This week saw the debut of Karston, the Salamander puppet for Preschool Doc Ed shows. The show was for an audience of daycare age kids so there were children that were as old as four and some that looked to be maybe a year and half. I was a little uneasy to say the least and my plan was to keep the show as simple and short as possible. There were also many points throughout the show where I got the kids on their feet to be rain or to pretend to be a washing machine. At their age sitting and watching is not an option.
It was going relatively well considering but when I finally brought out the puppet for the last portion of the show it was amazing to see the positive response of all the kids right down to the toddlers. The energy level suddenly shot up in the room and I had their undivided attention. I still have to find the proper voice for Karston because what I did that day was too close to my own. At this point I make a pretty awful ventriloquist but the kids seemed so focused on the puppet it didn't matter how much my lips moved. Karston was real to them.
It reminded me of the Muppets and how they would often talk to kids with their puppets but the children were not bothered by the presence of the puppeteer. As far as the kids were concerned they were speaking to the character and that was it.
I'm working to tighten up the show by reviewing the footage that was taken. It will be a little different the next time I perform it and hopefully a little better. You know, twenty four years ago I never imagined I'd be learning ventriloquism or simply performing for that matter. When I graduated from college with an art degree all I could imagine myself doing was painting or drawing in some way to make a living. It makes me chuckle. Life is so full of surprises.
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