Joseph Scarbrough launched what he called "The Scarblog" as a way of cataloging his work over the years, as well as going into greater detail of things on his mind (known as "Unfinished Thoughts").
This word may be new to you, as it was to me, and that's because it actually is a relatively new word. So, what does "Solastagia" mean anyway? Is it the sense of solace you feel whenever you find yourself nostalgic for a certain bygone era? Is it nostalgia for anything having to do with the solar system? The fall season is upon us (well, it should be anyway), does it have anything to do with a solstice? Actually, no, that wouldn't be the case, because the next solstice isn't until December 21st; must be the equinox I'm thinking of. Okay, so just what does this relatively new word mean exactly? Thankfully, an outdoor theater production, coincidentally entitled SOLASTAGIA, was helpful enough to include the very definition of the word on their poster; so let's take a look. . . .
Solastalgia (noun): A state of homesickness we feel when the places that matter most to us-- our homes, our lands, and our communities-- are disrupted, changed, or threatened.
Ohhh, so that's what this sense of despair and depression is that I feel myself suffering from with increasing regularity over the past decade as I witness our beautiful seasons of fall and winter continually diminish to prolonged summers and earlier springs due to Climate Change year after year. I thought it was just my SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) kicking into overdrive, but it's far more complicated than that! Actually, it's really not that complicated at all; it's really quite simple. I do find myself homesick for the way my home environment used to be, when September through November was a transitional period of the weather gradually cooling off and ushering in the forthcoming winter season, which used to last through the entirety of December through February . . . but for nearly a decade, that has been becoming less and less the case, as we see summer heat continue to linger through almost all of September, sometimes even into October, while spring will begin teasing us throughout January and February before arriving in full force as soon as the calendar turns the page to March. I can even count a number of holiday seasons where it certainly didn't feel like Christmas or Valentine's Day while wearing short sleeves.
But, I digress. This isn't about my annual ranting about Climate Change; this is about an incredible outdoor performance I played spectator to last weekend at Knoxville's World's Fair Park (the same World's Fair Park where in 1982, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL dismissed us as a, "Scruffy little river city," but a title we have worn with pride ever since). The title of the performance? As I said: SOLASTALGIA.
A joint-venture of Cattywumpus Puppet Council and One World Circus, SOLASTALGIA was presented as a three-act outdoor theater program that featured performances by puppets, live actors, musicians, and acrobatic circus performers who could dance on the side of a tall building. Well, you know me; they had me at puppets.
This was an incredibly artistic, eclectic, Avant garde show with heavy undertones regarding climate and environmental changes, social injustices, the adverse effects of governmental neglect, and of course, the future of humanity . . . in short, this is exactly the sort of show that those who lean way over into the right would unironically dismiss as a woke Satanic ritual, and those involved with or attending the show as groomers (particularly this one old man I saw in the audience dressed in a hot pink tank top with a cape that looked like rainbow butterfly wings). Clearly, the people who put this show together had a message to tell, and they were not afraid to deliver their message through vignettes that were rich in biting sarcasm and stinging satire, but also generous in humor and especially heart. A lot of the comments I've read on social media from others who attended the show described it as being extremely cathartic, and that it refreshed and rejuvenated their spirit and soul. I can attest to that - SOLASTALGIA was also something of a veritable lovefest, where concepts and ideals such as peace, love, harmony, unity, and togetherness were also encouraged . . . so, again, in other words, a woke Satanic ritual as others might unironically call it.
That's just the gist of it anyway. As I said, SOLASTALGIA was presented as a three-act program, all three of which involved audience participation - how fun! As a matter of fact, one of the first things we were asked to do upon arrival was fill out a brief little questionnaire that was going to be included in the show; so brief was this questionnaire that there were only two questions: 1) What would you miss the most if the climate continues to change; 2) What is something that needs to be composted in our world today. (For what it's worth, my answers to both were beautiful fall and winter seasons, and hate and division). It wouldn't be until Act II that we would see how our answers would be incorporated into the show.
And now, a rundown of said show. . . .
Act I: The Unraveling Circus This portion of the show is pretty self-explanatory: it was a circus that was unraveling before our very eyes - and not just because of the performances in the act consisting of acrobats raveling and unraveling themselves above the stage in long strands of silky fabric. This was a circus that just fell apart before our very eyes. Why was that? Well, let's see: Food? Check. Shelter? Check. War? Check. Inflation? Check. Taxes? Check. Police Brutality? Check. Climate Change? Check. Low Wage Jobs? Double check! Yep, all of that, and more, were part of the act! During one of their skits, volunteers were brought down from the audience to juggle all of the above-mentioned issues . . . how is that even possible? Simple: all of the issues were scribbled onto different colored dodgeballs, and the volunteers had to juggle them to the best of their ability. Okay, I've gotten a little ahead of myself, but this goes to show you how brave and fearless this show was to take on such hard-hitting issues that impact us so greatly in our modern world, and how much it resonated with the audience who was there (except for those who would probably call this a Satanic ritual).
And it wasn't just those topics they tackled; we were also treated to Capitalism. Yes, Capitalism herself usurped the scraggly ringmaster (who ate noodles out of his hat) and hijacked the circus, promising us in the audience that she would, "Make Circuses Great Again!" (Hmm . . . I wonder where we've heard that before. . . .) As she proceeded to taunt the animal acts with promises of french fries, but they had to work harder for the fries, and even as she put them through such balancing acts, she belittled, insulted, mocked, and ridiculed them, because, hey, animals are expendable, dispensable, and replaceable. Yeah, she really made the circus great again - so much so that the animals and (former) ringmaster came together to subdue her and reclaim their circus. Now that's overturning of power I can get behind!
