NEW FREE SCRIPT!

Don't forget: free scripts are provided as a convenience for your team. Puppet Productions has purchased them and owns the copyright. That means collecting them and selling them yourself would be wrong. So very wrong.

"Farmer Nezzar's New Improved Sheep Diet "
A young sheep helps preschoolers learn about God's provision for Daniel. CLICK HERE

WE WANT YOUR PICS!
Been on a mission trip lately? Done a special program around town? Just have a funny picture featuring your puppets? All finished digging that hole in the backyard? We'd like to see photos of you and your puppets at work and share them with our readers. Send potentials as. jpg attachments to: rob@puppetproductions.com (Don't forget to tell us what's going on in the photos or we may have to make up something.)

And while we're on the subject, if your team wants to be available in your area to perform for schools, service clubs, and other churches, CLICK HERE.

CLICK HERE to see all the photos. Kind of.

CAN PUPPETRY PAY?
    Hmmm... I want to see hands... how many of you would like to play with puppets all day and earn a living doing it? That looks like everyone. No surprise there. Now, how many jobs do you imagine there are where this is possible?
    I hate to be the one to do this but somebody has to help bring some reality back to the forefront. You can count the number of possible long-term, full-time puppetry jobs available on one hand and have fingers left over. We all like to point to the Muppets but the reality is that, for other than the handful of primary puppeteers (Henson, Oz, Goltz, Hunt, Nelson, etc.) there isn't much opportunity for a career in MuppetLand. Some people have had "bit parts" in Muppet productions but where are they now?
    Disney has some touring and resort puppetry positions available. All you have to do is audition. And be selected for the scant number of positions from among the tens of thousands who audition. And then, if you get hired, you get to do the same show over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.
    You can look for something on Broadway. Maybe Avenue Q is hiring. Although, if you're reading this, you probably aren't really interested in what Avenue Q has to offer. And, by the way, if you think there aren't hundreds of thousands of out of work ACTORS who have added puppetry to their resumès just to fractionally improve the odds of being hired, you would be very wrong.
    You can start your own performing puppet team. If you're great, maybe you get a little busy during Christmas. If you're not great, there are plenty of church puppet teams who'll do the work for free.
    Perhaps you can think of other possibilities for full time employment as a puppeteer. For other than the very rare individual in the even more rare situation, puppetry is not a viable career. Think of all the people who tried out for American Idol but never even got to the contest and there isn't even anything like American Idol for puppeteers.
    Some of you may even point at this author and say, "YOU have a job working with puppets. Why can't I have one too?" Well, you can't have my job until I'm done with it. Besides, you don't even know what it is I do. So the first question will have to be asked... "Could you even do my job?" and the second question will be, "If you really knew what I do, would you even want to do my job?"
   So what is a puppeteer who has a deep passion for puppets and wants to make them a big part of his/her life to do? Here are the recommendation of one who has been involved professionally in the puppet business for 32 years:

1. DO NOT SEEK A DEGREE IN PUPPETRY OR "PUPPET MINISTRY."
   There is nothing of any value related to puppets and puppetry being sold at any university that you could not get at very little cost through instruction at workshops and festivals or free through your own study and experience. At this writing only the University of Connecticut is even offering a degree in puppetry and that degree is worthless in terms of improving your chances of being employed as a puppeteer. Those looking to hire a puppeteer are not interested in credentials. They are looking for competency and creativity.

2. DO NOT OVER-ESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF A PUPPET.
   There are very few churches in America that could even afford a full time "puppet minister" and fewer still that would see any value in one. Those people who have a passion for puppets understand their use and potential but those who do not have that passion see puppets only as another church "program." Let's face it, a church puppet team, regardless of their performance schedule, has a limited capacity. On a Youth Puppet Team, for example, not all the youth will be interested in puppetry and you wouldn't want those who aren't interested involved anyway. For those who love puppets, it is difficult to comprehend the degree of indifference others have about the art. But that is the "marketplace," so to speak, so remember that even though you may find puppets fascinating, most everyone else feels mostly nothing at all about them.

