Larissa Deak (she/her) is an interdisciplinary teaching artist with a practice that stretches from stilt walking to 2D animated "crankies". Lara is on Jaggera country in Brisbane (Meanjin) and fosters community through her theatre practice. In this episode, we discuss being an artist and a mother as well Lara's work on The Wiggles, Create Annerley, and how she pieces together a practice that encapsulates her art based day job as it intersects with her community building and devised work. Lara is...
May 05, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 5
Lemony S Puppet Theatre is the whimsical invention of dynamic duo Sarah Kriegler and Jacob Williams. Last episode, we spoke to Sarah about how she has cultivated a career as a dancer, puppeteer, writer, director, mentor and festival producer. This week, we speak with Jacob. Jacob's done just about everything as a puppet director. In this episode, we discuss the ABC Production of Beep + Mort, KONG on Broadway, Blueback, Judy and Punch and a host of other career highlights for Jacob. I ask Jacob a...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Lemony S Puppet Theatre is the whimsical invention of dynamic duo Sarah Kriegler and Jacob Williams. Over the course of her career, Sarah has cultivated a career as a dancer, puppeteer, writer, director, mentor, festival producer - you name it! But what strikes me most about Sarah is her passion for storytelling and her love of the world's canine companions. In this episode, we discuss the recent 2020 Melbourne Festival of Puppetry. We unpack Lemony S' new venture as a training ground for new pu...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 3
STREET GANG: How We Got To Sesame Street releases in Australia in select cinema's and on digital on February 2nd 2022. To celebrate, we've collaborated with UNIMA Oz and NIXCO to bring you a special interview with the documentary's Director, Marilyn Agrelo. Marilyn is a director in her own right, with credits including Sesame Street episode segments since Season 48, and Mad Hot Ballroom . This interview includes segments and trailer clips from the film and I ask Marilyn how she found the emotion...
Jan 29, 2022•31 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In the darkest point of Toronto's lockdown, Ronnie Burkett made an instagram post about the day when we would all be together again. As Melbourne and Toronto emerge from these dark times, it finally feels like the right time to release this episode. It's also my birthday. So "let's all eat cake." In this two hour special I speak with Ronnie from 'Puppetland' about how he constructs his plays and orchestrates his audiences, as they become participants in his immersive work - Forget Me Not. We dis...
Nov 21, 2021•1 hr 51 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Happy World Puppetry Day 2021! It's one year since Talking Sock was first released to the world. At the height of the pandemic, Australia had just gone into its first national lockdown. And there I was, oblivious to it all, just a little puppet guy trying to pump out four episodes of #puppetpodcastpower in a single day. Trying to make his independent journey in puppetry arts begin. I am so grateful for the response Talking Sock has received in the year since. During the pandemic, it's the thing ...
Mar 20, 2021•12 min
Hailing from the USA but an Aussie through and through, Nancy Black has tread the boards as an actor, writer, dramaturg, educator producer and director for over 50 years. Nancy has been with Blackhole Theatre Company in Melbourne (Victoria) since 2001 when she directed 'Caravan' at short notice. Since then, she's taken Blackhole to new heights, with traveling shows and collaborations all over the world. Nancy has lead an extraordinary life not without its challenges, but she speaks with such gra...
Jan 21, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Peter Wilson is a gentle soul with a giant career behind him. His delicate voice has been directing puppeteers since the 1970s and Peter has been heavily involved in some of Australia's earlier puppet theatre companies. Peter was a core member of Handspan Theatre (VIC) and artistic director of Skylark Puppet Theatre (ACT) in the 1990s. He worked on iconic productions such as The Hobbit and Lift Off before being puppetry director on spectaculars such as the King Kong, How To Tame Your Dragon and ...
Dec 26, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Well, this one was a true honour and such a treat. In this special length 90 minute episode I talk with the man under the worlds most famous purple puppet - Heath McIvor. Heath has been a pioneer of the industry for over 15 years, seamlessly merging puppetry with stand up comedy and showing the world that puppets can be for adults too. This personal hero of mine and I talk about all things Randy from his origins, through to Sammy J and now on his daily Instagram show, Breakfast Songs. We find ou...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Andy Freer is the Artistic Director of Snuff Puppets, a puppetry institution of Melbourne that was incorporated in 1992. Andy has been performing as a puppeteer for over thirty years, right back to his days growing up in Canberra before a whimsical stop off Melbourne in Melbourne after a particularly successful show in Adelaide became somewhat more permanent. In this episode, I discuss the origins of Snuff and it's creative point of difference. I ask about Andy's philosophy and the lessons he ha...
