It's Alive! : A Puppeteering and Character Workshop

About this event

For puppeteers of all levels! WHAT THE FESTIVAL is so excited that Jamie Shannon will be offering this year’s workshop. Jamie has built a career around a wonderfully peculiar skill: making people forget that the thing they’re watching is made of foam, fabric and somebody’s hand. His characters have frightened children, comforted adults, become memes, disappeared into obscurity and—in some cases—unexpectedly returned millions of times on the internet. After three decades of puppetry, Jamie is focussing on sharing his knowledge and skills to keep the craft alive. Now is your chance to learn their tricks and techniques to enhance your puppeteering skills or try it for the first time. This workshop will provide instruction on the basics of puppeteering and bringing a character to life, as well as a technique that applies to any inanimate object on stage — a feather boa, a hat, a paper bag, or a fully built puppet. Participants can bring a puppet or object they want to work with, or make a puppet in class using a potato! Saturday Sep 26th 10:00am - 3:00pm Social Arts Studio Space Project Studio Inside Youngplace - 180 Shaw Street. Registration Fee: $125 Limited to 20 students. Jamie Shannon has spent more than 35 years bringing strange little creatures to life. A puppeteer, writer, director and creature creator, Jamie is the co-creator of the cult favourites Nanalan’ and Mr. Meaty, and has created and performed characters for Nickelodeon, CBC, PBS, Disney, Netflix and the Jim Henson Company. His work has also crossed into music and film, collaborating with artists including Spike Jonze and Sia. Questions? Email us at [email protected]