Gonzo Puppeteerism

The Muppet universe is hardwired into my brain. I named this site after a Muppet Show tap dance bit starring Kermit. Last year, I caught the Muppet Movie at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH. The theater is an 1878 pre-film performance space built by a local beer baron, and the movie brought back timeless memories of old friends I knew when I was a kid. I got teary eyed when Kermit sang “Rainbow Connection.” I couldn’t sit still in my seat the whole show, and kept talking to the screen. The people sitting around me looked at me at the beginning, but then got into the laughs and comments much like we all enjoyed watching Statler and Waldorf heckle the Muppet acts. And on the SLR trip up to Portland last month, I checked out a real Studebaker in a junkyard, humming “Movin’ Right Along.”

While being sucked into other parts of the interweb this week, I had no idea that The Muppets where about to take San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) Screening Room this weekend and next. I just found out yesterday that master puppeteer Dave Goelz and his pal Gonzo will be in the house tonight and tomorrow night. I made plans tonight and will be off at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival tomorrow for my own puppeteering stint with Jonathan (getting a stipend even)! Can we smack our heads, open our mouths up to the sky, and run around with foam arms flailing and head swaying?

I hope to make some of the films when I return. Jonathan already knew about it and had it in his schedule.

Man, am I out of the loop sometimes….