Most of the time when I meet people out and about, they ask what I do. I normally refrain from saying I work in IT – a real Dolly Parton shift – because that usually shoots the conversation down straight away and turns into “ohhh, you’re the guy who says send in a ticket.” So instead, I say I’m a puppeteer.
This is normally followed by: “Wow, can you throw your voice?” or “How did you get into puppetry?” It feels scripted 9 times out of 10.
It’s rare that I go to a dinner party. I haven’t been to one in years, but I used to. Once, I was asked by my ex’s well-off friend, around a table of eight respected people in their chosen industries – accountants, publicists, bankers, journalists. As my uncle would say: people farting through silk. “So… what do you do?”
After I said I’m a puppeteer, she burst into tears and ran off crying to the toilet. Apparently she had some deep fear of puppets… or maybe people dressed up in mascot outfits. I’m still not entirely sure.
The once-welcoming table became tense. Her fiancé looked like he wanted to beat me up for making her cry, but didn’t feel it was fully warranted. The table didn’t know how to react, and to be honest, neither did I.
At a friend’s wedding, I was sat alone with people I’d never met before. During dinner, a woman asked me what I do. I replied: puppeteer. “Ooo, I thought you were normal,” she said, laughing. So I asked her what she did. She said she worked for a charity. I replied, “Sounds fun.” It didn’t go down too well.
But a few others at the table overheard and started asking me the inevitable questions.
So I’m going to clear up a few things that always come up:
What is puppetry?
Bringing an inanimate object to life.
Can you throw your voice?
No. That’s a ventriloquist. A puppeteer gives the illusion that the puppet is talking, without the performer moving their lips.
What’s a marionette?
A puppet operated by strings.
What’s a puppeteer?
Mentally unstable operator. I wouldn’t date one.
Do you know… [insert famous puppeteer here]?
For the most part, yes. It’s a pretty small industry. I might not know them personally, but there’s a good chance our paths have crossed.
How do they move without touching them?
Usually a mixture of camera angles, hidden operators, and animatronics.
What’s an animatronic?
An electronic mechanism that allows a puppet to move without visible operators.
Why puppetry?
Because I see a beauty in the art form. It’s almost always collaborative. There are some practitioners who do everything alone, but the real magic is in the craftsmanship, the performers, the designers, the technicians. It can be completely universal. I’ve seen shows in languages I don’t understand at all, and still been moved by them. You don’t need the words. You just need the life.