Elmo & Katy get too hot for Sesame Street

Before pop star, Katy Perry could get her milk teeth into young Elmo, their Sesame Street debut was canceled by the producers. Sesame Street's You Tube site apparently had US parents up in arms cause Katy wasn't dressed accordingly for her Sesame Street appearance. But who's being conservative here? You judge for yourselves. No porn, no nudity, not even any sexual innuendos, just a misunderstood fashion statement made by the American hit singer. It has given Katy 3.5 million You Tube hits though. You can watch the actual report here!
PS. If you want to watch a bizarre report on how they make her smell like cotton candy, click here!

Sesame Street: A YouTube Interview with Elmo

It must be something to do with Jim Henson's birthday or Sesame Street's anniversary, but You Tube is honouring Sesame Street today with an Elmo attached to the You Tube logo. It's a short cut into this Q&A session with Elmo being interviewed by his fans across the world. Enjoy!

One-Day Paper Puppetry Workshop in Sydney

We have has so many requests to conduct our 'World of Paper' workshop in Sydney, that we've decided to do one before we leave on our SE Asia Tour in October. We are happy to offer you a workshop to catalyze your next creative breakthrough.... explode into a space of free flowing ideas and expanded vision! bring you an exhilarating experience into creativity and performance. Activate your brain and tantalize your senses to think and perform at your peak ability. 

This one-day workshop will take place on Sunday 10 October 2010 from 10am to 5pm (with a one-hour lunch break). The cost of the workshop is $150-  (including materials, tea and snacks). To book, please email me ASAP, as we have limited places available. You can see our latest workshops film here!

Here is some of the feedback we've had from our workshops:
"It was just astonishing! It was good to feel that we were in a safe environment that we could trust each other and explore and create... Magical... Absolutely worth the day!"
"I think we all need a chance to relax and to release things, and to explore possibilities with people .... The workshops were extremely valuable not only in their ability to stimulate us creatively, but bring us to a different level of understanding about ourselves and about how we interact with each other."
"It provided an opportunity to tell stories and share parts of ourselves that we never get the opportunity to. All sorts of stereotypes were cracked wide open."

The Puppet Film

In this documentary by American David Soll, we discover that, unlike many other countries, where puppets are embedded in religion, folk crafts, and high art – America has long thought of puppetry only as a children’s medium, relegated to sock puppet shows and kids television. Since the nineties, however, serious, adult puppetry has exploded in the United States. Although it still sits at the fringe, there has been a marked increase in press coverage of the puppet world and every year sees more high-profile productions featuring puppets. On Broadway, in the avant-garde, and even at the Metropolitan Opera, puppets are suddenly on the American mind. 

This ‘puppet renaissance’ suggests a key question for the film: Why was puppetry first marginalized in America, and what does it mean that we’ve returned to this ancient form? Some have argued that the explosion of puppetry is part of a larger reaction against technology and digitization. As puppeteer in the film puts it, “Can you take apart your iPod and fix it? Of course not. But you can fix your bicycle.” In other words, puppetry symbolizes a yearning for mechanical, analog, basic interactions with the world. Others have suggested the disappearance of puppetry in the West was in line with the ascendance of realism, and thus the reemergence of puppetry signals a decline in realism. Is it possible that puppetry is a symptom of a culture-wide backlash against these pillars of the modern era?
We now wait with baited breath for the release of another interesting puppetry doco!

Puppetry Workshops for SE Asia

Let's talk about innovation and the role it plays in our lives!  Is it true that our reliance on technology dampens our creativity and thinking outside the box?

We have been invited to run some pilot paper puppetry workshops at a university in Singapore in October-November this year. The challenge that this particular university is facing, is the lack of innovation in the mindset of the Singaporean culture and the discomfort in students posing questions or speaking up for themselves at university and in the society in general.

During the 80's and 90's the University of Singapore was responsible for creating thousands of engineers, with little latitude for creative risk-taking. They have developed a 'safe' attitude that seems stuck in their "fear of failing or embarrassing themselves". Upper management would like to see this fear overcome, with risk taking, especially in the communication between students themselves and when dealing with faculty. Hopefully this will become part of a healthy learning system.

The development of soft skills in communication is now seen to be paramount, with the country moving away from pure financial services and IT, towards a society rich in nurturing knowledge content. In a generation and a half, Singapore has been successful in surpassing even the USA in it's gross domestic income per capita. In order to remain relevant and economically vibrant, the country is now spending more on research as opposed to training.

We are currently developing a pilot programme, in the use of puppetry to break down the barriers that currently exist;  thus overcoming inhibition and establishing a 'safe' environment for unleashing innovative potential. Stay tuned for more information as the project develops.

As Edward de Bono states, "We need tools of creativity to enable us to change ideas".

