Getting feral 🥴

I'm back. Yes, it is me, Art Simone, and I think it has been far too long since I've been in your e holes. So I have returned, and with me, I have brought along more fascinating and peculiar people. So together we can uncover the weird ways seemingly normal people make money, spend their spare time, or even the big secrets have kept hidden until now. This is concealed with me, Art Simone, let's get to it. Bring me now.

Guess hi.

My name is Emma. I run a successful or a medial massage business. I'm a sole practitioner. I also used to be an intensive care cutting of thoracic.

Nurse for many years. I live in the suburbs. I have two kids. I'm actually in a blend of family that's six kids.

But Art actually knows me, but would not recognize me if she saw me.

Oh my goodness, Hello Emma, how are you going? Thank you are the mystery, the mystery I may know you. Yes, so, remedial massage practition person, practitioner, sole person, all the above, all of that remedial that means like fixing things with massage, right it does. Yeah, I'm a bit dumb. So I just like that.

No, everybody asked, what is remedial? What's the difference.

Yeah, so you're not doing, like, you know, massages in that dark, little like venue that I walked past with the red light out the front. You know, you're doing things in which you can help people.

That's right, and you can claim on your health.

Oh that's good. Actually, that's good. What's your favorite thing to massage?

I would say probably shoulders. I'll give you a nice clean.

Answer there, shoulders. Okay, just thriting that down. This could be a clue. This could be a clue, shoulders. And you used to be a nurse in akasak about.

With hearts, and.

So you can do nursing with heart's intensive care. What got you out of it? Too many hearts? Too much love?

Well, the other thing that you'd know me for. I would dovetail the two of them. So I eventually got out of nursing because I'd been out of it for probably about five years, and I had to do a refresher cause and it was going to cost me ten thousand dollars and I went no, Hence why I am now a medial massage therapy?

Yes, speaking of are you and your massage remedial massage uniform. At the moment, I wasn't sure when you walked in, because you look like you've come straight from work? Is that correct? Or you just wear this? Do you just go to Cols? You like to put it on? Is it part of your advertising? You put it on to go walk around Cols?

You know I came straight from what?

Okay, so it looks like a nursing top.

It does at the hospital scrubs.

Yeah, but blue hospital scrubs. Your hair's tied back, You're all prim and proper and ready to help remedy some shoulders.

That's right.

Okay. Now, what I'm going to do is ask you three questions, and from the answers to those three questions, I have to determine what it is you're concealing from me.

May the odds be ever in your favor?

Okay. With all the information put together, right, we've got remedial message, We've got shoulders, we've got six kids, blended family, nurse hearts, and apparently I may know you.

Okay, Yes, I think you might even love me.

I might love you, Oh my goodness, adore me. I might know you might love well, this is so, it's so koky. This is like what I met a meet and greet and I meet someone and they're like, we've met three times before, you don't remember me. I'm like, ma'am, I'm sorry. Okay, you're just another person at the moment. Okay, I meet a lot of people really lovely, but I don't. I don't remember you. I'm sorry. Okay. Have I met you at a meet and greet before?

No, not that I'm aware of.

All right, let's get that out of the way. Okay, first question, do you have any pets?

I do? I have two dogs and a cat.

Okay, what are their names?

Buddy Maker and Ziggy?

Oh my god, my car was called Ziggy because their number plate was d HD. But she just went out to pasture. I had to upgrade. I know, little blue yarist's gone. No more. Question number two, Yes, what vegetable do you most align with?

A vegetable would have to be a carrot? A carrot?

And what do you like about a carrot? What functions?

Crunchy?

Oh yeah, crunchy. That's so you're more of a raw carrot rather than a cook. Well you can eat them cooked too, Yeah, I love a cooked carrot, baked carrot.

And it is full of vitamin C.

Okay, stop selling me the carrots. It's fine. Vegetables, it's fine. And the third question is do you have an alter ego? If so, a bit about them? What's their personality?

Yes?

Absolutely, Cheeky gets away with anything, completely inclusive of everybody, loves everybody, and naughty as all get out and non stop talking.

