How To Succeed in Puppetry *
* without even realizing it
Some time ago, I was doing an online interview and the opening question was -
"Did you just wake up one morning and decide to become a puppeteer?"
I answered, "No, I just woke up one morning and realized that's what I was."
I'd never really considered the topic until that moment, but I still think that off-the-cuff answer was the best explanation of how I ended up doing what I do. I didn't plan it, that's for sure.
The story goes like this:
When I was a junior in high school, I saw Star Wars. I immediately decided I wanted to work in the movie business doing special effects.
I found out that George Lucas had gone to film school at the University of Southern California, so I applied there. I was accepted.
I hated it, mostly due to one evil screenwriting teacher who hopefully is no longer teaching or dead or both. After four years I decided I didn't want to have anything to do with moviemaking after all. Which left a bit of a problem - what was I going to do for a living?
As it happened, one semester I'd needed two extra course units so I'd taken an extension class as an apprentice at L.A.'s Bob Baker Marionette Theater. I figured it would be an easy two credits - which it was - but it also turned out to be a lot of fun, much more fun than I was having in my film classes.
So when I left USC, I was offered a job at the Bob Baker Theater. (I didn't have any real job skills, so it was the only job offer I got.) I stayed for three years, and along the way I became a halfway decent puppeteer. Performing in front of a live audience every day for three years will do that.
After my stint at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, I spent three more years doing puppet shows at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. I didn't have much choice - I still didn't have any real-world job skills. And not only hadn't I found anything else I could do, I hadn't found anything else I wanted to do. Instead, I discovered I really enjoyed puppeteering. Clearly I was doomed.
By the third year, my fellow performers and I were so tired of doing the typical theme-park puppet show - target age, approximately two-and-a-half - that we proposed to the QM management that we put on our own show. For some reason, they agreed.
So we put on an original musical comedy show about the building of the Queen Mary. It was pretty much historically accurate, except for the talking dogs.
That was my first experience as a writer/director, and while the show was probably no classic, I do think it was better than most theme-park fare. Parents often came to us after the show to tell us they had only watched the show because they were with their kids, but - much to their surprise - they'd enjoyed it, too. I think that was because we sneaked some pretty satirical stuff into the show. (I'm especially proud of our intentionally hideous "Queen Mary Christmas Spectacular".)
The show had a good run, but unfortunately the Disney Company took over the Queen Mary that year, and one of the first things they did was cancel all the live shows.
So once again I was looking for a job, with no idea what I might do. As I sat home, I thought back on the Queen Mary show, and decided the only downside to the whole experience was when I got cheated by a certain sub-contractor who took my check and then didn't deliver as promised. Since I had lots of free time, I decided to sue him.
[ Warning! Punchline ahead... ]
And that lawsuit got me into the movie business, doing special effects, which I've been doing ever since.
Wanna find out how that happened? Read on.
By the way, it's been over fifteen years since I finished college, and I've still never had a real job. Maybe someday.