Frog soup, anyone?
Of course this circus had animal acts! Not actual animals, of course; there is no way a frog could take a dip and nearly die in a boiling tub while a couple of other frogs perform more feats of acrobatic stunts above without PETA burning this whole show to the ground. No, these, obviously, were puppeteers and suit performers who provided us with not just animal acts, but other vignettes as well. One of the most prominent animals featured not just in this act, but throughout the entire show was Grandmother Spider. For those of you who aren't familiar with this figure of Native American mythology (particularly among the Choctaw tribe of Mississippi and Tennessee), Grandmother Spider is a symbol of unity among humanity, that we are all connected to one another by the magical threads of her silk. Once again, I am not so sure that everybody believes in such an ideal, considering there are certain people who seem to believe our society is in need of a "purification process" (you know what I mean; I really don't want to have to actually say it), but those of us who were there definitely sensed the connection - not just the connection the performers made with us as an audience who were engaged by their acts, but all of us collectively as people, we as an audience felt that sense of connection permeate throughout the amphitheater.
Grandmother Spider connects us all with her magical thread
We may be of different generations. . . .
For all the laughs this show provided with its satirical sociopolitical commentary, it could not only hit hard, it could also hit deep. Not all of the skits and vignettes in this show entertained us, they also compelled us to think long and hard about the shape our world is in, and what could possibly happen to it if we don't act accordingly - a message that was spoken in another particularly captivating vignette that dealt with the struggles of trying to adapt and survive in a future where the world as we know it is being ravaged by Climate Change and other politically-charged disasters, as discussed among three generations of women: a teen, an adult, and an elder. There certainly seems to be something of a cultural divide within our society as well, and I'm sure you've seen all of the grief that's arisen amongst the generation gaps: "Okay, Boomer," "Lazy Millennials," "Snowflake Generation," and the like . . . I know a lot of it stems from witnessing different cultural and historical events, and different experiences that one generation may not necessarily understand as well as another, but one thing transcends all generations is that we all share this world, and we all have a responsibility to see to it that the world is a safe place where future generations can live, thrive and prosper . . . but how is that even possible when the world itself in on such a downward spiral? Even our current generations have no clue how to cope with such, and the advice we may receive from previous generations may not seem to offer up much hope. Different generations are not as different as they seem.
. . . . But we're really not so different.
Act II: Funeral for Humanity Remember when I said earlier that audience members were asked to fill out that brief little questionnaire about what we would miss the most if Climate Change continues to ravage our world, and what sort of trash we wish we could compost within our world? Well, that is where we as the audience got to participate in the show once again, as the second act of SOLASTALGIA was a one big funeral march for humanity. Yes, we paid our last respects to humanity as we know it. The frogs and other animals carried with them a coffin, and as the band played appropriately somber and melancholic New Orleans-style funeral music, we were all rounded up, marched out of the amphitheater, and around the World's Fair Park's Viaduct, where we watched as the animals took our questionnaires from a pair of wicker baskets, and laid them to rest within the coffin that was laid to rest upon the water . . . and then set on fire.
But of course, a funeral is not just exclusive to acknowledgement of death, but it also can be a celebration of life, and that was exactly what we celebrated as we made our way out of the World's Fair grounds and over to the nearby Tennessean Building; the impromptu little dance party served as something of a segue into the third and final act. . . .
Act III: Vertical Dancing
The third and final act may have been among SOLASTALGIA's greatest visual spectacles.
After our procession over to The Tennessean building, we were treated to members of the Dragonfly Aerial & Circus Arts Studio descending from the roof to display some amazing, death-defying acrobatics as they slowly danced their way down the side of the building - all the while also accompanied by a shadow puppet show that, once again, sent out loud and clear messages about the sort of social injustices that humanity has the power to defy and overcome. The word "awesome" seems to have lost its true meaning as our vocabulary has evolved (or in some cases, de-evolved) over the generations, but this particular spectacle was truly awesome, and awe-inspiring, in the truest sense of the word.
As the Dragonfly Dancers continued their descent down the side of The Tennessean, a pair of giant light-up puppets arrived on the scene to provide us with the capper for our evening: we followed them out into the grassy area of the World's Fair Park, where we all eventually joined together for a Kumbaya-esque sing-along, which further brought all of us together and connected us as one.
The folks of Cattywampus Puppet Council, One World Circus, and Dragonfly Aerial & Circus Arts Studio managed to put together an incredible show that was full of artistic vision, and unmatched talent to share that artistic vision with us. Those who graced the stage of the amphitheater were an absolute delight to watch, with particular emphasis on the likes of Andreas Bastias (whom I actually recognized from working at a local co-op market), who charmed us with his animal magnetism as a meek cockroach and the nurturing Grandmother Spider; Jake Weinstein, who was a hoot as our sketchy and seedy but ever-so-trustworthy ringmaster; and Rachel Milford, who was a bundle of effervescent energy, and crushed it in each of her numerous roles (even if one those roles was the personification of Capitalism).
