Hello, I use a couple of non vent puppets in my show and I'm just trying to get better ideas how you introduce my puppet, do you make yours "magically " appear, introduce it by name,etc. Thanks for your help

Spellbinder's "Vanishing Hand-Puppet House" from The Wizards' Journal #19, originally started as a way to vanish a hand puppet at the end of an act, but it has also been used to make the puppet appear at the beginning of an act. The house gets put together, piece by piece, and then the puppet waves out the window, or sticks his head out (seen by the kids, but not the puppeteer!) until you finally see it and convince the puppet to come out of the house to begin the routine.

I usually just say something like: “Now it’s time to introduce you to my friend, Dax. Would you like to meet him?

Kids will yell, “Yes!” Then, depending on the particular puppet’s character, I will milk that situation a little bit. For example:

“I’m not sure I should bring him out, because he’s been a bad boy. Are you sure you want to meet him?”

“Kids will yell “Yes!”

“He really misbehaves! Are you SURE you want to meet him?”

Kids yell “Yes!” even louder.

“All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you …”

(Fetch puppet). “Here he is! Everybody say, “Hi Dax!”

Kids yell “Hi Dax” … and so on.

You should always mention that it is a Puppet before bringing it out (unless it would spoil a production).

Otherwise you will get at least one (or more) Kids telling you that: it is not real/it is a Puppet, as though they saw through a trick. If you say it is a Puppet this puts it all to rest.

-Mary Mowder

I prefer waiting for the kid to yell "It's a puppet!" Then I cover the puppet's ears and say "Shhh! YOU know he's a puppet, and I know he's a puppet, but HE doesn't know he's a puppet! Let's keep it that way!" Change pronouns according to puppet's identified gender.

Thanks for the great advice, just ordered the ...Vanishing Hand-Puppet House....and will see how it goes

Piperdod: Contact Spellbinder if you need help in figuring out how to reverse the effect and make the puppet appear in the house after it is assembled in plain sight. It should be obvious, but he has some tricks to make it easier.

It helps to remember that The Magic Nook is just like a small time brick and mortar shop in that you can always contact Spellbinder or me to ask questions before you buy stuff, or ask questions and get help after you bought stuff and are in the process of making the Do-It-Yourself projects. We can also put you in touch with Qua-Fiki, Jolyon Jenkins, Magicbob, Chris Dunn or any of our authors if you have questions about their e-Books as well.

Received the file from the nook, for me it seems a bit too bulky to carry around, but plans, etc were good

Try making a proto-type from cardboard, but make it half size, or even quarter size. I don't know anything about the size of the puppet you are using, but the house should appear too small to hold the puppet, so that it seems like a giant next to the house. Remember, puppets don't mind being squished down small and crammed into tiny spaces. You should see what I do with my Poppets (Wizards' Journal #33).