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122 - Behind the Scenes with ventriloquist Terry Fator

Release Date: 08/01/2026

122 - Behind the Scenes with ventriloquist Terry Fator

Under The Puppet

- On Friday, July 21, 2023, I was honored to be asked to host a post-performance question and answer session with ventriloquist Terry Fator at the Puppeteers of America Festival at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. I was able to chat chat with Terry about performing on America’s Got Talent, where his early puppets came from, how much improvisation goes into his act, his singing chops and more. I’m happy to share a recording of that audio with you on this episode of Under The Puppet. Connect with Terry Fator: Website - Instagram - YouTube - ...

121 - Honey Goodenough (Word Play, Sock Monkey Circus)

Under The Puppet

- Honey Goodenough is a puppeteer, clown, educator and magician. She’s traveled the United States and the world with her shows Sock Monkey Circus and Word Play and she’s been featured at the National Puppetry Slam several times. She’s toured with the Frisch Marionettes and worked with past Under The Puppet guest Nick Coppola performing at Macy’s in New York City. Honey has also founded several grants to assist puppeteers and is the creator of Puppet Pandemic, a nationally touring puppet slam funded in part by Heather Hensons Puppet Slam Network. ...

120 - Nicolas Coppola (Puppetworks)

Under The Puppet

- Nicolas Coppola became enchanted by puppetry at an early age. This enchantment lead to a life of building, performing and running puppet companies that has lasted over 70 years. He created shows for The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. and had a long standing job creating shows and performing at Macy*s in New York City. He also created PuppetWorks, a non-profit marionette theater in Park Slope Brooklyn, New York that has entertained families since 1980. I chat with Nicolas Coppola about his amazing career on this episode of Under The Puppet. Plus, hear...

119 - Jim LoGiudice (Far Outpost, The Rocketeer, The Abyss)

Under The Puppet

- Jim LoGiudice began his career making props and models for films such as The Abyss, Con Air, The Rocketeer, and Armageddon. He made the move to puppetry though his church and started developing the characters and the show that would become Far Outpost, which performs weekly at Granite Creek Church in Claremont, California. I talk to Jim LoGiudice about the development of Far Outpost, the building of the puppets on the show, their crazy special effects, and more on this episode of Under The Puppet. One quick note. During my interview with Jim we discuss some of the special...

118 - Bill Barretta & Frank Oz on Judge Boing Boing

Under The Puppet

- In July of 2025, an incredible group of people got together at the Amazon MGM studios in Culver City, California on historic stage 15, to shoot a series of shorts called Judge Boing Boing. I recently sat down with the creative forces behind this project Bill Barretta and Frank Oz to find out how it all came together for this episode of Under The Puppet. Connect with Judge Boing Boing: Instagram - YouTube - TikTok - Discussed on the show: Milton Berle on the Muppets clip - WIlkins and WOntkins - Connect with the Show: Connect with Grant: Art by Parker Jacobs...

117 - Amanda Maddock (Five Nights At Freddy's 1 & 2, Bear In the Big Blue House, LazyTown)

Under The Puppet

- Amanda Maddock is a puppeteer, builder, wrangler, and teacher who has experience working with puppets of all sizes. From the regular puppets of The Book of Pooh, Bear in the Big Blue House, Between the Lions, Sesame Street, and The Muppets to the enormous puppets of Walking with Dinosaurs and How to Train Your Dragon, Amanda’s career has taken her across the country and around the world—including to Iceland to work on LazyTown and to Russia to puppeteer in the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Versed in many styles of puppetry, from tabletop to hand-and-rod to...

116 - Geneviève Flati (AJR's Maybe Man Tour, Fraggle Rock Live, Puppet Up)

Under The Puppet

- Geneviève Flati is a puppeteer, producer, and one of the most driven creative individuals I know. Her passion has led to work as Puppet Director, Puppet Captain, and Puppeteer on several nationwide tours, including a role as puppeteer and puppet director for The Maybe Man Arena Tour by pop band AJR. She’s performed with the Jim Henson Company’s Puppet Up! Uncensored, worked on Earth to Ned, and was the Jim Henson Company’s youngest female puppet captain on the Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock Live Tour. From commercials to web series to live shows, Geneviève has done it...

115 - Rita Peruggi (The Muppets, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Fraggle Rock)

Under The Puppet

- In 1981, Rita Peruggi was hired by The Jim Henson Company as a production assistant on various projects including Rocky Mountain Holiday with John Denver and The Muppets. She then moved on to the role of producer for the company working on many projects such as the Jim Henson Play along Videos, Muppet Vision 3D, Dinosaurs, Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, Earth To Ned and Fraggle Rock Back To The Rock. Outside of the The Jim Henson Company, Rita has served as Producer on Jack’s Big Music Show and Yo Gabba Gabba! and the updated Yo Gabba GabbaLand!. I talk Rita...

114 - Louise Gold (The Muppets, Dark Crystal, Sesame Street)

Under The Puppet

- Louise Gold is puppetry royalty. A trained theatre performer, Louise began her puppetry career working on the second season of The Muppet Show, where she played many characters — including the role of Annie Sue, much to Miss Piggy’s dismay. In addition to continuing her work with The Muppets, she went on to perform in The Dark Crystal, Sesame Street, and the Sesame Street spin-off The Furchester Hotel, where she played the hotel’s proprietor, Funella Furchester. She’s also performed on Spitting Image, The Ghost of Faffner Hall, Dodge’s Pup School, and many, many more...

113 - Stacey Weingarten (The Muppet Show Special, Sesame Street, Rescue Rue)

Under The Puppet

- Stacey Weingarten is a puppeteer, puppet wrangler, director, writer, and producer who got her puppet start studying with John Tartaglia and later went on to work on the show Johnny and the Sprites. Since then, she’s worked with The Muppets and Sesame Street, where she won an Emmy Award for her work on the show’s 50th season. She also has her own theatrical puppetry projects — Rescue Rue and Runaway Rue — that have played Off-Broadwayand at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. I talk to Stacey Weingarten about all these projects and more, including her work on...

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http://www.UnderThePuppet.com -

On Friday, July 21, 2023, I was honored to be asked to host a post-performance question and answer session with ventriloquist Terry Fator at the Puppeteers of America Festival at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. I was able to chat chat with Terry about performing on America’s Got Talent, where his early puppets came from, how much improvisation goes into his act, his singing chops and more. I’m happy to share a recording of that audio with you on this episode of Under The Puppet.

Connect with Terry Fator:
Website - https://terryfator.com
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/terryfator/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@officialterryfator

Discussed on the show:

Puppeteers of America - https://puppeteers.org

National Puppetry Festival - https://puppeteers.org/national-puppetry-festival

Sesame Street - https://sesamestreet.org

Sesame Street Live - https://www.sesamestreetlive.com

America’s Got Talent - https://www.nbc.com/americas-got-talent

The Jim Henson Company - https://www.henson.com

The Muppets - https://muppets.disney.com

Kermit the Frog - https://muppets.disney.com/kermit-the-frog

Puppet Heap - https://www.puppetheap.com

Venthaven Museum - https://venthaven.org