I honestly have to say, I feel like I have only scratched the surface in my review of this show, and that's because I pretty much have. There were still many more skits and vignettes than what I've mentioned in this review . . . it's extremely difficult to describe the experience of seeing this show in words or text (it took me several days just to try to write this very review), because it was just that: this wasn't a show, this wasn't an act, this wasn't a performance, this was an experience; you really had to be there and see it for yourself to really understand the impact SOLASTALGIA had on those of us in attendance. And even saying that SOLASTALGIA left an impact on us would be a gross understatement. Remember those books CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL? That's exactly what this show was. Not the books, that is; I mean watching this show was very much like chicken soup for the soul. That's how impactful, cathartic, and refreshing it was. Through it all, there was a sense of unity, connection, togetherness, acceptance, and love among everyone - on and off stage. Even as the show was breaking up, people were hugging and holding onto each other - some were even going up to the performers to hug and hold onto them as well. In a world where there is so much hate and division, SOLASTALGIA was more than a breath of fresh air. As an artist and Content Creator myself, I will never agree with anyone who says art shouldn't be used to make a statement, because this amazing, outstanding, and incredible showcase of visual performance art made statements that everybody should hear out, listen to, take into consideration, ponder and wonder.
So please, take a moment as we did throughout this show, turn to and look at the person next to you, sense the connection you may share with this person, realize that we are all the same, that we need each other, and that we have the power to change the world and make it a better place for not only ourselves, but our descendants as well. Love trumps hate.
During this corona-virus pandemic, it's important to do your part in stopping the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible, including staying at home and sheltering in place . . . of course, that's not to say that doing such isn't without its cons and downsides as well - namely, when cabin fever starts setting in, as our YouTube puppet pals have become all too familiar with in a brand-new sing-along!
In addition to Steve, you can always check out his other puppet pals on their respective YouTube channels as well!
A Company of Fools (by Tai Jackson):
https://www.youtube.com/UCmO_sNCJ_cXVeBYEoJOeDMg
The Vaudeville Puppets (by Peter A. Cancilla):
https://www.youtube.com/Vaudevillepictures
Muley the Mule (by Kevin L. Williams):
https://www.youtube.com/kevinmule
It isn't just simply amazing that 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the most iconic children's educational series in television history, but the fact that Sesame Street themselves encouraged fans across the world to join in on the celebration made it all the more special.
It's no secret that SESAME STREET has had a huge influence on me, mainly because of Jim Henson's Muppets, but clearly, other puppeteers out there have been inspired and influenced by Sesame and the Muppets for decades, thanks to Henson practically reinventing the art of puppetry as we know it. Ever since I and so many others started using YouTube as a platform to share our own work in puppetry with virtual audiences, some of us have expressed interest in doing collaboration videos that would combine our various different acts and characters into a single, fun project . . . unfortunately that wasn't a logistical possibility for many of us - particularly way back in the earlier years of our YouTube channels, when the tools many of us had were not that great (I certainly wasn't capable of chromakey or any similar visual effects).
But, as the years have passed, and a lot of us have, indeed, gotten better tools, better equipment, and have developed better sensibilities, the possibility of us collaborating on such a project had a higher likelihood - and with this being SESAME STREET's 50th anniversary, what better project to collaborate on than having our various characters get together for a sing-along of one the street's most treasured songs?
What you see here is not just Steve D'Monster, but other notable YouTube puppets such as Peter A. Cancilla's Allegra Longfellow and Professor Monster Johnson, Clyde Monster from Tai Jackson's A COMPANY OF FOOLS, Kevin L. Williams's Muley the Mule, Tim Kelly's Zook & Max, Marcelo R. Bottaro's new character Raspberry, and Matt (a.k.a. SchfiftyThree)'s pal Mike, singing along to the Joe Raposo classic, "Sing."
Don't forget to take the time to check out everybody's YouTube channels for yourselves; we could all use some subscribers!
Happy 50th anniversary, SESAME STREET! Thank you for your decades of service and education to generations of children, the young-at-heart, and of course us puppeteers!
If you're already a puppeteer, or even aspiring to be a puppeteer, you have to see this wonderful short film by Ryan Sargent. The accuracy and relatability of this story hits so close to home that, of course, only those whose passion is in puppetry can truly comprehend and appreciate this.
Remember the old days of cable, when niche channels catered to a specific demographic? Like how MTV used to be all about music videos and other music programs? When Cartoon Network used to be all about animation? How about when A&E used to show informative and educational programs? Or when TV Land used to be the ultimate home for television classics of yesteryears? Or when Animal Planet used to have programs about animals? Heck, even the Weather Channel used to be about weather!
No matter what the interest, demographic, or community, there used to be (and in some cases, still are) niche channels catering to those specifics, but if there's one thing that never really got to experience that was puppetry. I suppose, in a sense, having such a channel might seem senseless: not only is puppetry an underrated art form that most people tend to overlook, but a majority of puppet shows on TV have been preschool shows, and there's been niche preschool channels throughout the years (Noggin, Sprout, PBS Kids, etc.). But a lot of people tend to forget there's been puppet shows for other audiences and demographics out there, and not only that, there's been a lot of puppet shows that are all but forgotten in this day and age.
I doubt we would ever see such a niche channel for puppetry, but it's something nice to think about. I can even figure out what a decent schedule would be like:
- Early Morning (6am - 10am): Sid & Marty Krofft shows. These guys dominated Saturday Morning back in the 70s and 80s, so it seems only fitting that this slot in the schedule be home to such fare as H.R. PUFNSTUF, THE BUGALOOS, LIDSVILLE, SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS, LAND OF THE LOST, THE LOST SAUCER, FAR OUT SPACE NUTS, and their latest contribution: MUTT & STUFF.
