and lifeless. The good Lord gave most of us two arms which is to say that we have two “tools” with which to make a living. Whether you use the other hand to the best of its ability or not, it is a question of you not using all the tools in your tool kit.
It is the other hand that can provide the movement on the puppets body that gives him the ability to look alive and real. We believe that the bests thing is to become proficient at using arm rods, but if you are not able to do them immediately, you can still be very effective at grasping the puppets arm and moving it around to create the illusion of life.
The puppet can rub its nose. The puppet can scratch its head or scratch any other “itch” it may have at the moment. The puppet can use its hand (with your assistance) to cover its mouth when it coughs or sneezes or any of a hundred other things the puppet can do to look alive.
Just take some time and look at your own performance and see what additional tools you have at your disposal. It is an easy thing, but the more you put into your performance, the more you will get out of it as well.
Talk again next week.
Steve and JET