Oct 07, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Hailing from WA, Leon Hendroff is a material mastermind. In his large scale work for various festivals including the annual Joondalup Festival and as a resident designer for Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Leon's work is renowned for its poetic beauty. In this episode, Leon and I discuss his signature works, String Duet and String Symphony, his work for Spare Parts and his family design studio. We also discuss his love of puppetry books in our regular segment, The Geek Out. Finally, we talk about hi...
Sep 23, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 16
It's so nice to be back, and for a brief moment, back in the studio face to face with Voodoo Puppeteer Alien with Extraordinary Abilities (as stated on his U.S green card) - Danny Miller! After finding a love of puppets from his family, Danny's passion for puppetry was reignited when he saw Ronnie Burkett perform 'Billy Twinkle' at Melbourne Festival. With the momentum brought on by The Eugene O'Neill Puppetry Conference, Danny found his network within the Melbourne puppetry scene and has been a...
Jul 16, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Australia is a big place, so the team of artists, sculptors and engineers at A Blanck Canvas make their puppets to size. Joe Blanck is the mastermind behind some of Australia's best and brightest roving puppets, seen at festivals and site activations here and all over the world. In this episode, we discuss Joe's expansion of his business and ask him what it's like to go from artist to designer and CEO. Join us for our regular segment, The Geek Out where my guest and I share whats been getting us...
Jun 12, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Puppeteer, actor and writer Drew Wilson was always the guy with the career I wanted in puppetry. With roles in Australia's very first Warhorse, to playing the heroic title role of Lazer Beak Man for Dead Puppet Society, Drew has fascinated me in the fact that he maintains his terminal loveliness while also abstaining from labelling himself as any one kind of artist. In this industry Drew has harnessed interests and embraced his weirdo to find spaces where he can play to his strengths. In this in...
Jun 03, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Dennis Murphy has been working as an independent puppeteer for over 30 years. Based in Old Toongabbie NSW, he is Australia's resident expert in Commedia Dell'Arte Puppetry. Growing up in the prairies of Iowa, Dennis was fed on vaudeville and puppetry and has become a great ventriloquist and entertainer. His breadth of skills and his longevity come down to his intricate methods of research, which he describes as his 'obsessions' and his rigorous rehearsal and writing process when developing mater...
May 27, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Cam Ralph's journey from creating characters in school textbooks, to animating them for the screen, to voicing and puppeteering them in some of Australia's most popular children's television and theatre shows is certainly one that feels full circle. Cam joins me on this week's episode to unpack his unique approach to character, and to give us his insights on finding the truth in all performance styles. Joining us by correspondence from his home on the New South Wales Central Coast, Cam and I cat...
May 20, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Jhess Knight has made herself into a key player in the Melbourne puppetry scene since her return from The London School of Puppetry in 2014. Five years on from her training, Jhess' passion, drive and honed business skills have seen her become the creative director of the internationally successful 'Trash Puppets' and 'The Puppetsmithery'. Joining us by correspondence from Portland, Oregon, Jhess talks sock about her current fellowship with Screen Australia, working within the puppetry team to cr...
May 13, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Talking Sock Podcast is the Number 1 Podcast for Puppetry in Australia. We'll be taking a mid-season hiatus while we adjust to our online interview strategy during the nCOVID19 Pandemic. We'll be back in 2 weeks, at the new release time of 6am, Thursdays Australian Eastern Standard Time. Until then, check out over 7 and a half hours of great interviews here on Talking Sock. Stay safe, stay home, and thanks for listening to Talking Sock. Find out more about our interviewees at www.oneorangsock.co...
Apr 29, 2020•52 sec
Australian puppet builder Chris Ragg is a Melbourne based Muppets lover who has been perfecting his craft for the past 30 years. Hailing from New Zealand, Chris has recently commercialised his practice by forming his label, Puppet Tribe. We talk the ins and outs of building hand and rod style puppets to perfection, and even being validated by the designer and maker of Miss Piggy. Chris also leads us through his adventures of creating his own puppet TV show, and explains why he builds replica pup...