- Daytime (10am - 5pm): Those "preschool" shows I was talking about. Any of those shows you can imagine, they could fall into this slot. SESAME STREET, BARNEY & FRIENDS, TELETUBBIES, WIMZIE'S HOUSE, BETWEEN THE LIONS, MUPPET BABIES, ALLEGRA'S WINDOW, JACK'S BIG MUSIC SHOW, BEAR IN THE BIG BLUE HOUSE, THEODORE TUGBOAT, LAMB CHOP'S PLAY-ALONG, THE CHARLIE HORSE MUSIC PIZZA, JOHNNY AND THE SPRITES, ANIMAL JAM, and those are just to name a few.
- Evening (5pm - 8pm): Family shows. These are the shows that have broad audience appeal, such as THE MUPPET SHOW, MUPPETS TONIGHT!, FRAGGLE ROCK, THE GREAT SPACE COASTER, COUSIN SKEETER, and again, just to name a few.
- Primetime (8pm - 11pm): One thing about niche channels is they always brought us original programming that you couldn't find anywhere else - Nickelodeon gave us Nicktoons, Cartoon Network gave us Cartoon Cartoons. This slot would be perfect for all-new original programming: just imagine if Tim Kelly's Zook and Max had their own half-hour show, or if Kevin L. Williams's Muley the Mule and his cohorts had their own show, or if relatively newer acts such as A Company of Fools or The Creatures of Yes had their own shows. This would be perfect for them.
- Latenight (11pm - 2am): The adult shows. CRANK YANKERS would probably fit at home here, but so could televised broadcast of puppet improv showcases, such as the Jim Henson Company's PUPPET UP!, and other similar fare.
- Dear Air (2am - 6am): I could easily see this being reserved for obscurities. Probably a lot of these syndicated Christian puppet shows you used to see on local channels. But certainly, rarities that time has forgotten, such as that Mr. Potato Head show from Fox Kids, and perhaps this slot could conclude with some of the Kroffts' lesser-known shows like PRYOR'S PLACE and D.C. FOLLIES.
And that would be the Monday through Friday weekday schedule . . . I could see the weekend schedule showcasing Muppet movies, individual standalone specials from any of the above mentioned shows, short independent films, and the like.
This is something I've mentioned in passing before, but recently felt more compelled to write about it in greater detail. If you're familiar with TV Tropes (a site that has gone horribly downhill in terms of moderation and overall management), you're aware of a trope known as the Renaissance Age of Animation: this describes the period from the 80s up till the Turn of the Millennium, when the animation industry, in general, seemed to be in a real boom, from feature films (Don Bluth departing from Disney, the genesis of Pixar) to TV series (the Spielberg-produced toons, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, etc), and seemed to bring the medium out from its Dark Age (from the 50s and up till the 80s, when limited animation was the set standard). In comparison to this Renaissance Age of Animation, I've often felt that we've recently had a similar age with puppetry.
As mentioned, one of the defining factors for the Renaissance Age of Animation was cable: granted, cable wasn't exactly new at the time, but it was really booming, and with niche channels aimed specifically at kids and animation buffs, we saw a string of really creative and imaginative new animated series that defined a generation - whether it was Nickelodeon juggernauts RUGRATS or HEY ARNOLD! to Cartoon Network smashes like DEXTER'S LABORATORY or THE POWERPUFF GIRLS - these shows really set new standards in television animation. Looking at that as a model, I would have to say that one of the main reasons I feel we've had a Renaissance Age of Puppetry is because of the internet: more specifically, YouTube. When YouTube first emerged in the mid-to-late 2000s, its sole purpose was to offer creators a virtual platform to showcase their original videographic work with the rest of the world (no, really, it was . . . and we ruined it, but that's another discussion for another day), and plenty of people turned to it for that very reason, including puppeteers of varying degrees of experience.
I began producing and uploading Steve D'Monster videos in 2007, though there were others already utilizing YouTube to showcase their puppetry before then; most notably, Kevin L. Williams's Muley the Mule, and Tim Kelly's Zook and Max. For both of these talented individuals, their respective creations had existed years prior to their YouTube debuts, both in illustrated and foam rubber form; Kevin and Tim are cartoonists and puppeteers, and Muley, Zook, and Max have appeared in comics and in puppet forms.
Not to mention around the same time, there was also TRANSYLVANIA TELEVISION, an adult-oriented horror-sendup comedy with surprisingly impressive production values that was also really popular at the time, with such characters as Furry Ackermonster, Dwayne Frankenstein, and Batfink.
And there was also Julio Robles's dysfunctional little troupe that make up the gang of ScrapsTV, which I always thought of as a puppet version of a tribute band, anchored by the likes of Freddy J. Frog and Kodiak T. Bear.
Around the time I began regularly producing and uploading Steve entries for YouTube, other puppet acts were coming forward with new videos on a regular basis as well, with perhaps one of the better-known (and longer-running) examples being Shane Keating's dry and sardonic green monster Fenwick, with his aptly-named sidekick Bob Blob.
Jordan Sibayan also brought his Colbynfriends characters (who - like Muley, Zook, and Max - also existed in both cartoon and puppet form) to YouTube as well; most notably are the two headfigures of the cast, the green ratillion Colby Hussir, and the deadpan canine Dumb Dog.
Angela Altomare also introduced a number of characters as well, including a series of puppet vlogs hosted by Carly Sanderson, and later Charlene Heart (neither of which, unfortunately, have any videos still available), and the delightful Roaring Twenties-inspired showgirl dog Harmony Barker.
