No Strings Attached

I know some pretty interesting people. Some are famous to the world and others are very well known within their field. Peter knows some seriously interesting people as well and through him I have expanded my list of people that not only I know but know me as well. Then we have our mutual friends who are people that we both knew before we got together and were friends with. One of the people on this list is a writer by the name of Neil Gaiman.



I first met Neil when he was doing his first tour for Sandman. He came and signed at Whirligig Comics in New Haven. I had been working there for a while but it was all under the table because as a YSD student I was not allowed to have any jobs outside the Drama School. It was cool because I got paid in product rather than cash and I know that the PTB knew I was there a lot and just turned a blind eye to it. Anyway I remember that meeting because of some extenuating circumstances and Neil remember being at the store due to those but I didn’t make much of an impression which is a good thing considering that most people are remembered for bad behavior under those circumstances.

Fast forward about 2 or 3 years I think, I admit that my time line is a bit sketchy between the end of Drama School and moving to New York because I managed to cram a lifetime of adventures in about a 7 year period. I had started to build puppets again and Peter Hart helped me with some of my design problems.

I had been asked by the head of DragonCon to take over the tech department as a stop gap measure since they had lost their guy to a lucrative job in Alaska. One of the guest of honor was Neil Gaiman which was funny to me since I had been making a Morpheus puppet based on the character in Sandman. I showed the puppet the Jill Thompson who had been drawing Sandman as the time and she asked me if I had shown it to Neil. I told her that I had been unable to because of my schedule. She told me that I HAD to show it to Neil. So we arranged a time for her to introduce the puppet and me to Neil. I arrived a little late as the crowd was settling into the conference room. I went to the side door and had the puppet look in. Neil’s head snapped around and said “Oh My” and his face broke into a big grin. He had me come into the panel room and show everyone what he was so please to see. We arranged for a time to talk later because he wanted a picture of the puppet and him.

He was signing and finishing up an interview when I arrived. He motioned for me to sit down next to him at the table and he signed and we discussed puppets and the like. After the last signature, he had a friend take some photos all the time telling me how much he loved the puppet. I said, “Well Neil, if you really like it I could always just make you one of your very own.” I found myself in a bear hug protecting the puppet and Neil saying “Thank you.” He then told me about a project that he and Dave McKean were working about Mr. Punch. I told him about all the Punch puppets we had in the collection at the Center for Puppetry Arts. He asked if I could take pictures of them for Dave. I said yes and we exchanged various addresses and phone numbers so I could get the photos and the puppets to Dave and him.

I went back to the Center and talked to the head of the museum and received permission to photograph the Punch puppets including a number of rare ones which were not in the main collection. I sent the photos off to Dave and a Morphie Puppet off to Neil.

Fast forward to 1994 and Dave and Neil were doing a tour for The Tragic Comedy or Comic Tragedy of Mr. Punch and Oxford Comics had scored one of the signings. The owner told me to take care of Neil and Dave while they were in town which is how I went to see Pulp Fiction with them along with some other adventures as well.

If you look at the acknowledgements page of the book there is the following Thank you to Kathleen O’Shea and the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts. which made me pleased as Punch. Neil, Dave, and I talked about the book and how it was put together. Dave let me play with Mr. Punch and the baby which he had brought with them. And Neil told me that I had given him an insight into puppetry that had rattled around in his head for the longest time. He had me give him the book and he opened it to page about half way through the book and read to me I slide the puppet onto my left hand and it came to life. I’m not talking about anything fantastical here. You can try it yourself-find a hand puppet. Slide it on your arm. Flex your hand. Move your fingers. And, somehow, in the cold space between one moment and the next. The puppet becomes alive. (From Neil Gamain’s and Dave McKean’s “The Tragic Comedy or Comic Tragedy of Mr. Punch” copyright 1994 Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean)

That is the true magic of puppetry. In one touch the puppet goes from a lump of material to a living object. And I love creating that magic. It is as much part of me as breathing. It just makes sense to me more than many things in this crazy world. Puppetry has made me some spiffy friends over the years and given me common ground with some of my personal idols I have met over the years who are puppeteers as well. Some day I’ll tell y’all the story of how I dumbstruck Jim Henson at a convention and how he sought me out afterwards to ask me a question.



This was my entry for this weeks LJ Idol. If you liked it, I hope you will vote for me in the poll which will go up this weekend.