This is really hard this week. Okay, I'm going to talk it out all right. Suck radial massage, used to be an earth work with the hearts, likes to touch shoulders, six kids, two dogs, and a cat, ziggy car that's my thing. Carrots, crunchy and cheeky gets away, inclusive, naughty. Oh Emma, this is a hard one. And I may know you somehow, do Okay. All that's coming to mind is, so, there's this man that walks around in Melbourne with a

I would love to be, but I'm not. No, I'm not.

I am a professional puppeteer and voice artist. I have been doing professional puppeteering since the early nineties. One of my most favorite things I've ever worked on was the Ferrals, where I was mixy for two series Affairs and then two.

Wait, I pulled my headphones out. Wait, don't say anything, don't say anything, let me pull Then well, I have to start again. I pulled my headphones out. Go back, Go back.

I am a professional puppeteer and voice artist. I have been doing professional puppeteering since the early nineties. One of my most favorite things I've ever worked on was the Ferrels, where I was mixy for two series of Ferrels and then two series of Feral TV. I've also been a magpie, metrtoise and multiple farm yarn animals on bananas in pajamas, and.

A whole hip of other things. I can never remember. This is so exciting ever, whoa.

This is cooked? I love it. You're a papetier. You're like a famous papetier. You are my childhood. Oh why Emma's not a current person. She's Mixy MIXI sitting in front of me. Mixy Mixy Metoda Mixy the puppet got you. Do you think she knows that I've got a tattoo. I've got a tattoo with it? Is that weird? Should I show it? I don't know it's weird, But I've got a tatto show show. I'm gona thing. I'm going to show it.

Niche watching them.

Okay, we're here with Emma, and I've just found out that no, she is not carrot woman from Sydney. She is, in fact a puppetier, such a famous puppeteer, in fact that she was the puppeteer for MIXI in the Ferals Mixed Mitosis. Oh my goodness. Well you got so much to get into. We'll go back to the start. How did you get into puppeteering and voice work?

Well, puppeteering I basically learned through some friends. I'd always wanted to be a performer of some description, and I happened to be at the studio where they were making these friends doing their own little puppet thing, going to be making kids series. ABC came to see their puppets and to see if they were the type of animals they wanted to make for their show, The Ferals, and I happened to be there that day, and they went on,

Skills, But I went yes, yes, yes, yes.

And they said, well, yeah, come on in. I auditioned and my skills were abominable, but I had the little voice that they wanted for the little pink bunny rabbit.

They so that's perfect.

So your first proper puppeteering gig was the ferohs it was. It's pretty cool, isn't it.

I know, it was very cool. It was a dream come true. It was so much fun.

So you get told you're going to be mixy. How does it work into developing? I guess she's like scripted, of course, but how much of that, like, is there a lot of development in you working out like who she is and what she's going to be like and how does that how you develop the character?

Sure, so.

To start off with we I think we had a big chunk of time where we had rehearsals and your work out relationship between the different characters, and we really as a series developed, we'd realize, oh, my character would never do that or say that or be like that, so very much it became what how we reacted. We had our scripts always set up underneath the set so we could see. We'd be doing the script and watching television monitor which was reverse scan, so it looked like

A dream about during the world with a rock band?

Oh right, it's it's never got to work. Even the Beatles started somewhere with music lessons.

There's no Beatles in you just call quotes you guys mind, We've got to practice. How did you develop the voice to mix you?

I think that came from being an ID and just making funny noises and funny voices, and I think it was actually a baby voice that I sort of developed and then it became Mixy. One time we were showing This is Chinese Delegate the studios and they wanted to hear me doing the voice, and they actually said, through the translator, what has she got in the mouth doing?

What do you mean? What have I got in my mouth? How are you making that noise? They said, how are you making that noise?

And surprisingly, it's exactly whatever I'm doing is whatever helium does dear throat. Ah, So if I suck helium, I sound like Mixy.

Oh when you can just get your vocal cords to do that? Can you put an extra dose of helium on Mixy? And then she's just super high.

