University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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Pt rr ni HUGH m I unc W :ur tits wrt: llllu' llb I 5. , I Y: , I I ml .l HUM l Qi! Lnfe-lang dream becomes reality for one pnppeteer: Student gets chance t0 learn from Sesame Street crew Althcjugh most kids Change their minds about the Sesame Street workshop last month in New York their future careers, Lott never wavered from his original Cny oy Maftin Robinson, Wno Play s Snnfneupagus notion of Someday becoming a puppeteer himself on Sesame Street. Lott met Robinson two years ago The Lawrence freshmen Said he get Serious at a convention in Connecticut where he played a about the idea in junior high, but friends and family Character in one Of Robinsons Plays- said that he was resolute from the start. Blake Af tne Workshop, Lon send he and tne Ofhef Thames, Lawrence freshman, has known Lott since onppeteers exannneo tne seams, eonsnnenon and sixth-grade. He said Lott had been making puppets movement Ofthe tfancyt' Puppets OH Sesame and putting ep Shows ever Since hers known him' He Street, trying to find ways to replicate the construction. looks at things and sees how he can turn them into He Was one of 5o people who attended' puppetsf' Thames said, citing broken umbrellas and Lon send he enjoyed perfomnng tne most' fumiture pieces as examples. He started his own company, Squiggle Puppet Lows mem Said he used to pepfepp for her with Productions, as a high school freshman and does Stuffed animals at the feet of her bed. -tHe would shows for churches, libraries and schools. He also pop up and do lime Shows aa She Said. made the two main characters and many of the Lett remembers Cutting up his Stuffed animals backup characters for a television show called and using Sponges Seeks and paper to make l'Lenny and Shirl, which a station in Los Angeles puppets as a Child' Lett has built elese to 70 puppets is trying to cast voices for. Lott pays for his supplies using a Variety of materials, including poly-foam, using the money he makes from his puppets and shows. Styrofoam, felt, fur, pool noodles, toddler's clothing, Duong tne snows, he Sits OH 3 Toning stool bath towels and a lot of hot glue.Lott said when he and moves back and fonn oenind a box stage he would complete a puppet he would immediately find eonsneneteo using PVC PiPeS' perfornnng every Ways to make it better evep after he had Spent up to character himself. Lott said he used basic structure several hundred hours and several hundred dollars points and jokes to Control the Plot, out the fest was Creating it. 1lT1pI'OV1Sf:lt1OIl. Most of his puppets are hand puppets, but Lett Much of what he makes the puppets do or say has also experimented with rod puppets, Shadow is dictated by what he can pick up and how he can puppets and marienettesi They new HH Storage move around at that point in the show. He controls containers and line shelves along the walls in a rented all tne puppets and does tnen Voices, but send n was room at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries building. difficult having 3 onennan snow' Hoomenmes I get Lott Said each of the puppets had its Own confused, he said. S'I'll do a troll voice for a little personality, like Jazz Monkey, who wears a sapphire gin and nave to talk my Way tnrongn nf Sequined gown and has plump pink lips. She up After a show, he invites his audience behind the Syncs to the Seng fcYeS We Have NO Bapapasaa in stage to see how he operates. By doing this. Lott said one of Lott's shows. Lott has attended national and he hoped to Create more interest from PCOPIR in tne regional conventions in Oklahoma, Connecticut, dying an fonn of Pnppeteenng' Minnesota and Missouri. He was invited to attend ,z September 2006 The J ayhawker '06 - '07 Yearbook Page 009

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SESAME STREET Puppefewf Huis SPCHCCI' Lott, Lawrence freshman, was invited in August to attend a Sesame Street workshop on puppeteering and puppet-making. This is a partial fulfillment of a childhood dream, because even in first grade, he had written a paper describing his wish to be Jim Henson. As a child, he had created shows at his house using stuffed animals, and has learned to build a variety of hand puppets using poly-foam, Styrofoam, felt, fur, pool noodles, toddler's clothing, bath towels and a lot of hot glue. He has also experimented with rod puppets, shadow puppets, and marionettes. the Big Tzme Lott was invited to attend this workshop by Martin Robinson, who met him at a convention in Connecticut where Lott played a character in one of Robinson's plays. Robinson plays Snufileupagus on Sesame Street. At the workshop, Lott was invited to examine the construction of the fancy puppets that people see on Sesame Street. Lott owns a company, Squiggle Puppet Productions, which has developed a children's show for a Los Angeles television station. The production company's income provides the funds for his puppet supplies. 5, 35 UDK 9!l9 Spencer Lotfs mom still has the paper he wrote in first Slade lhdl l'C2lClS. 'lWhen l grow up. I want to be Jim Henson. lfftff lilo Lew Q iz' 105 9: in fel lil mf 13 .Hifi x.-fJ 7 'fu .f , 1,41 fav' IQLW: mfg, ll - Tj DQ: 11742 ,.,.-.Jw '-...,a Qlnl Emi ,,,, . J, tuitlltllt lmlllt la Eiuela xollmml Iiitomili html Ftigi lluoll Blunt WMI X Timm lon nj imma. Kim Env Wliihuh, , uk: iflflogk 151111 , . x lk NNQ3 O 6 O7 Yearbook Se , . ,

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