If I were King of Australia... Edward de Bono

Named 'The Godfather of Lateral Thinking', Edward de Bono, was in Australia over the past week to participate in a Creative Innovation 2010 Conference in Melbourne. Run by Creative Universe, the idea is to unlock our full creative potential. The concept of the conference was to share ideas and try to solve a few global and community issues. A good idea should create value to both ourselves and our communities.

This is the work which we are involved in, using our paper and puppetry workshops. We present these world-wide in schools and universities, to help nurture creativity and channel ideas into short performance pieces, which then can be taken much further. How much creative innovation are we missing out by not thinking outside the box, while at the same time forgetting to look at the wealth of innovation deep inside of ourselves.

A Puppet Intervention

Here is another discovery I recently made on Vimeo. Two men, working out of an abandoned cotton mill near Chapel Hill, NC, in the United States create an annual spectacular of drama, music, dance and giant puppetry that is enjoyed by thousands. Working with the debris of an industrial age, their message of engaging life simply and honestly is the result of complex, and sometimes contentious, collaboration with the cast and musicians, as well as dozens of volunteer puppet-makers. This film follows the making of one such production. I certainly look forward to seeing the full documentary.

The life of a British Muppeteer

I discovered this fascinating short documentary by Max Clendaniel, on the life of British puppeteer, Mak Wilson, who has worked on many of Jim Henson's iconic films, such as Labyrinth, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Storyteller series, Babe and Dinosaurs. He describes his work with Jim Henson and how when he really started getting close to Henson, was the time when Henson suddenly passed away. Mak played some great characters and describes some of these fantastic opportunities in his life, a life in which he also battled with depression. It's a great little doco. Enjoy.

"Creativity and Literacy Show" in Melbourne

This weekend sees The Education Show taking place in Melbourne.  The show will feature the latest products, resources and services for schools and featuring an extensive professional development programme, including a unique 'Puppetry in Education' stall featuring Melbourne-based 'Dream Puppets' and yours truly, Sydney-based 'Gary Friedman Productions'.  We became more involved in both primary and high school education earlier this year, when we received at Artists in Residence grant to work in a few school's in northern Sydney. (In the short film, above, you can view the work in a short interview with Jan Warhurst, vice-principal of Curl Curl Public School in Sydney).

The Education Show at the Caulfield Racecourse in Station Street, Caulfield in Melbourne on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 August from 10am to 4pm and entry is free to the public. Their will be some provocative seminars taking place on both the days. For info click here!  Incidently for those of you interested in education and if you haven't seen Sir Ken Robinson's address to TED in California on "Do school's kill creativity?" It is an important thought provoking piece, so click here.

The Chalk Giants

Today I discovered an visually exciting looking production which is opening at the Norwich Puppet Theatre, UK in two days time. It features a well-known young British puppeteer, Steve Tiplady, artistic director of the Little Angel Marionette Theatre in London. Steve has been integrally involved in the growth of adult puppet theatre in the UK over the past few years.

The Chalk Giants begins in the present with a film of puppeteers Sally Brown and Steve Tiplady and musician Jonathan Lambert on a nature walk at Hunstanton as they invite the audience to come with them on a tour through the ancient landscape of England. The production uses film shot at significant sites along the chalk escarpment which traverses southern England to tell parts of the story and to bring the landscape to life. I wish we could watch some of that now!

The production opens with the creation of Jack, a puppet drawn in chalk which magically comes to life, and the discovery of some beans that are, of course, also made from chalk. At first, this appears to be the familiar tale of Jack and the Bean Stalk but soon it becomes apparent that there is a twist to the tale. Jack kills Blunderbog Cormoran, the giant at the top of the beanstalk, and begins a quest to rid England of giants. A fun, fast and furious tale ensues with Jack slaying giants across the land. However, is Jack the hero of the day? Blunderbog’s distraught wife and a wonderfully sensitive narrative leave the audience to decide.

The new production combines chalk together with shadow puppetry, a toy theatre, rod puppets, pre-recorded and live film, to give a cutting-edge contemporary performance of a traditional tale steeped in legend and imbued with a sense of England’s past. Guyanese-born poet, John Agard, has been specially commissioned to write a collection of narrative poems, dialogues and scenes, which are threaded through the story and add another layer of richness to the show. The Chalk Giants is beautifully augmented with music by Jonathan Lambert. The folk-influenced musical accompaniment adds vibrancy and an additional dimension to the production. Jonathan performs his compositions on clarinet, bamboo flute, and appropriately, a xylophone made from stone. Ancient lithophone sounds from a cave at Skiddaw in the Lake District are woven in and there are songs ideal for audience participation.
The production will also perform at the Edinburgh Festival next month. Wish I could be there! For details check here!