This is an introduction to my puppets. It's full of photos.
Last updated: 05/03/2013
http://i44.tinypic.com/2z3xhyg.jpg
Skelter was my first puppet. The gateway from which there was no return. I got him originally to be my sidekick/antagonist onscreen. I have since discovered that I suck at making videos and look like a twat on camera anyway, but he still shows up for cameos, often heckling me in subtitles. He's a right bastard who harbors nothing but ill will towards me. Or rather, my onscreen persona, who, to be fair, is a bit of a moron.
Skelter was named, of course, after the (in)famous Beatles song, "Helter Skelter."
http://i46.tinypic.com/j5ikad.jpg
Marley the dragon was my second puppet. Roland was not the third, but he showed up to be Marley's companion. Both of them are rather cowardly and naive and although still easily bullied by Skelter, just about nobody ELSE in the world has the clout you'd need to see a lion and a dragon walking down the street and think "hmm... now there's a couple of wieners whose lunch money is just BEGGING to be stolen."
Marley is named after Bob Marley and Roland takes his name from the old epic poem, "The Song of Roland."
http://i49.tinypic.com/2mzmlb8.jpg
The strongest and the weakest -- Nikki is the only one able to control Skelter and his psychotic manic sprees of violence, while Kimya is basically Chicken Little, but in owl form. Nikki is perpetually calm, steady, and clever, with old eyes that are enough to quell most quarrels with a look alone. Kimya is hyperactive and panicky with morals almost as loose as her tongue.
Nikki's name comes from Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx. Kimya is named for Kimya Dawson, best known as singer/songwriter of The Moldy Peaches and the chick who co-wrote that song from the end of the movie Juno.
http://i43.tinypic.com/241wev9.jpg
Camelot is an angsty, pious con artist. A good soul who's been forced to do "bad" things out of desperation and lives with a constant sense of guilt and inadequacy. His attempts to atone for his unknown past often land him in even more trouble and take him down darker paths than the ones he tries to flee from.
Camelot's name really shouldn't need any explanation. But it comes from the musical.
http://i42.tinypic.com/9zprvk.jpg
Grahame is an old traveller -- a gypsy, a sailor, a truant, a hobo, a rebel, an adventurer. Seeker of many fortunes he has won and lost, an old salt with a thousand tales and just as many suspicions. He is blessed with good fortune, even when fortune seems against everyone.
Grahame is the only puppet whose name is not musically-inspired. He is named after Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows, because he reminds me of the Sea Rat.
http://i50.tinypic.com/2czq8td.jpg
Juan is a politically-minded, somewhat stuffy cynic. He is business-minded, distrustful, and frugal with money, words, and emotions. He is quietly ruthless when it comes to acquiring what he wants, and protecting what is his.
He is named after Juan Peron as portrayed in the musical Evita.
http://i46.tinypic.com/sq2etw.jpg
Nero is tiny, fierce, and fearless. He is territorial in every way -- recklessly protective of his home and anyone he considers his family.
He has a little streak of madness in him, though... he probably would have fiddled as Rome burned.
http://i47.tinypic.com/14dftzt.jpg
Bucky is a prime example of all the things that make raccoons... raccoony. He's a science nerd with a nurturing fondness for children. Wait... what? Yes, really. Nature is a deep, vast bliss to him, and the only thing he likes better than discovering the world's mysteries is sharing them.
One of only two of the troupe whose name has no musical connection, Bucky is named for a promotional thing we have at the store where I work (a rewards program called Birdie Bucks). I sometimes take Bucky to work with me and actually use him to entertain and educate kids who come into the store with their parents. :)
http://i39.tinypic.com/3509ulh.jpg
Jacoboo is so far the only puppet of mine not made by Folkmanis. I got him to replace a puppet who was, as far as I know, probably made by the same people who made this one... Jacoboo 1 has not been seen in over a decade around here. I don't know if he was given away, broken, or what... but he was technically my first puppet. My friend Geoffrey and I used to sit him on a walking stick and dress up like Harry Potter characters on crack and ride the bus around DC using the internal honker thing to make the puppet "caw!" at random people. We got that bored.
Jacoboo 2 is not named after a musician or a song... he is the namesake of a stranger, younger time.
http://i44.tinypic.com/2iqo43.jpg
Last but not least is Vincent, a bohemian shaman who speaks in allegories and fortune cookie sayings. He is an artist whose journeys into his own mind are as far-reaching as Grahame's have been upon land, air, and sea.