3. STUDY THAT WHICH HAS "VALUE" AND ADD PUPPETS TO IT.
Every career, from church staff member to professional entertainer to missionary to teacher, can be infused with puppetry to the benefit of all. A Children's Minister, for example, is a far more valuable Children's Minister if they have the ability to add puppetry to that ministry. Think of all the ideas you have for your puppets and how, if you were in the position to make the choices, you could upgrade the experience of anyone associated with your ministry. In other words, if you are interested in "doing puppet ministry" for a living, why not get a credential in something that DOES have value to those who you want to hire you? Attend a college or university and earn a degree in elementary education or music or Bible or whatever and then, when you are hired by a church (for example) make it your goal to fill your ministry there with puppets.

In short, your passion for puppets is great but it probably won't pay the bills. And bills are a reality of life. So, instead of committing you life to puppetry, commit your life to service and during that service, use your passion for puppets to minister in a positive way.

The above statements are the opinions of the author. You may have a different opinion. If you can, by grit and determination, make a place for yourself and earn a living as a professional puppeteer, you have my respect and, should we ever meet, I will happily admit that you were an exception.

PAST TRAINING TEAM MEMBER TAKES PUPPETRY SERIOUSLY!
Greetings friends and family,

    Many things have happened in the past three months since returning to China. Let us take this opportunity to tell you about a few of them. 
    Our good friends, the O’s opened a new business called “Family Talk”.  They help the foreigners learn Chinese language and customs, find housekeepers, offer translation service and much more.  They also help the Chinese with English classes and workshops on children, marriage, and budgeting.  They really have a heart to serve others and things are going well. 
    Marcy has picked up two students for English writing help. One day a week is all that she can handle right now.  She is also helping GGA by reading and recording books for the children who are learning English. So far, she has recorded 34 of 96 books.
    One more opportunity she has is baking classes.  Baking is a new concept for many Chinese.  Most do not have an oven.  Recently, she taught a group how to make peanut butter cookies and pizza while they practiced English speaking.   
Chris had the privilege of sharing Pastor Mark’s message “Eight Basic Reasons Why Children Disobey” to a group of about 50. There was a good response and many people want him to repeat the lesson. 
    Chris was able to use his puppetry skills at a recent event hosted by the English club.  He used the strolling stage and performed three songs, much to the delight of all who attended.  He was also invited to perform at our community art festival coming up this month. 
    The first quarter ended last Friday with a Creation Day celebration in which the children acted out the days of creation. Each “Family Group” wrote their own script and made their own costumes.  There were some very creative entries, which included music and lighting effects. 
    There is roughly one more month until we welcome our new family member home.  Marcy has already started packing her suitcase.  We have visited the hospital and asked many questions.  We have compiled a list of phone numbers of reliable taxi drivers and a list of friends to call on to keep Stephen while we are at the hospital. The nursery has been painted a soft, feminine pink.  We feel as prepared as we can be.  All we need is your continued prayers over us. 
    While on the topic of pregnancy, we thought you might like to hear some of the beliefs shared by Chinese regarding “do’s and don’ts” of pregnant women.  Some things you should not do: wear make-up or high-heeled shoes, stand up on tiptoe, hammer a nail into the wall, rearrange your furniture or redecorate and no swimming.  Some things you should do: eat light colored foods so the baby will be fair and rest for the first three months. 

Have a great Thanksgiving!
Love and Gratefulness,
Team Sullivan

CLICK HERE to go to the graveyard of old articles.

SURVEY RESULTS

Look at this! 69% of puppeteers began when they NOT teenagers([over 25] + [under 10] + [10-11]). What does that say about teens? I dunno.

So, what do you think about using monster puppets ( Muppet™ style) to teach spiritual truth? That'll be the next survey if I can ever get the thing to work.

Is there an article of interest to puppeteers in your head? Write it up and send it in. There's nothing tangible in it for you, but if it's good enough, we'll publish it and give you a by-line. Why, that's a potential for international notoriety. Nothing tangible? Maybe we should think about charging you to submit something. But we won't. Save your article as .html and e-mail it as an attachment to: