Puppet Show – Make It Fun

The art of puppetry is a pretty ancient one as people used funny dolls for fun for what seems to be centuries. The birthplace of puppetry is considered to be Italy where rod and string marionettes were used to entertain citizens. Making performances with puppets is an excellent way to set both the children and adults laughing. If you are good at manipulating marionettes they will come alive in your hands and bring much fun to the audience.

First of all, you should define different types of marionettes in order to chose the one which suits you best. The most popular type is a string marionette. The strings are attached to the limbs and head of the puppet and you manipulate it from the above. Practice in front of the mirror first to make your puppet behave funny. Develop a unique manner of gestures and postures, create a character and story for your puppet hero – all these tricks will help to make it alive. If you attach additional strings to mouth, eye lids and chin of your puppet it will reflect the mimics of the human face as well.

Another easy to manipulate type of puppet is hand, or glove puppet. The title speaks for itself – this puppet is put on the hand like a glove and is manipulated by hand movements. Three middle fingers operate the neck and two side ones become its hands. If the mouth of the puppet is movable which allows to produce stronger impression, by the way, the thumb forms the lower jaw, the rest fingers are used to create upper mouth and your wrist serves as the neck in this case.

A variation of hand puppets is finger puppets which present small tubes resembling some characters. These puppets are suitable for making performances for small kids as the whole bunch of small tiny heroes is involved in the show. You can create different easy plots and tell stories with the help of your fingers. Besides, these finger puppets are really easy to make and you can create as many of them as you like.

Rod puppets are claimed to be the easiest to control. The slender wands are attached to them and they are operated from the below with the help of them. Rod marionettes are used also to make shadow puppets. In this case rod marionettes should be flat and cast a shadow when the manipulator places them between the source of light and a screen.

Concerning the topic of puppets it is impossible not to mention Muppets which have become famous due to the popular comic TV series. Muppets present a mixture of hand and rod puppets. The hand of the manipulator operates the mouth while the rods attached to the puppet’s hands make them move as well.

Making a performance with the help of puppets of various types present no difficulty at all. Only the basic creative abilities and imagination is needed to make your children or even adult friends laugh.