I've tried that, Yes, I haven't they And then she talks in a registered and nobody can hear.

Except the dogs.

Only the dogs can hear. Only the dogs, only Darren can hear. What was it like basically being famous but having no one know it?

Hilarious?

Like would you sometimes be on a telephone and just like slip into voice just to like confuse people.

I would do it for people.

I'd get people who would request that I ring up some and so for their birthday, and so I do that for them. It was a weird time when any other famous Australian would be recognized or ask for an autograph and you'd walk through and no one would know who you were.

No, do you know that I have a mixy tattoo?

I've seen it, yes.

But it's crazy though, because you're a celebrity, but you get to be in disguised because most people they just know the puppet. But even puppeteering is really hard. I have like a box filled with all puppets that I can't even begin to operate at all because there's so many motor skills that are being used. Because you're retraining your hand.

Yeah, to move at the same time as your mouth.

Yeah, at the same time as your mouth. The puppets are like you can have with them for their hands.

Yeah, their muppet style puppets.

Yeah. Were you operating both her hands at the same time.

Yeah, So I just sort of had my arm stretched up in the air.

A perfect just put it this way, A perfect.

Gene pool of people that would be born with those with an arm sticking out where their head was and their headstcking out where their arm was, because you've got to keep your head out a shot all the time and have your arm up in the air and the other hand sort of like chopsticks operating the other rods coming out from the rabbit's arms.

You have to tell me, because I don't remember. Was it like a big hit or was it? Is it something that's just grown.

It certainly was very popular.

Yeah.

It was aimed at the eight to twelve year olds, yes, and it was very popular.

When I was on.

We used to get a lot of fan mail, a lot of kids racing home from school to watch it.

This is before digital.

TV, of course, so you didn't get to really choose what you were watching. And then in later years when it came was no longer being aired, had lots of repeats. But when it wasn't anymore, we seem to get at that era of kid it was growing up became cult like in the following event.

Yeah, because I think I hooked onto it during like the reruns, because I'm a bit I'm a ninety two baby, so little one, lidle one, so I was a bit too young when it first came out, but I remember still watching it like with reruns repeatedly and falling in love and I think it's so funny. If no one has seen The Ferrels, I just love it because it's like this weird, like Bogan version of like the Muppets, but it's like the Australian version because everyone is a

Ah, there are way too many to recall, but a couple of occasions it'd be scripted a funny line and we'd shoot it, but we'd have to reshoot it because one of the camera guys to be laughing his head off and it would bleed through into the MIC's.

That happens sometimes? I wonder where that happens sometimes, So I'm just looking at my producer at the moment, who loves to laugh, and I'm very hilarious jokes. I've seen the rolled mixing out many times, like in the later years. She's now dressed a lot nicer who gets to perform her in those points. Have you been able to me? You still get to go back and.

Do her there is fortunately, well it's a bit sad actually. When the ABC moved from in Sydney from it's one place to its next place, there was a huge clean out from the ABC there and I got a phone call from one of the wardrobe women saying, am I quick come. They're putting all the puppets and all the clothes and everything into the bin. So I went, I've got a garage quick, I'll grab them. So they came to live with me for a while. They started to disintegrate.

Because they're just mostly foam, aren't they?

Rich Texango and so I wasn't in a hermetically sealed environment. Mixy is the version that you see now. She's the newer version. There were two versions of her Maid because for about five years.

Mixy hosted all the kids programs I did that.

Yeah, it seems like they've brought Mixy and Medigliana out a lot because she hosted this pet.

Show for a while was called Creature Features.

Yes, because I used to watch that too, and so it's funny that they've been able to have lives. They're like real celebrities, which is, you know, like it's so good that they don't just have to live within the world of the falls. They're like, how we can bring out Mixy for this? Yeah, that's so fascinat because I was worried that someone else gets to perform her. But no, it's true.

Well, the last thing I did, which was for New Year's Eve, yes in Sydney and ABC had a little pre recorded thing and one of the things was it had Moody and Mixy there and unfortunately I was away when they were going to be filming it. So the puppet maker puppeteered for me and then I revoiced it. Oh yeah, So that's one of the very few times that I have not actually been the pupperteer for the puppet.

