Michael Grassia's Page

Gender

Punch

Location

Westchester, New York

Relationship to Puppetry

Puppeteer, builder and fan

What First Got Me Interested in Puppetry

Loved puppets since childhood. I guess my earliest memories are of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers.

My Puppetry (or Puppet) Hero

My puppetry heroes are vast. I respect and am a fan of anyone who builds and/or performs puppets. Since I grew up on Mister Rogers and Sesame Street, Jim Henson and Fred Rogers are two of my puppetry heroes. My old animation instructor and shadow puppeteer Donald Heller who inspired me to continue to learn puppetry throughtout college. Steven Widerman who is a great guy and someone I interned with. He helped me understand puppetry as a business. Also, Fred Greenspan who is another great guy and is always kind enough to answer my Punch and Judy questions.

If I Were a Puppet, I'd Be...

controled by someone else.

More About Me:

I am a storyteller who works with comics and puppetry. Puppetry was always a hobby of mine since childhood. I've always wanted to do puppetry and cartooning professionally for years. It wasnt until I was asked to perform (in 2003) for a group of special needs students at one of my teaching jobs that I realized how much I loved puppetry. I built a somewhat crude puppet and show(the show wasnt crude) in a couple of months and told a couple of fables. I did two shows and the audience loved it.

In 2005, I interned with The Puppet Company while studying for my masters. Though I didnt do any performing in front of an audience, I did learn how to perform many different types of puppets as well as how to build them through repair work. I think the most important thing I learned there was what went in to preparing the show. From booking, to advertising, to directing, and running rehersals.

Pretty much all my shows I am working on are based on comic ideas I've had which I think would work better as a performance piece.

When I am not working on my puppets or comics, I work as a college professor teaching traditional and computer art.

My Company/Troupe/Group

Michael Grassia Studios

Website

http://www.michaelgrassia.com

2nd Website

http://www.myspace.com/michaelgrassia