With Mike Harding of Applefun Puppetry and two of his puppet pals

How can puppetry be used in educational settings? What’s the right balance between entertainment and education in a puppet show? Which recycled materials make for great puppets? In this special two-part episode for Earth Week 2021, Ian chats with puppeteer Mike Harding before having an oceanside conversation with his two new puppet friends, Lobert the lobster and the Purple Pirate. There’s also talk of muppets (Kermit impression included!) and tales of puppet shows where things didn’t go exactly as planned.  

Transition music:

"March of the Spoons" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Guests:

Mike Harding, Chief Puppeteer of Applefun Puppetry, has performed professionally for over 20 years. He has conducted thousands of puppet shows at libraries, schools, and birthday parties. Mike studied Improvisational Comedy at Second City, an experience that allows him to add a unique and spontaneous flavour to his shows. Applefun Puppetry Puppet Shows are characteristically interactive with a high degree of audience participation.

Lobert (AKA “Lob”) is a lobster — specifically, an oven-mitt lobster (and he doesn’t mind if you know that). He likes whales and sea life in general. His boss, the Purple Pirate (AKA “Captain Purple”), has a crew of four(ish) mates who accompany him on his many adventures throughout the world’s oceans. He is currently focused on finding the big purple whale, one of the most mysterious creatures of the deep!