A little while later, other acts began emerging as well, such as the now-defunct CHEEKTV, which featured the beanie-wearing, cockney-accented purple monster, Cheeky, who would often offer up commentary and parodies of celebrity news and gossip, viral videos, and current events.
Also later arriving to the scene was Casey the Muppet, an FAO-Schwartz Muppet Whatnot avatar of creator Casey Daron, the self-proclaimed World's Biggest Muppet Fan.
And those are just a few to name!
During this time as well, there was almost something of a cozy little brotherhood that was formed amongst those of us involved in this internet puppetry flux, so much so that it wasn't uncommon for some of us to begin actually making references to each other's videos or characters; Fenwick was bold enough to completely parody Steve's "'Snow' is a Four-Lettered Word" episode (which also instigated Fenwick and Steve's fictional and non-existent feud between each other):
Colby and Dumb Dog also made a crossover appearance in a DEAR STEVE entry:
PUPPET POWER even served to gather together many of these different internet puppets into one special (it even marked the triumphant return of Zook and Max, after disappearing for a while):
Much like the Renaissance Age of Animation bringing forward a slew of animated series that were unlike anything you had seen before in television animation, the puppets you found on YouTube were all unique and distinct in comparison to so many other puppet series found on television before them - which, because almost all of them had Henson people involved, evoked such a Muppety vibe, that it's almost hard not to generalize television puppetry as "Muppets." Each of the YouTube puppets brought their own brand of humor, commentary, satire, and other levels of entertainment that really distinguished them from others, yet they all maintained an appeal that you could easily watch their videos again and again, and never tire of them.
Eventually, though, that age of YouTube puppets did slowly begin to fade away and die down; although the aforementioned PUPPET POWER was inspired to be a puppet version of the Nicktoon KaBLAM! (bringing together different forms and styles of puppetry in one special), it was also sort of an attempt to give the Renaissance Age of Puppetry something of a booster shot. Unfortunately, by then, the old magic that permeated through the older videos had fizzled away. Although there are small number of these characters that still pop up on rare occasions (Muley being one of them), many of the others have stopped uploading new content quite some time ago, for a variety of different reasons.
It does appear, however, that there is some sort of renewed interest in internet puppetry. Recently, cartoonist and puppeteer Jonathan Brangwynne has been uploading a few humorous puppet shorts on Vimeo:
More recently, a new series debuted on YouTube called WILTON'S WORLD, featuring humorous insight on a variety of different current events and hot topics, as well as starring two of some of the most impressive internet puppets I've seen to grace YouTube since the days of TVTV:
I really could go on and on about this subject (even Blogger wouldn't allow all of the labels I wanted to tag onto this post), but I think that if you were a part of this so-called Renaissance Age of Puppetry, or just watched from the sidelines, then you probably remember those days well enough to know that the magic spoke for itself. I think, perhaps, the most significant thing about this age was that with such an incredible tool like YouTube, puppeteers across the board were able to express their art and creativity in a way that would otherwise not have been possible. That, and it certainly sparked something of a boom in the general interest of puppetry itself, and proved that there's more to puppetry out there than just Muppets.
Trust me, these are not good puppets . . . and they're available at a Christian bookstore near you!
To be perfectly honest, I know that when it comes to puppetry, the actual building process is really one of my biggest weaknesses: I can perform a puppet, and I can certainly design a puppet, but to actually build one just isn't quite forte. However, I know good and bad puppets when I see them; we've certainly come a long way in the last sixty years or so in terms of puppet building: techniques and methods have improved and advanced, and in doing so, puppets can be built in ways that are absolutely pristine and flawless . . . perfect, even! But. . . . are puppets, perhaps, built a little too perfect now?
Showing how the Henson Stitch minimizes the appearance of seams on a puppet.
Before we get into that, we need to go over a little history lesson. When Jim Henson was bringing his Muppets into the world back in the 1950s, he wasn't just creating a bunch of wacky and goofy characters that we would come to love and adore, but rather, he was completely transforming the art of puppetry as we knew it: the true innovator that he was, Jim was pioneering a completely new style of puppetry that drew on earlier inspiriation from other styles of puppetry, combining them in ways to make puppets work better in many ways, especially the way they could be seen on film and television (the latter of which was also relatively new at the time). When being seen on television, a key to the Muppets' belief is that they appear as lifelike as possible; but they're puppets, so how is that possible? Remember, Jim was an innovator and pioneer: he developed methods of constructing and building puppets that minimized visible flaws and imperfections to help hide the fact they're puppets. One of the most talked about method of puppet construction that Jim developed is what's called "the Henson Stitch," this is a sewing technique that involves sewing into the edges of the fleece covering - it's a very painstaking method, but by sewing like this, you minimize the appearance of the seams. Of course, it also helps to have the right fabric as well: most professional puppet builders prefer to use a special kind of fleece known as Antron: Antron is a particularly fuzzy and frizzy fleece, so even after sewing, the fuzz of the fleece can be brushed over the seams to further minimize their appearance. In short: the fuzzier the fleece, the less likely you'll see seams.
Puppet builder extraordinare, Don Sahlin, gluing a foam pattern to create a puppet skull.
But building puppets is more than just sewing pieces of fleece together, you have to create an inner shell before you do anything else: this is what gives the puppet its shape, it's essentially the skeleton of the puppet, and the fleece is the skin. There are many different methods and techniques to putting together a foam skeleton, whether you cut patterns from half-inch to inch-thick pieces of foam and glue them together for simpler puppets, to carving and sculpting from giant blocks of foam for puppets that have more distinct shape to them. Much like sewing fleece, putting together the foam skeleton can also be a painstaking process that requires a keen eye and attention to detail, otherwise, you could end up with a lopsided, misshapen mass of foam rubber.