So when they had to move out of your garage, where did they go? Where are they living? Now?

Well, very sad truth, they went to the next garage and they just disintegrated, Yes, and they fell apart and they were on the curb side cleaner.

Oh not went to the bin. They became an offering to the landfilled gods.

So the ones we see today are like remax.

Well, Mudy isn't and Mixy isn't because they were sort of precious to Mal and myself and I grew up with Mao. That's how I learned my puppetry. Really, yeah, who does Moudy and.

They?

I think because Mudy been used for creature features as well, so those two had been kept at the ABC. The rest of them were just being thrown out, so that's why they were. The Mixy that you see now was made for the link, so she's not feralized.

She's not. She's very sweet looking these days, but underneath she's not.

If you had to adapt your character play with her a little bit, well.

Well, I did have an extended season of me just writing the script for Mixie. We then brought in another character as well, which was a kangaroo, which Mal did and it was so it was so boring, just you talking to camera over and over again. So I developed for MIXI a little sock puppet called Sally, Sally the sock Puppet, which was Mixy's puppet. And Sally the sock Puppet was awful. She was a complete b r. She screamed at everybody and hated everybody, and it was.

Fine, and you can be like, well, it's not Mixie that's saying it. It's the sock puppet dolls. That's exactly.

It's not me. It's not even mix It's a sock puppet. It's hilarious. So yes, that's easy to get around those moments.

But do you feel a certain level of ownership over Mixy one? And what's that like? Because I guess ABC owns who are owned.

Oh yes, you said that with a question and voice, as everybody does. Because once they went, they can go off and to the Skip Pico and go where.

Yeah, you're ready to show it out, like I know.

So out of integrity, I know Mal wouldn't and I wouldn't. We wouldn't just go and start our own thing with those puppets and make something with them. Why not having the money to do it. But I think we've out of integrity and for memory sake, we've looked after them and kept them and I'll bring them out for kids and do the puppet thing for them and stuff like that. But at the moment, the last few years they've been down in Melbourne at the ACMI, which is Cinema and

So you like, the rules are, if she comes out, you have to be able to do her unless you like, Sorry, babes, I don't want her. You get someone else.

Basically, I get asked, it has been off at all? Can we just since you're not about it, can we just get someone else to do it?

Again't know?

But that's good though, That's fabulous, because I'd be worried. You know, you put in years of work and this is your character. You know, it'd be like someone else voicing Bart Simpson. Why no?

Exactly exactly the point I made to a friend yesterday. Actually, they said, well, couldn't anybody don't know, be like saying, now Bat Simpson's voice by somebody else?

You know, because the whole you know, you just know.

You and you know the character better than it. It's not even about the voice, is it. It's like you know the character. It's because it's you. I'd like someone else trying to someone playing me exactly. I wouldn't let that happen. You could put them in the same dress, put them in the same makeup, but it wouldn't be the same, not at all. We don't want an Aldie version of mixy, do we not?

Me?

So the pharaohs ends are awful. We're upset. What other work does that push you into? Or you're open for you?

Do you?

Did you do more puppeteering and voicemail?

Absolutely?

And I haven't.

I haven't stopped. Basically, if anything comes up, I.

Work on it.

It was about a ten year period where I worked on some Domeo commercials.

Yes, I did get out of town so that that was like working on a TV series.

You were not fun. Okay, you can made me adds this for me because I swear they used those like puppets across the world. They did. So were they based from here or were they?

Yes, they were made here. It was all filmed here.

We barely saw a fraction of all the ads that were made. They made the most beautiful advertisements.

And mom, I think of these days even bad before. That's because the mother's inatun Domio girl has just made a resurgence recently. She is like mean fame as on my train. Hello, you did Tommio girl.

I did.

The one with the long dark Yes, yes, that's me. I didn't do a.

Voice though, it was all no but no of course, but you Poppatito, that's cab So one of the ones. Have you done? Tell me? Tell me?

