Shadow Puppets on Steroids Wayang (or Wajang) is an Indonesian word “bayang” which means shadow. Wayang kulit, or shadow puppetry, is very predominant in Indonesia as well as many other southeast Asian cultures, by which figures made from water buffalo hide, are considered by many scholors to be the oldest freestanding puppet form to be used; the earliest references to date is from the 800s. A court poet during the reign of King Airlangga (1035–1049) wrote: “There are people

Get Off Your Duff! OK, it is impossible to ‘learn’ puppetry and not practice. It’s not like riding a bike; it will not just “come back to you” even if you remember everything. The goal is to create an almost cellular memory of what to do, so that it becomes second nature to do it. I have been doing puppetry for so long now that when I train others and try to give examples of biting words, flipping the lid, etc. I have to consciously think about it, because I unconsciously do

Represent! Why am I writing a post on logo design when the topic of this blog is puppetry? A logo is the most predominant and most powerful part behind turning your hobby/ministry/business into a brand that people remember, a simple image that reminds people of you when they see it. Unfortunately, there are thousands, if not millions of people out there claiming to be a professional designer. People putting out crappy logos in bulk for cheap. On the other end, you have those

Ventriloquist Intelligentsia Paul Winchell was one of the first entertainers that I connected with at young age. Born Paul Wilchinsky on December 21, 1922, was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, voice artist, humanitarian, and inventor whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he was the host of The Paul Winchell Show, which also used two other titles during its prime time run on NBC, The Speidel Show, and What's My Name?. From 1965–1968, Wi