Aah! Visible arm rods! My face is melting!
As the old saying goes, "practice makes perfect." Puppets have been built in these ways for the better part of the past sixty years, so it's only natural that over that span of time, not only would these techniques improve, but others would be developed to help further make building puppets even better. Jim Henson didn't just create a new way of building puppets alone, his apprentices carried on and in time also developed and introduced additional techniques since the inception of the Muppets, and as they spread, even more people can find ways to improve on these techniques. Nowhere is that more evident than the Muppets themselves, the true modern pioneers of an ancient artform, and with the Muppets now back in mainstream media after a lengthy bout of somehow obscurity, more than a few people are taking notice: the Muppets certainly look different than they did before. Obviously, the main reason is because since Disney now owns the characters, the Jim Henson Company no longer builds the puppets, but rather, a company known as Puppet Heap does; the Henson Company does still build the SESAME STREET Muppets. As mentioned above, a key to building puppets it to make them seem as lifelike as possible, but even though it's always been a painstaking process, it seems to have become even moreso in recent years; it's not just advancements made in building techniques, but advancements in production technology is also playing a factor. One of the first things you may notice about newer Muppet productions is a serious lack of rods. How can this be? Puppet hands and arms are operated by rods, so how can they disappear? Digitally. As opposed to the older days of 35mm film and videotape, in this day of high definiton, more and more details are being picked up by cameras, and as a result, rods that were once barely visible on screen are now so much so that they need to be digitally erased in post. And again, because HD gets so much detail, one has to go to great lengths in building puppets to ensure seams are invisible. While this certainly shows what a long way we've come since the days of Jim Henson and Don Sahlin, somehow, something seems off about the entire process.
Fozzie's evolution from Muppet to . . . plush toy?
The benefit of the doubt could be that we haven't seen too many Muppet projects between the time of the Disney purchase in 2004 to THE MUPPETS smashing through the silver screen in 2011, but since then, many people have been talking about how "different" the characters look now. A combination in the evolution of puppet building and the advancements of production technology is resulting in pristine, flawless-looking puppets . . . but as much as they've gained in building techniques, something else in being lost at the same time. In a sense, the more they try to make puppets look as lifelike as possible, the more artificial they appear to be looking in this day and age. One common complaint I've been seeing lately is that Fozzie Bear no longer looks like a Muppet, and looks more like a teddy bear, or a plush toy - part of the problem is because certain furs and fabrics are hard to come by, and in many cases are no longer being made or are no longer available.
An older Anything Muppet with visible seams.
Hey there, handsome stranger!
In going to great lengths to improve the appearances of puppets on film and television, much of the puppets' charm is being lost at the same time. Building puppets to look good on film and television has always been a major facet of the entire artform, but what really makes or breaks the character is the performance: whether you have a beautifully crafted puppet, or an ugly mess put together with tape and chewing gum, it's all about the personality, and the life that's breathed into the character from the puppeteer performing it. Nowhere is that more evident than the number one frog himself, Kermit: as most people know, Kermit was not a frog when he was first created in 1955, he was simply an abstract character; he wasn't built using professional materials or high-quality fabrics - he was built from an old spring coat, and his eyes were made from a ping pong ball that was cut in half. In spite of the simplistic materials used to create the original Kermit, the personality was still intact, whether sitting on a wall and eating worms that turn out to be the noses of large monsters, or donning a little wig and lip-syncing to popular novelty records, this little vaguely lizard-like character was oozing with personality, which is what a puppet really needs in order to engage and appeal to audiences. Back in the 60s and 70s when the Muppets were really starting to find their footing, obviously they weren't perfect: sometimes heads were lopsided, sometimes fleece wasn't smooth, sometimes features were crooked or misshapen . . . but again, these characters had such wonderful and great personalities that you still loved them irregardless - it's similar to how Rocky and Bullwinkle had such incredibly smart and witty writing that the humor was enough to win you over the incredibly limited and lackluster animation. So what if you could see a rod here and there? So what if maybe a certain puppet was built in a hurry and you saw seams? There was still a warmth and realness to these characters just the same. In this day and age with puppets looking so pristine and flawless, while their endearing personalities are still intact, they're still losing that warmth and edge that they once had, making them seem a little cold and impersonal. I've said it before that sometimes advances in technology aren't necessarily so advance . . . could the same be said for puppets? Could the advances in puppet building actually be doing more harm than good? I think it's up for debate, from speaking for myself (from two perspectives: as a puppeteer and a puppetry afficianado in general) and other fans out there, I think perhaps the good is a little less.
Fleecy, pilly Bert, or silky smooth Bert? You be the judge.
Five months ago, I had a thought: I always have such really odd, vivid, lucid, strange, borderline disturbing - and yes, trippy - dreams. They do tend to plague me, but at the same time, the odd thing is from time to time it's those dreams where a lot of my best ideas come from.
Page from Joseph Scarbrough's script for TECHNICOLOR DREAMS 2015.
So it hit me -- why not explore this a little more? The next thing I knew, I was drafting a script for an experimental film I had trouble coming up with a title for a while, that would basically sum up this odd creative process I have.
That was late in September, now here it is February, and that experimental film - which eventually became titled TECHNICOLOR DREAMS - is finally here.
