Celebrating the creative process, Jim Henson style.
This Halloween I wanted to keep things fun and appropriate for youngsters aged 5-12. After watching a Jim Henson video about his Muppet-making process and the antics of Jeff Dunham and his puppets, I created the “Pinata Muppet.” How do you develop a character from a sock? It starts with the right colored sock and a rolled piece of cardboard to expand the nose area. Two ping-pong eyes with a sharpie marker for Kermit style pupils. Hot glue gun to set the eyes. Then you sit with your sock puppet and think about what the alter-ego in you wants to talk about. Since I had a sombrero and some cheap candy, I became “the one who sells the Pinata candy”. Sort of a shady character with a uni-brow. The dialogue goes like this:
Sock-puppet Pinata: “You got some Candy for me.”
Candy-seller: “yeah…shhhhh…I got some candy for you.”
Sock-puppet Pinata: “I’m gonna get hit and need some more candy, you got me covered?”
Candy-seller: “yeah my little Senora, you know I’m your candy girl.”
Sock-puppet Pinata: “I need Candy, I need Candy.”
(This is how it goes in the world of an overactive imagination.)
The rendition of Count Von Count was a tribute to his now-gone voice. He was my favorite character for learning basics with math. Generally math is not funny for me.