Apr 24, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Welcome to another episode of Talking Sock, In this week's episode I am joined by Sue Wallace, professional puppetry artist and co-artistic director of the Sydney Puppet Theatre. Sue was a puppeteer at the Marionette Theatre of Australia in Sydney during the 1980s. She engages in all aspects of puppetry including directing, building and designing workshops. We discuss the Sydney Puppet Theatre and its initiation of the "One Van" International Festival of Puppetry in Blackheath NSW, which Sue dir...
Apr 17, 2020•51 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In this week's episode, I am joined by President of UNIMA Australia and owner/ operator of Dram Puppets, Richard Hart. Richard has been performing under Dream Puppets for nearly 25 years and has been the President of UNIMA Australia for the past 6 years. Dream Puppet shows use black light puppetry where the signature character, Dreamer, adventures through time and space in Richard's highly visual and largely conceptual style. I visited him in his home where his elaborate studio that houses his 3...
Apr 10, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this week's episode, I am joined in Sydney by Kailah Cabanas . A content warning for our listeners, this episode does include content related to mental health and disordered eating. If this content brings up sensitive thoughts or feelings, contact www.beyondblue.org.au / 1300 22 4636, www.kidshelpline.com.au / 1800 55 1800 or www.lifeline.org.au / 13 11 14 Kailah, is an independent actor and puppeteer and trainer who is kicking goals in theatre, film and TV. She has toured with The National T...
Apr 03, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Giving Life to Puppetry In this second episode of our two-part interview with Richard Bradshaw, we discuss UNIMA Australia, a book about shadow puppets, Norman Hetherington of Mr Squiggle and how Richard makes his puppets so distinct and engaging for young audiences. - World renowned shadow puppet master Richard Bradshaw needs no introduction to the international puppetry community. His work has been seen by millions through a life time of stage performances all over the world and through televi...
Mar 27, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 5
A Life In Puppetry In this first half of our two-part interview with Richard Bradshaw, we talk about his beginnings at The Clovelly Puppet Theatre and The Marionette Theatre of Australia, his travels as a touring performer and his time with Jim Henson and Caroll Spinney - World renowned shadow puppet master Richard Bradshaw needs no introduction to the international puppetry community. His work has been seen by millions through a life time of stage performances all over the world and through tel...
Mar 21, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Kay Yasugi has fashioned herself into a staple of Australian puppetry. Based in Sydney, Kay brings her true sense of joy to every performance, workshop and puppet she brings to life. She is a powerhouse theatre maker, performer and builder trying to create as many opportunities for puppeteers in Australia as she can. In this episode we talk about Kay’s love of Puppets, but also her love of puns! We find out about the landscape for learning puppetry at a tertiary level in Australia and ask Kay ab...
Mar 20, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 3
This week, its all about Dinosaurs! I think when you have a passion about something, and you've held that passion for a long time, that is something to be celebrated! Philip Millar loves Dinosaurs. And boy I'm glad he does. He's brought dinosaurs back to life for Polyglot Puppet Theatre, Creature Technologies and through his own company, Puppet Vision. In this week's episode of Talking Sock, we talk about Philip's history with puppets and his journey in taking Dinosaurs and other larger than lif...
Mar 20, 2020•47 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Welcome! We are so excited to bring you our first episode, published on World Puppetry Day, March 21, 2020. We all have a stake in talking about education, because we have all been to school. It has fascinated me that the more puppeteers and practitioners I come across, the more I found they have a background as an educator in some way. Katherine Hannaford is no exception to the rule. An art trained teacher librarian in a Western Sydney public high school, Katherine has brought truckloads of pup...
Mar 20, 2020•58 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Launching on Saturday March 21 World Puppetry Day Welcome to Talking Sock ! An originally Australian puppet podcast. Created and Produced by Pete Davidson at One Orange Sock Productions, we can't wait to release our first episodes this coming Saturday. Hear interviews with puppet builder Katherine Hannaford , Creature Technologies Alumni and creator of Puppetvision Philip Millar , UNIMA Australia General Secretary and owner operator at Pupperoos Kay Yasugi , and Shadow Puppetry legend, Richard B...
Mar 17, 2020•37 sec