The whole creative process for this film was really an interesting one, because I had never really done an experimental film, but I liked the possibilities that it could bring. It was just a matter of actually putting this thing together, which itself took a while, as I had to ask a number of different people on YouTube for permission to use their videos for dream sequences, which I was able to really achieve wonderfully in Adobe Premiere. While slumbering, I am visited by a pair of dream sprites that symbolically represent how a number of my creations are born.
Of all of the projects I've done thus far, this one is by far my most personal yet.
Promotional photo for TECHNICOLOR DREAMS with Joseph Scarbrough and a pair of dream sprites.
Let's face it, eBay is a fascinating website (at least, it used to be, before it became Paypal exclusive): whatever you may be looking for in the way of forgotten old treasures, eBay was the place to look for them, and at the same time, you never really knew what you might have turned up when browsing through the site.
Every once in a while, however, there will be some kind of joker who tries to sell off really odd and unusual items on eBay, such as a piece of toast with Jesus' face on it, or a teenaged girl selling her virginity...
But this really is something you have to see to believe: some joker on eBay is selling what he claims to be actual Muppet puppets that were used by Jim Hanson [sic] and Fronk [sic] Oz on SESAME STREET, and that they were given to him by the former vice president of PBS... so, are they for real? I don't know, you tell me...
Oh, well, this right here must prove that these things are legit!
What do I think of these?
My only guess is that puppet builder, Don Sahlin, was in a hurry and in a bad mood that day.
It's almost kind of hard for me to believe that it was ten years ago today that Steve was officially born to the world; I think of this as something of a milestone, if only because Steve is, so far, the only character I've ever developed that has survived for this long.
Steve's genesis is kind of an interesting one... it really isn't a stretch for me to say that when he was first developed, he wasn't anything like he is today, mainly because his personality wasn't really fully established. In fact, he really didn't have much personality at all... the only thing that was established from day one that's still in use today (albeit seldom) is his disdain for anyone calling him, "Stevie."
When I first built Steve in August 2004, I didn't intend on really using him in the manner of which I did. I was fifteen-years-old at the time - still young, still ambitious, still immature, and had my head in the clouds far more than I do now - I really had my sights set on someday being a Muppet Performer on SESAME STREET, and I thought if I was able to move up in the ranks and establish myself as a performer, that Steve could be a signature character of mine (which, to me, made sense, as I am now publically admitting for the first time that Steve's overall character design is pretty much borrowed from an Anything Muppet monster seen at least once or two on SESAME STREET in the 1970s, though some of you either already knew that, or already figured that out... and for the record, that's the only time I've done such a thing). To the best of memory, Steve's character, at the time, was that he was a wannabe comedian. I could see it now: he had a makeshift comedy club on the roof of 123, but the jokes and routines he told were so corny or cliched, that nobody really found them funny; Grover would have been his best friend, since somehow, Grover never managed to drive him crazy (that, and I was on a Grover kick at the time), though he would have a habit of calling him Stevie, resulting in Steve snapping, "Don't call me, Stevie!" (Interestingly, my fellow puppeteer, Missey Wright, thought the routine was a nod to the movie AIRPLANE!, but I hadn't seen the movie at the time, and I wasn't aware of Leslie Nielsen's iconic line, "Don't call me Shirley.")
Speaking of which, I was an intern at ETPBS (East Tennessee PBS, then known as ETPtv) at the time, and we were just getting ready for the summer 2004 Friends of Sesame Street Pledge Drive to help support and fund children's programming on PBS (we did two a year, one for two weeks in March, and other for a week in August). I had heard that Missey - who was their regular puppeteer for pledge drives - was unavailable to attend, and that they were thinking about trying to find somebody else, or foregoing puppets altogether; I offered to be a substitute. I wasn't officially a puppeteer at that point yet - I had a strong interest in puppetry, and a desire to be a puppeteer, but I wasn't actually performing yet (Kids on the Block had expressed interest in hiring me to be a performer, but I never heard back from them). They agreed to give me a shot, but there was just one problem: I needed a puppet to actually perform. I was already in the process of building Steve, just to play around and practice with, so I rushed to finish him (and boy, did it show in the beginning). The Friday before we were to start, I brought Steve in to give a little demonstration for Chris Smith, my supervisor; I don't even remember what I did as a demonstration, but they were impressed enough to let me do it. Monday finally came along, and considering this was going to be live on the air, broadcasting in multiple viewing areas (East Tennessee, southern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, and the western ends of both Carolinas), I was a little uneasy about possibly not being quick enough on my toes to pull this off, but amazingly, so much of my focus and attention was drawn down to the monitor between my knees, that everything else around me was a void of nothingness; I was separated from the rest of the world, and in a world of my own that felt so natural, that I can't remember ever having any major catastrophes... a few errors, perhaps, but I was learning as I was going.
Chick magnet
But this isn't about me, this is about Steve. On Monday, August 9, 2004, Steve made his debut as a fill-in for Missey's character - a girl named Karla - to show his support for his favorite programs on PBS Kids (this pre-dates the PBS Kids GO! era). At the time, however, Steve still didn't have any personality to speak of, he was really just a generic monster puppet appearing on TV screens to inform kids to have their parents phone in their pledges of support, and they, in turn, would receive thank you gestures, such as t-shirts, bouncy balls, frisbees, circus tickets, Chick-fil-A coupons, among other little goodies; but one day, that all changed. Another one of my ETP colleagues, Russ Manning - who has contributed some terrific input to my work - had this wild idea: he saw something potentially funny in having Steve be something of a casanova wannabe. Every now and then, Russ would have Steve flirt with one of the phone girls, or one of his fellow on air personalities, and as it turned out, it was funny; that was a personality trait that ended up sticking, which is why even to this day Steve likes to think of himself as quite the ladies' monster.
