Under The Puppet

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On Friday, July 21, 2023, I was honored to be asked to host a post-performance question and answer session with ventriloquist Terry Fator at the Puppeteers of America Festival at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. I was able to chat chat with Terry about performing on America's Got Talent, where his early puppets came from, how much improvisation goes into his act, his s...

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Honey Goodenough is a puppeteer, clown, educator and magician. She's traveled the United States and the world with her shows Sock Monkey Circus and Word Play and she's been featured at the National Puppetry Slam several times. She's toured with the Frisch Marionettes and worked with past Under The Puppet guest Nick Coppola performing at Macy's in New York City. Honey has also founded sever...

http://www.UnderThePuppet.com - Nicolas Coppola became enchanted by puppetry at an early age.  This enchantment lead to a life of building, performing and running puppet companies that has lasted over 70 years.  He created shows for The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. and had a long standing job creating shows and performing at Macy*s in New York City.  He also created PuppetWorks, a non-profit marionet...

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Jim LoGiudice began his career making props and models for films such as The Abyss, Con Air, The Rocketeer, and Armageddon. He made the move to puppetry though his church and started developing the characters and the show that would become Far Outpost, which performs weekly at Granite Creek Church in Claremont, California. I talk to Jim LoGiudice about the development of Far ...

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In July of 2025, an incredible group of people got together at the Amazon MGM studios in Culver City, California on historic stage 15, to shoot a series of shorts called Judge Boing Boing. I recently sat down with the creative forces behind this project Bill Barretta and Frank Oz to find out how it all came together for this episode of Under The Puppet.

Connect with Judge Boing Boing:
Insta...

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Amanda Maddock is a puppeteer, builder, wrangler, and teacher who has experience working with puppets of all sizes. From the regular puppets of The Book of Pooh, Bear in the Big Blue House, Between the Lions, Sesame Street, and The Muppets to the enormous puppets of Walking with Dinosaurs and How to Train Your Dragon, Amanda's career has taken her across the country and aroun...

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Geneviève Flati is a puppeteer, producer, and one of the most driven creative individuals I know. Her passion has led to work as Puppet Director, Puppet Captain, and Puppeteer on several nationwide tours, including a role as puppeteer and puppet director for The Maybe Man Arena Tou...

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In 1981, Rita Peruggi was hired by The Jim Henson Company as a production assistant on various projects including Rocky Mountain Holiday with John Denver and The Muppets. She then moved on to the role of producer for the company working on many projects such as the Jim Henson Play along Videos, Muppet Vision 3D, Dinosaurs, Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, Earth To Ned and Fraggle Rock Back ...

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Louise Gold is puppetry royalty. A trained theatre performer, Louise began her puppetry career working on the second season of The Muppet Show, where she played many characters — including the role of Annie Sue, much to Miss Piggy's dismay. In addition to continuing her work with The Muppets, she went on to perform in The Dark Crystal, Sesame Str...

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Stacey Weingarten is a puppeteer, puppet wrangler, director, writer, and producer who got her puppet start studying with John Tartaglia and later went on to work on the show Johnny and the Sprites. Since then, she's worked with The Muppets and Sesame Street, where she won an Emmy Award for her work on the...

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Marisol Himmel is an educational puppeteer and ventriloquist and the creator of Moddy Puppets, A puppet company that explores new ways to use puppetry in education.  I talk with Marisol about her puppetry journey, her explorations of different styles of puppetry, her collaborations with other artists and much more on this episode of Under The Puppet.

Plus, hear more of my conversation with...

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Jeanne Lauren worked in the creature shop that was building some of the most iconic creatures for Return of the Jedi.  She also worked on the film ensuring the creatures looked good on screen and more importantly, that their performers were comfortable while wearing the creature suits.  Her own company, Skyana has been designing puppets, mascots and costumes for Co...

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Vanessa Valliere creates original solo theater shows combining elements of clown and puppetry. She's performed these shows all over the world and often performs at the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. She's also toured with the Manual Cinema and she recently attended the National Puppetry Conference at the O'Neill for the very first time. I talk to Vanessa Valliere about all ...

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Showko Showfukutei is a Ventriloquist, comedian, actor and one of the few female Rakugo performers in the world. Born in Japan, Showko traveled the world with stops in Canada, Singapore, London to learn her craft which combines 400 year old Japanese comedy techniques and ventriloquism. I talk to Showko about her live stage shows, working on cruise ships, creating web series, being on Austr...

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Sarah Oh is a puppeteer and improvisor who got her start in puppetry working on the Jim Henson Company Show Splash and Bubbles.  Since then she's worked with The Muppets, Puppet Up Uncensored, Postmodern Jukebox and on TV shows like Kidding and The Barbarian and the Troll as well the blockbuster film Five Nights At Freddy's as well as the upcoming sequel Five Nights At Freddy's 2! &nb...

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Adrian Rose Leonard is a puppeteer, builder and director who has worked in many forms of puppetry. She's puppeteered on TV shows like Waffles & Mochi's Restaurant, Crank Yankers and Mr. Neighbor's House as well as movies such as If It Bleeds and The Butthole Surfers Movie. She's also directed several projects including short films and music videos. I talk to Adrian Rose Leonard about a...

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Stoph Scheer is a puppeteer, writer, and director who has worked with The Jim Henson Company, The Muppets, and even Banksy.  Stoph is also a writer, producer and puppeteer for the surreal and nostalgic web series The Creatures of Yes, and has performed in Slumberkins, Puppet Up! Uncensored, and The Muppets Mayhem. I sit down with Stoph to talk about her journey in puppetry and much mo...

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On February 2, 2025, Under The Puppet along with past show guest Christine Papalexis, the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry and Bob Baker Marionette Theater held a live episode recording celebrating the puppeteers of Pee Wee's Playhouse. This event sold out in less than 10 minutes and is, as of this recording, the fastest sell out Bob Baker Marionette Theater has ever had. And how can it not b...

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Sharon Johnson is the puppeteer creator of Grace and Grins, a puppet company that produces puppet shows that educate, entertain and spread kindness. Her shows are interactive, tailor made to each audience and promote good social and emotional learning practices. I talk to Sharon Johnson about Grace and Grins, her path to puppetry and much more on this episode of Under The Puppet.

Plus, hea...