The critic is raving!

One of the things I love about Chicago is that even if you are doing a puppet show on wednesday nights, you can still get press to review you.  

You can even get something like this, and make the Recommended list, from non other than the Chicago Reader: 

Two enchantingly primitive stories get adroit, visually rich stagings in Lacy Katherine Campbell’s silent puppet show. Literally wooden characters—a teacher and her mysteriously gifted student—mime reading the tales as projections illustrate them, picture-book-style. Artists Larissa Zageris and Tracy Otwell created the particular narratives offered here, about brave children facing clear yet difficult sacrifices. But it’s not hard to imagine others getting swapped into the framework for future editions. Here’s hoping that happens. Campbell’s tender, probing voice makes this a terrific show for children—or anyone with a functional sense of wonder. —Keith Griffith

I like advice.

And here is some really really GOOD advice.  She wrote it about comedy, but I would say this applies to any creative pursuit. 

sarabenincasa:

I got a letter from a guy who is just starting out in the comedy world. And I don’t know much, but I know a few things. He wanted some advice, so I wrote him back. And then I figured I would just put this up for anybody who wants to read it.

So. You graduated from school with a degree in…

I think we can use the express lane! Score! Puppets with protective garbage bags over their lovely new costumes get their heads glued on with contact cement. Ps, I strongly recommend you get a shopping cart for your theater. They are mad handy.
Zoom

I think we can use the express lane! Score!

Puppets with protective garbage bags over their lovely new costumes get their heads glued on with contact cement.

Ps, I strongly recommend you get a shopping cart for your theater. They are mad handy.

In Story 2, the gods ask the people to burn (sacrifice to them) what they love most. This has been a biiiiiiiiiiittttchhh to explain without words because it’s so abstract: what you love most? sacrifice? 

What we’re using is that the gods, angry up in the heavens, reach down to the earth and start a fire.  They make an empty heart appear in the fire so that the people will have to think of what they love to fill that hole. But how can you tell it’s empty? 

The problem is that “empty,” when drawn, just looks either solid black or solid white … none of it looks like there is actual negative space. 

here’s an attempt to create that…  The performance of it is sloppy (the transparency shouldn’t move like that, probably. But I mostly wanted to see if the effect I had in mind would read AND if it would look magical. 

To Tumblr, Love Pixel Union