Category Archives: Technical/Making

My appearance in”Puppets and Puppet Theatre” by David Currell

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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I was delighted to receive my signed copy of the New Revised Second Edition of David Currell’s “Puppets & Puppet Theatre” on World Puppet Day. I was invited to share some images of my work for the book a while back now and I am thrilled to discover that these have been included on three separate pages of the book as well as a mention in the sound equipment section, the “Contributors” section and the Acknowledgements.

To be included in this book has special significance for me because it was books like my copy of “The Complete Book of Puppet Theatre” by David that helped me to make some of my first puppets when we first started out making things for Rough Magic Theatre‘s first production “The Tempest”.

To be included in a book like this after over 25 years doing puppetry and making puppets which may inspire a whole new generation of new puppeteers is amazing and wonderful.

I have not had time to read the whole thing in depth from cover to cover, but it is clear that it is an extraordinarily comprehensive and up to date guide to puppet making, performance techniques, staging and even touches on the business side of things.

This new edition includes such up to the minute making techniques and materials such as 3-D printed puppets (featuring Nik Palmer’s work), worbla, plastezote etc. as well as traditional materials such as wood and so on.

For anybody starting out this would be an excellent buy and indeed it could be useful for established practitioners to find out about new techniques and materials etc.

This is a fairly big book and every page is literally crammed with pictures, instructions and all sorts of practical information.

I shall do a follow up on the book after I have had time to read all of it, but I feel that this is almost like an encyclopedia of puppetry that you can consult when you have a specific issue or technique that you want to know more about.

If you want a copy of the book; it can be purchased online or from The Crowood Press for £25 + £3.99 postage (£28.99) or David says you can contact him for a signed copy for £25 including postage

Contact:                 davidcurrellauthor@gmail.com

How to make a Robot Puppet (“Making With Mom”)

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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Hello everybody, I am doing a little post about a “Making with Mom” video that I made for the @FabooNews You Tube channel. The photos above show my making process for the “One I made Earlier” example robot. You will notice in the main video (which you can find below) that I give instructions on how to make the head a rigid, fixed head rather than a spinning one. I was concerned that if it should be used by children as a toy then the upturned sharp pencil end (which is underneath the spinning head) could be dangerous.

If, however, you are an adult or keep it out of reach of kids on a high shelf, the way it works is just literally the right shape of lid (this one is from a deodorant) and it is literally just balancing on top of the pencil. The graphite means that it is almost frictionless and spins undisturbed with very little effort.

Enjoy the “How To…” video below:

You may also like to watch Episode 3 of “Al & Kai’s Faboo News” which contains the story all about the “Berts” robots made from scrap materials by clicking HERE

There are 3 other main episodes on the @faboonews channel plus a number of “Faboo News Extra” videos. Do watch like and subscribe to the channel if you enjoy it. We really appreciate your help to spread the Faboo News.

We really need more good news stories from YOU. You can be an adult or a child and it can be something small or something big. You could share a joke or something you’ve achieved, or something that makes you smile. Click on the “Faboo Yous” tab at FabooNews.com to share your news and be on the show.

If you a teacher at a school, we would love to hear from you. Please CLICK HERE to find out about Faboo Workshops and what we can offer you in a visit to your school 😊.