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So, the ever-gracious professional puppeteer and all-around good egg Mary Robinette Kowal put on a puppet show at Worldcon. As a Kickstarter backer, I got a front-row seat. It was a rather interesting show.
When the audience walks in, there was Mary in a white unitard laying on the floor, apparently asleep, and close enough to the door that an usher had to be deployed to prevent people from tripping over her. Two other figures were also asleep, one on the stage and one half-under it. The stage was bare except for a reel-to-reel tape recorder, bearing a sign that said (for a 4:00 PM show) "press play at 4:06 PM."
Well, shortly after the doors were closed, some audience member delegated himself to press play early, resulting in a voice-over (apparently from the tape recorder) branding him an instigator. The voice-over also called the actors to the stage, and explained that, whenever the voice said "choose" an audience member was supposed to choose an object from a selection set along the side walls of the auditorium. (This rule was quickly broken - somebody put their shoe up as a choice. The results were humorous.)
At any rate, after every "choice" the three performers did a skit with the objects provided plus a handful of props. One skit involved a stuffed dog (very memorable) and one involved the Pappy Fuzzy puppet John Scalzi commissioned from Mary. (If you want the blow-by-blow of puppet making, see here.) I have to admit that I spent a good chunk of time wondering how they worked the timing for the recording with skits of various lengths, then I realized that the tape was blank, and they had an announcer offstage.
Overall, the show was surprisingly entertaining and well worth my Kickstarter donation.
When the audience walks in, there was Mary in a white unitard laying on the floor, apparently asleep, and close enough to the door that an usher had to be deployed to prevent people from tripping over her. Two other figures were also asleep, one on the stage and one half-under it. The stage was bare except for a reel-to-reel tape recorder, bearing a sign that said (for a 4:00 PM show) "press play at 4:06 PM."
Well, shortly after the doors were closed, some audience member delegated himself to press play early, resulting in a voice-over (apparently from the tape recorder) branding him an instigator. The voice-over also called the actors to the stage, and explained that, whenever the voice said "choose" an audience member was supposed to choose an object from a selection set along the side walls of the auditorium. (This rule was quickly broken - somebody put their shoe up as a choice. The results were humorous.)
At any rate, after every "choice" the three performers did a skit with the objects provided plus a handful of props. One skit involved a stuffed dog (very memorable) and one involved the Pappy Fuzzy puppet John Scalzi commissioned from Mary. (If you want the blow-by-blow of puppet making, see here.) I have to admit that I spent a good chunk of time wondering how they worked the timing for the recording with skits of various lengths, then I realized that the tape was blank, and they had an announcer offstage.
Overall, the show was surprisingly entertaining and well worth my Kickstarter donation.
