Vanish Magic Magazine no. 39

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ALLIED ARTS Puppets for Kid shows BY MARK WADE SHOULD I USE HARD OR SOFT STYLE PUPPETS FOR KIDS?? The title of this article has been a point of contention for many years in the ventriloquist community… should I use “soft” puppets or should I use the more traditional “hard” vent figures (puppets made of wood, fibreglas or other hard materials) when working an audience of children? To be honest, there is no one right answer. It depends upon the age of the audience, the venue of the show, and what you are trying to accomplish with the performance. Younger children can become frightened of a standard 42 inch vent figure. They are almost entirely boy figures, many looking almost identical, and can be a bit eerie to very young children, ages 4-6 years. Because they are almost human in appearance, many kids in this age range are put off by the traditional vent figure. The exception to this is a custom figure that is not patterned like the traditional boy puppet . Possibly an old man, an animal, or a human female character like a little girl would be more acceptable. The venue plays a big part in how the younger ones receive the puppets. If you have a mixture of older kids infused in the audience and they are enjoying he performance, the younger ones feel more at ease and often will accept a boy figure. If it’s an audience of all younger children the problem of them becoming frightened is increased. It only takes one younger one to start crying to set off many others in the audience. I think part of the problem with the traditional vent figure is that young children are not exposed to seeing them on television like they once did. Kids growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s had opportunities to see vent figures in action on Saturday mornings and on various other television shows, thus the “fear factor” was lessened when they saw them in person. Older children are a bit bolder and even though they haven’t seen many vent figures, they know they are not real and aren’t scared. The advantage “soft” puppets (puppets made of cloth, latex, and other soft materials) have is that this generation has seen “Sesame Street” and other Muppet type shows and are familiar with them. To see a soft puppet reminds a child of watching these characters on television, thus the “fear factor” is eliminated. Modern day vents can ride the coattails of the soft puppet revolution to great success. To be honest I gave up using traditional “hard” figures decades ago. Being an almost exclusive children’s ventriloquist these soft puppets have served me well in my 35 year , full-time career. Although I do still get a desire for a “hard” figure from time to time, I think about the ease of traveling with the soft figure and how unique the puppets are designed, and the feeling dies down rapidly. MY answer to this question would be, use both if you have a mixed audience of adults, and various aged children. But think of exclusively soft puppets if you are working pre-schools, day care centers or birthday parties for the very young. The “soft” puppet is coming into it’s own and many who work for the “grown ups” only are now relying on them. Find what style works best for you. The feel of a well crafted vent figure is alluring. But we need to think of our audiences first and foremost. Use what works best for THEM! 104 VANISH Magazine www.VanishMagazine.com
“ Mark with two soft style puppets At Vent Convention Mark and Steve Axtell with soft style puppets As ventriloquists, we love showing off our puppets and our skills, and we love to make people laugh without a stage ... " VANISH MAGAZINE www.VanishMagazine.com 105
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Vanish Magic Magazine no. 39

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