Red Rabbit does a puppet show with marionettes

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The show will be coming to an end shortly but first we have to watch Red Rabbit. Rancid tells him to enjoy himself!

One of the judges asks him to introduce himself by giving his name and where he lives.

“My name is Red Rabbit and I am 29 years old. I used to live in Lollipop Meadows and then Candy Town Farms but now I live in the Candy Kingdom.” 

“And what are you going to do for us today,” the judge asks. 

“I am going to demonstrate how to use a marionette puppet,” Red Rabbit says. “I found some great tricks on how to move a marionette and I think everyone will like it.” 

‘Working a Marionette is a lot easier than you might think, but the basic premise is still the old "practice, practice, practice"... This article will show you a few beginner methods for your puppets, but there are many different movements to create a lifelike and entertaining performance for you to enjoy working out for yourself. 

Take your puppet out of the box. To do so, follow these steps (assuming you put him away using the method below):

Carefully, drag him out by the wooden bar (the 'control') - never by his feet! Hold the control in two hands and twist it round and round to decrease the amount of spin and lower the puppet until all the strings are off the control. Open the control to form a cross.

Stand above the marionette in a comfortable position. Do not stand precariously as the excitement of moving the puppet can unbalance you. Align the marionette so that the strings are not tangled together. If you are right-handed, hold the back bar of the of the control in your right hand, gripping with forefinger and thumb.  Stand him on the ground.

Movements

Bowing. Hold the back string in your left hand and lower the control. Tilting the front end of the control up at the same time the marionette will raise his arms.

Moving the hands. Pull the left front string up (raises left hand) or down (raises right hand) to move the hands. Pulling the left string up and out simultaneously will lift both hands.

Moving the legs. These work in the same way as the hands, but with the string that is attached to the legs.

Walking. Pull the leg string up and down so that the feet make a walking motion, whilst moving the marionette forward will create a simple movement to this effect.

Dancing. Dancing is great fun with a puppet, and can be done in multiple ways. One such way is to make a walking movement again, but instead of moving the control forwards, bounce it up and down. Once you have mastered this, hold the right hand and left leg string together and move them up and down, up and down. To create the best effect, tip the control from side to side as he dances to make his head tilt in time with the music.’ (Info here) 

The judges have never seen a marionette puppet show before. Red Rabbit really knows his stuff. 

“Thanks everyone,” says Red Rabbit as he walks off the stage. 

Let’s continue here - The show comes to an end

Start at the beginning – Welcome to the Friends’ Got Talent show!

If you haven’t read the first part of this 2-part story you can read it here – Friends’ Got Talent