I said, I can never remember. I knowed long list.

I worked recently on an ad that's in America, but it's this squirrel, an amazing squirrel. The special effects company that do hates the stuff like Alien and yeah, Massive movies and thor and so I operated that. That was for investment company. But the voice that I was doing it too was Christopher Walker.

In first thing is not for everyone, right.

Wrong.

Wealth comes from pennies like oaks come from Acorn's wealth comes.

From So that was That was pretty cool.

But I've worked on a series that was a co production with Henson's and with an Australian company.

This was called Bambaloo. I had live action and puppets in it, and I was Porscha of the parish.

In that.

I'm Porscha and they make a hollerble And we did a couple of series of that. That was about twenty years ago.

And you said, you worked on Bana's in pajamas. Who were you in that?

So I didn't do a banana because they ate and a half foot tool and so they were six foot tall men in the banana suit.

But I did some extra characters in there. I did.

There was a magpie, she was in several series of that. I had to sit in the car before I started filming that and practice cowardling like a magpie.

I can't do it. You will have to do better than that to get a munchie. Honeycake Maggie. Now say pretty Maggie. You know Maggie.

Yeah, I'm so good.

Come to me from any bird calling advice. Then Maggie had a little baby as well. So I did that and there was a tortoise in it, and the tortoise it.

His name was to Stoy.

Toll Stoy and his new friend Thomasina had some exciting news for the bananas. You're getting married. You want us to be your best bananas sounds like they're scattering in a jazz bed, scutting tortoise. You can have that, that's yours.

Then they did other series and they had farmyard animals and there were pigs and chickens and sheep, and it was even a cow.

It's crazy how you can recall them all, because I've done some things before, like acting things, and I could not tell you what they sounded like. I think I just always revert back to sounding like a poor bogain. But it's amazing how you get like it looks like you can just flip a switch and then it comes back to you.

And I think that's from the repetition of doing it. Mixy is just so ingrained into me, and there's no way I can forget what she sounds like.

I know I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night and be like, I didn't ask that, But we do have to wrap it up. But to close it out, can I have a conversation with Mixy one hundred? Okay, MIXI in the room.

I'll just have a look, Mixio, Hi.

I'll Mixy. It's so good to have you here in the studio. How are you going?

Look, I'm really really good, except just a little bit hungry. I I'm not really because just a little bit crazy. But you know, I think it's a season for everything, and so I will try that sometime to not eat chocolate.

But I think there comes a time when mom one must.

Eat chocolate because yea, I do. Just want to know what is a secret, because you must know Emma very well. Is there a secret, a top secret you can tell me about Emma?

All see if she can hear me?

Emma, I think I think she can hear me. Okay, she's deaf, that's a secret. She's partly deaf. I can't hear anything you're saying. So you could call her a big fat poo head and she wouldn't know.

So you watch this. You're a big fat poo head.

Emma say nothing nothing. You can't even hear it. Hi, I'm on my way here. I saw a couple of my friends and they just wanted to throw you a quick message.

Oh God, love to hear it.

Hollo art it's meticularly out of here. I just wanted to say a huge, big hello. Are you great? How guss back?

Oh?

Sorry, I can't be with you today. I have much more important things to do, like yeah, something, I just come from a hot wold. Excuse me? Can I say something moddy cood shup? This is only for the pharaohs, not the nadies. Ah, stay your cris, I Navi get to say hi, Oh, stop your wings in. Sorry about that art anyway.

I love your work, I.

Catch around, I love Mody, Puzzy, Gizzy.

Oh thank you. Oh my goodness, I'm so oh, thank you so much. It makes you for giving me some of your time. Is it a pleasure to meet you?

I got pleasure to meet you too.

Oh my goodness. That's made me bloody. Here, that's fabulous. Emma isn't carrot woman. She is the voice of some of the most iconic characters in history. You've been listening to an iHeart Australia production Concealed with artsimone to see the face of a woman who spent most of her career with her hand up her Puppetzar's check us out on the socials.