Something New
One of the things that we notice from time to time even among great performers is that the puppets feet seem to turn backwards and wander all over the place. In some cases, this can be part of the act. With Jeff’s Achmed, it is something that comes across as planned. Jeff uses this to his advantage. However to most of us, it is an irritation that makes us look like we are not in control of our puppets.
What you don’t want is something happening while you perform that takes the audiences attention away from the very things that you have practiced so hard to perfect and makes the audience concentrate on something that just looks goofy instead of being entertained by your act.
What we suggest is that you get about 18-24″ of very small clear monofilament fishing line. Most of you have it around the house already, so it would not take anything to come up with it. For those of you who may not have it, you can find it in the Sporting Goods Dept. of any Walmart or Kmart for just a couple of dollars.
Take the fishing line and tie it around the toes of one foot of your puppet. You can approximate how much distance you need between the two feet and then tie the other foot in the same fashion. Doing it this way is not a permanent change to your puppet, so you can experiment with the distance between feet and get the effect just the way you want it. Yes, you can see the line if you are in the first few rows of the audience, but you will have to decide what you find to be the most ridiculous. A little, almost invisible bit of fishing line or feet that are running all over the place.
Anyway, its a suggestion that did not cost you anything so take it for what its worth.
That’s all for now, so keep on venting.
Until Next time,
Steve and JET