My first professional puppetry job was with Famous PEOPLE Players (FPP) back in the mid-to-late `90s. A big part of their act has always been using Bunraku-style black light puppetry to pay homage to famous artists (hence the name “Famous PEOPLE Players”) and they do puppets of celebrities just about as well as anyone out there. One of the most difficult celebrity puppets in their repertoire to perform was Michael Jackson.
Sadly, there isn’t any video of FPP’s Michael Jackson puppet to watch online, but there are no shortage of other puppeteers who have tried to emulate the King of Pop in puppet form. Here are a few examples of Michael Jackson puppets, some better than others:
Although I like different things about each one of these performances, none of them are quite as good as FPP’s Michael Jackson in my opinion (I do have a bit of a basis though). If you happen to be in or near Toronto this summer Famous PEOPLE Players is featuring their Michael Jackson act in their current show Rock `N’ Roll Heaven, which runs through August. For more details visit www.fpp.org.