Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian Anderson.
Hi Christian, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Okay, here goes… Ever since I was little, I have always been fascinated with puppets and how they work. Growing up, I didn’t have a clear path into puppetry but was surrounded by theatre folks, so I pursued that. I started doing community theatre and some regional theatre and then got into the 1st National Tour of RENT, then had a stint in the Broadway company. I did a tour of The Full Monty the musical and eventually found myself taking over the role of Nicky/Trekkie in Avenue Q from the original guy, Rick Lyon. It was then that I decided that puppetry and puppet building was going to be my life from that point forward. I was put in the show by Peter Linz (who now plays Ernie on Sesame Street) and was partnered with Jennifer Barnhart (who now plays Zoe on Sesame Street) for the three years I was in the show. I also picked up a lot of tricks of the trade from several of the puppet wranglers who worked backstage in the show. From there, I began doing my own research online, buying patterns, and learning how to make my own puppets. I moved back to LA and eventually bid on a puppet-making job with a more accomplished friend of mine named Derek Lux (of DLUX Puppets in Las Vegas). We got the job of building the puppet package for 3D Theatrical’s production of Shrek the Musical and won an Ovation Honor for our work. TJ Dawson, who runs 3D Theatricals recommended me to a casting director friend of his who happened to be looking for puppet acts for America’s Got Talent. I got on the show with my puppet (who was the actual contestant) Ira on AGT’s season 10. We made it to two live shows at Radio City Music Hall before we got voted off the show. At this point, I was starting to make friends in the puppet community in LA, namely Victor Yerrid who really jump-started my career as a puppeteer by hiring me for Season 5 of Crank Yankers. I have since worked on several shows, like Showtime’s Kidding with Jim Carrey, A Big Mouth Christmas Special, and Robert Smigel’s Let’s Be Real on Fox. I’m currently working on a little project for the Jim Henson company and developing my own content as well as taking commissions building puppets for other people out of my garage.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I decided to actually become a puppeteer a little later in my life. I had another career but decided to make the switch which means that I didn’t have a ton of experience being a puppeteer so I had to start from scratch. T.V. puppetry requires you to watch your performance in real-time and the video monitors you’re looking at are reversed so that when you move the puppet in real space, it’s going the opposite direction on your monitor. That takes a while to get used to. So, it was a little hard getting started, but I was very determined. Also, I decided to build too and that requires a whole other skill set that I had to learn (and am still constantly learning), so that took time and a LOT of mistakes, not to mention the investment in tools and materials. Tough challenges, but thoroughly worth it. I love my job!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I build puppets both big and small for stage, tv, film, YouTube, toy chests, whatever. I’ve had the pleasure of building a 35′ Dragon puppet (with my friend Derek) who’s wings unfolded and flapped and who took four puppeteers to operate. A bunch of carved foam vegetables, some with little mouth mechanisms for Mr. Clown Productions on YouTube for kids, check it out. Most recently a walk-around puppet of Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas for a client and many other kinds of puppets. Hand puppets, tabletop puppets, marionettes. I’ll try anything. Puppet props and sets too!
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Building puppets is something you can do alone a lot of the time (though building with others is educational and fun), so the lessons I think I’ve learned aside from mixing super glue and baking soda to make a super-strong “plastic” bond (don’t breathe in the fumes) and other cool tricks are about managing my time, making sure I meet deadlines. To think ahead in terms of materials and steps in the process. Things like that. Every job is different and it important to try to figure those things out I’ve found.
Puppeteering is something that’s best done with other people and that could mean a few puppeteers bringing to life an equal amount of puppets or a few puppeteers bringing to life one single puppet which takes a lot of communication and awareness. So, I would say I’ve learned how to listen and be aware of what the other puppeteers are doing, to be professional yet fun to work with. There’s a lot of joy to be had as a puppeteer. It’s hard work, but to me, it’s some of the best time at work or play that I’ve ever had. I consider myself very lucky and I’ve also learned not to take that for granted.
Lastly, I think the most important lesson I’ve learned is to allow yourself to follow your dreams. It can be really scary and intimidating, but it’s just so worth it in the end no matter the outcome. Even if you don’t reach your highest desired high, I guarantee you won’t regret giving it a go.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: pandersonium.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo6z8xV_C8Ikb4auRlv0cug/featured
Image Credits
Terren Odo
Christian Anderson
Tom Caltobiano
Patricio Wolovitch