Even then, Steve had an active imagination.
Karla and Steve
I think Steve went over fairly well his initial week on ETP - he seemed to be something of a hit with everyone in the studio, and I think there may have been an occasion or two where a kid phoned into the station to try and talk to him. Whatever the case may be, it seemed to warrant an invitation to have Steve return for further pledge drives. Missey returned for the March 2005 pledge drive, and after getting acquainted, they had Karla and Steve on air together; it worked pretty well for both Karla and Steve, to have another puppet character to interact with... at first. From a technical aspect, apparently there were too many mics on that particular set for the control room, so Karla and Steve were later separated, and Steve was given Karla's old position, while Karla was promoted to her own newsdesk segment (something that was proposed for Steve for station bumpers and promos, but never materialized, though the idea was later recycled for the MONSTROCITY NEWS entries of Steve's YouTube series).
THE KARLA REPORT and MONSTROCITY NEWS
Steve made his internet debut on YouTube, December 26, 2007.
There was no question in having Steve return for the August 2005 pledge drive, but after that, ETP quietly ceased having on air pledge drives for rather sound reasons, and as such, Steve ended up being put to rest for a while. At that time, I hadn't quite made up my mind whether to persue a career in puppetry, or animation: I was taking an animation course my senior year, but by the time that was over, I was so burned out on animation that I swore it off forever, and decided to go with puppetry instead: it came more natural to me, and it felt far more satisifying to manipulate a puppet in real time and get instant results, as opposed to manipulating a drawn figure on a computer screen, frame by frame, and only getting a few second's worth of results that took hours (and sometimes days) to achieve. By then, I also started getting ideas for other shows and characters, so it made sense to stick with puppetry; but there was still a matter of Steve: what was I going to do with him? By the end of 2007, I had a thought: YouTube was still relatively new (Google's fascism hadn't set in for another couple of years), and I had a camcorder, with a pull-out LCD screen that could serve as a monitor; why not take advantage of using a pre-social media YouTube to do something with Steve, and put both him and myself out there? I didn't have a whole lot to work with at first: most of those earlier entries on YouTube were mostly reactions to what was in the news (such as the survey conducted in London that children don't like clowns), or just having Steve lip-sync to a song. It was fun to do, and slowly but surely, Steve started getting a little attention from people who appreciate puppetry - especially the film and television style of puppetry Jim Henson innovated with the Muppets - and it all seemed to snowball a little from there. As time went on, Steve's small yet dedicated fanbase seemed to grow, and at the same time, so did Steve's personality: no longer was he just a generic monster character; the more I played around with him, the more I was able to find his character, and he grew into the little self interested and self absorbed prima donna, with the slight little mischevious streak, and a love for the ladies, that people know him as today (and it's interesting that at one point, his fanbase was largely female).
D'Monster for 2012
YouTube was certainly a wonderful tool in helping spread Steve's exposure to a far broader scope, taking him from a nice-sized viewership just in the East Tennessee and surrounding areas, to an even nicer-sized viewership that spans not just across the U.S., but also Canada, the U.K., and Australia. In those years, as the series progressed, more effort was put into the entries: while Steve still maintained his little intimacy with viewers, more and more entries were planned in greater detail, with some reflecting current events, holidays, and at times, the series even got topical with reviews from movies to politics, to Steve even running for President in 2012. Later still, entries were given actual plots and scenarios for Steve to act in. But, as the old saying goes, "There's a little bad in everything good." Eventually, Google's control over YouTube became far more biased - YouTube began favoring partner channels that generate revenue for them (therefore, putting money in their pockets), and as such, smaller channels began being swept under the rug; a combination of a serious decline in Steve's viewership on YouTube, and feeling I've done as much as I could, I decided to end Steve's YouTube series in the spring of 2013 - after seven seasons, and 63 entries. This was also going to allow me to ponder on trying to focus on other projects within The Joseph Scarbrough Universe, including the ambitious anthology special, PUPPET POWER (for which Steve served hosting duty).
Steve hosted the webspecial PUPPET POWER
And now, here it is, 2014, ten years since Steve first graced TV screens (seven since he first graced computer screens). In all these years, one thing that I've recently come to realize is Steve is actually the hardest character for me to write for... I guess I've performed him in such spontaneity for so many years, that any dialogue for him feels more natural and in-character if it comes off the cuff, rather than off a script page; it's hard to describe, but if a line is written for him, even if it's a line he would probably say, it still feels artificial doing that line, rather than doing a line on the spur of the moment. But, all that aside, it's an interesting feeling to be looking back on ten years of Steve being in existence; I've certainly enjoyed what I've done with him, and there's even more areas I'd certainly would have liked to explore with him... but has Steve stood the test of time? Has he left an impression on the public? I honestly don't know, and I don't even really think it's my place to answer that, I think that's up to the people to decide.
I would like to thank those of you who have been watching all of Steve's exploits and escapades these past ten years, whether you've watched him show his support for public television, or get himself into unusual situations on the internet, or host faux news programs and web specials; I certainly hope you've enjoyed all of this. If you have a favorite moment from all of this, please feel free to comment, I appreciate getting feedback, and I'd like to know what you've personally enjoyed.
