The Puppet Educator

One thing that brings me, arguably, more joy than performing is teaching. I really enjoy working with students (children through adults) and teaching them about puppetry. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a student’s face when they begin to connect what you have taught to what they are doing.

I consider myself truly fortunate to have been asked back to my alma mater, Capital University, on several occasions to guest lecture and coach puppetry. In 2018, I became an Adjunct Professor of Theatre, teaching a course in Puppetry.

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Puppet Workshops & Coaching

Over the years, I have conducted a variety of workshops in puppetry. Workshops range from building puppets with children to instructing medical residents on how to use basic puppetry as an alternate form of communication with patients.

Additionally, I have been brought in for many theatrical productions to provide puppet coaching/instruction to their actors. I have been asked, most commonly, to aid with productions of Avenue Q. So, if your Kate Monster isn’t looking quite right, you know who to call!

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Puppetry Lectures

& Talks

In addition to coaching and leading workshops, I have also given multiple lectures on different subjects within the world of puppetry. Many of these lectures were part of the curriculum that I created, while I was an adjunct professor of theatre at Capital University.

  • Introduction to Puppetry

  • Around the World in Eight Puppets

  • Puppet Design and Construction

  • Introduction to Classic Shadow Puppetry

  • Shadow Puppetry in the 20th & 21st Century

  • Acting with Puppets

  • Introduction to Bunraku

  • Five American Puppeteers You Should Know

  • Jim Henson and His Puppets

  • Introduction to Marionettes

  • Stop Motion Puppetry: What You Should Know!

  • Digital Puppetry: The Puppetry of the Future?

  • Found Object Puppetry: Turning Junk into Art

  • Puppets, Politics and Protest

Photo of my students exploring shadow puppetry during one of our lab classes.