The evolution of puppetry

I got the day off work today and was supposed to be spending the day relaxing at home. The lure of the half price hut was too much for me though and I headed into town for midday.

I got a half price ticket to see Pants on Fire's Pinocchio. It was a reselling of the traditional story set in a 1950s Sci-Fi Horror B-Movie, with a dubstep mash up soundtrack and a scary ass puppet of a cricket. Jiminy Cricket is my absolute favourite Disney character - this was nothing like Jiminy, there was no catchy conscience be your guide songs, but it was really good. I thoroughly enjoyed a rather darker telling of the tale. Very good theatre.

Then I went over to the BBC tent to see Brian Henson give a talk on the Evolution of Puppetry. This is me and the lovely Brian Henson before the show.

You may have noticed that I'm a big puppet fan. I mentioned last week that I'm not a big muppet fan - I like my puppets a little darker and more alternative than that.

We all know that the Henson's are like puppeting gods, and while a lot of that started with the muppets, it advanced to absolute legends like the Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and many more. It was absolutely brilliant to hear from Brian on types and techniques of puppetry that they have developed over the years.

Really fascinating stuff! I'm going to have to watch the muppets again now that I have a greater appreciation of the art. For now though, I'm back at home, ready to pop in my Dark Crystal DVD.