He is named after Don McLean's song about Vincent Van Gogh.
http://i44.tinypic.com/2z3xhyg.jpg
Skelter was my first puppet. The gateway from which there was no return. I got him originally to be my sidekick/antagonist onscreen. I have since discovered that I suck at making videos and look like a twat on camera anyway, but he still shows up for cameos, often heckling me in subtitles. He's a right bastard who harbors nothing but ill will towards me. Or rather, my onscreen persona, who, to be fair, is a bit of a moron.
Skelter was named, of course, after the (in)famous Beatles song, "Helter Skelter."
http://i46.tinypic.com/j5ikad.jpg
Marley the dragon was my second puppet. Roland was not the third, but he showed up to be Marley's companion. Both of them are rather cowardly and naive and although still easily bullied by Skelter, just about nobody ELSE in the world has the clout you'd need to see a lion and a dragon walking down the street and think "hmm... now there's a couple of wieners whose lunch money is just BEGGING to be stolen."
Marley is named after Bob Marley and Roland takes his name from the old epic poem, "The Song of Roland."
http://i49.tinypic.com/2mzmlb8.jpg
The strongest and the weakest -- Nikki is the only one able to control Skelter and his psychotic manic sprees of violence, while Kimya is basically Chicken Little, but in owl form. Nikki is perpetually calm, steady, and clever, with old eyes that are enough to quell most quarrels with a look alone. Kimya is hyperactive and panicky with morals almost as loose as her tongue.
Nikki's name comes from Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx. Kimya is named for Kimya Dawson, best known as singer/songwriter of The Moldy Peaches and the chick who co-wrote that song from the end of the movie Juno.
http://i43.tinypic.com/241wev9.jpg
Camelot is an angsty, pious con artist. A good soul who's been forced to do "bad" things out of desperation and lives with a constant sense of guilt and inadequacy. His attempts to atone for his unknown past often land him in even more trouble and take him down darker paths than the ones he tries to flee from.
Camelot's name really shouldn't need any explanation. But it comes from the musical.
http://i42.tinypic.com/9zprvk.jpg
Grahame is an old traveller -- a gypsy, a sailor, a truant, a hobo, a rebel, an adventurer. Seeker of many fortunes he has won and lost, an old salt with a thousand tales and just as many suspicions. He is blessed with good fortune, even when fortune seems against everyone.
Grahame is the only puppet whose name is not musically-inspired. He is named after Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows, because he reminds me of the Sea Rat.
http://i50.tinypic.com/2czq8td.jpg
Juan is a politically-minded, somewhat stuffy cynic. He is business-minded, distrustful, and frugal with money, words, and emotions. He is quietly ruthless when it comes to acquiring what he wants, and protecting what is his.
He is named after Juan Peron as portrayed in the musical Evita.
http://i46.tinypic.com/sq2etw.jpg
Nero is tiny, fierce, and fearless. He is territorial in every way -- recklessly protective of his home and anyone he considers his family.
He has a little streak of madness in him, though... he probably would have fiddled as Rome burned.
http://i47.tinypic.com/14dftzt.jpg
Bucky is a prime example of all the things that make raccoons... raccoony. He's a science nerd with a nurturing fondness for children. Wait... what? Yes, really. Nature is a deep, vast bliss to him, and the only thing he likes better than discovering the world's mysteries is sharing them.
One of only two of the troupe whose name has no musical connection, Bucky is named for a promotional thing we have at the store where I work (a rewards program called Birdie Bucks). I sometimes take Bucky to work with me and actually use him to entertain and educate kids who come into the store with their parents. :)
http://i39.tinypic.com/3509ulh.jpg
Jacoboo is so far the only puppet of mine not made by Folkmanis. I got him to replace a puppet who was, as far as I know, probably made by the same people who made this one... Jacoboo 1 has not been seen in over a decade around here. I don't know if he was given away, broken, or what... but he was technically my first puppet. My friend Geoffrey and I used to sit him on a walking stick and dress up like Harry Potter characters on crack and ride the bus around DC using the internal honker thing to make the puppet "caw!" at random people. We got that bored.
Jacoboo 2 is not named after a musician or a song... he is the namesake of a stranger, younger time.
http://i44.tinypic.com/2iqo43.jpg
Last but not least is Vincent, a bohemian shaman who speaks in allegories and fortune cookie sayings. He is an artist whose journeys into his own mind are as far-reaching as Grahame's have been upon land, air, and sea.
He is named after Don McLean's song about Vincent Van Gogh.