After performing in Hervey Bay at the Teddy Bear’s Picnic – a community family fun day organised by Condy Park Kindergarten, we set off on our journey to our next destination – Boyne Valley.
We travelled on unsealed dirt roads to our accommodation in Ubobo last night, then headed to Nagoorin State School first thing this morning.
We found Boyne Valley to be very peaceful. Hot during the day and quite chilly at night and in the early morning. According to the video above, Troggg describes the weather as ‘crisp’.
Nagoorin State School was just lovely! The teachers and principal Nicki (she lives at the school) were very nice. And the students were amazing as well! The whole school consists of just ten students between Prep and Grade 3. For our puppet show today we had some visiting students join us as well from a neighbouring school and a kindergarten.
This video of Flossy at Nagoorin State School talking with us about Boyne Valley just before our puppet show went live on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LarrikinPuppets/videos/2148957252093205/
It worked out well that the school found us because we are booked to perform a week of puppet shows in the Banana Shire (Biloela, Baralaba, Moura and Taroom), and Boyne Valley was on the way. Country schools like this rarely get to see live performances, so our puppet show was very well received today. Everybody had a great time!
Says Nagoorin State School in a Facebook post: “This morning we had a visit from Larrikin Puppets. It was so much fun and very entertaining. We even had willing volunteers that helped out with the dance number. Then we had volunteers to be right-hand puppeteers (definitely adding this skill to my resume). There was lots of singing, dancing and jokes. The students have lots of ideas for their puppet shows now. I can’t wait to see them ?. Thanks so much to our P&C for providing this great educational experience.”
Author: Brett Hansen
New Puppet Van | Larrikin Puppets
Troggg has a brand new puppet van!
Eventually we’ll have it wrapped in our colourful Larrikin Puppets branding and artwork.
We’ve been travelling more than ever for puppet shows, story time performances and puppetry workshops throughout South East Queensland, Central Queensland and beyond, so it was finally time to upgrade from the hatchback!
If you’re planning an event, we’d love to bring the fun to you. We perform throughout Queensland and interstate. Ask us about our travel options and pricing.
Happy World Puppetry Day and Harmony Day
Happy World Puppetry Day and Happy Harmony Day!
Troggg and Flossy are sending a big Happy World Puppetry Day and Happy Harmony Day from the second stop on our 2018 Regional Queensland Tour…
📍 Maryborough, Queensland
Our 2018 Queensland tour took us to communities across the state, sharing puppetry, laughter and plenty of memorable moments with families along the way. Maryborough was our second destination, and it was the perfect place for Troggg and Flossy to celebrate these two special occasions.
Happy World Puppetry Day!
Happy Harmony Day!
🎭 🌏 💛
Tags:
Troggg, Flossy, Larrikin Puppets, Puppetry, Puppet Show, Queensland, Australia, Regional Tour 2018, World Puppetry Day, Harmony Day, Maryborough
Puppet People and Queensland Theatre of Puppetry
This week, we took the time to visit Puppet People: A Snapshot of Australian Puppetry – an exhibit at the Tony Gould Gallery in the Cremorne Theatre, QPAC. We saw puppets by Peter Scriven (Marionette Theatre of Australia), David Hamilton, Phillip Edmiston (The Queensland Marionette Theatre), Bill & Barbara Turnbull (Bilbar Puppet Theatre), Peter Wilson (Handspan Theatre), Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, David Morton & Tim Sharp (Dead Puppet Society). It was very interesting to learn about all of these great performers who paved the way in Australia for current puppeteers on the scene like us here at Larrikin Puppets.
We also visited the Queensland Theatre of Puppetry (QTOP) on the Gold Coast, and enjoyed a wonderful puppet show performed by kids. After the show we met with puppeteer Phil Bell (of Timbarra Productions) who runs the events there on the school holidays.
The Queensland Theatre of Puppetry events are held in the Gerda Pinter Pavilion at MacIntosh Island Park in Surfers Paradise. This venue is a dedicated puppet theatre, and is fully equipped with great lighting, sound, curtains, seating, and everything that makes a puppet show look the best it can be. Cost of entry was $6 cash at the door, and all of that money is donated to charity.
2017 Puppet Highlights – Larrikin Puppets
In 2017 Larrikin Puppets turned 5 years old. And what great adventures we had this year! Here are all of our puppet highlights from each month of 2017.
January
– Three final puppet shows at Woodford Folk Festival, after a full week of performances there.
February
– Meeting with puppeteer Judy Harris of The Puppet Hut in Tiaro.
– Puppetry workshop for the staff of Happy Feet Fitness.
– Subject of a documentary called “The Puppeteer” by film maker Gabor Kukucska.
March
– Puppet show at Taigum Childcare Centre who later posted a heartfelt reflection about the visit on Facebook with several photos.
– Three after-school drama class puppetry workshops at Citipointe Christian College.
April
– Puppet show at Bunnings Morayfield Easter Family Night.
– Adult puppet show at “Visionary Space” arts event.
– VIP rooftop puppet show at QPAC for the touring cast and company of Julie Andrews’ “My Fair Lady”.
May
– Debut performance of the “Food Allergies” puppet show at Community Kids Coomera.
– Puppet show at the Sunshine Coast Private Hospital’s Teddy Bear Fair.
– Troggg as puppet MC all day at The Hills Carnivale (plus a full puppet show).
– Puppetry work in the Tia Gostelow “That’s What You Get” Music Video by Why Not? Films.
– Meeting with puppeteer Mark Rengel of The Mark Rengel Puppet Theatre Company.
June
– Attended the What’s On 4 Kids Awards (with Troggg and Flossy) as nominees in Best Party Entertainment category.
– Debut performance of the “Autism Acceptance” puppet show at Maroochydore State School that made front page newspaper headlines.
– Troggg’s second appearance on the “Juiced TV” show.
– Adult puppet show at “Politically Incorrect” costume party.
– Five puppet shows over two days at the Woodford Show.
– Public puppetry workshop at the Bribie Island Community Art Centre’s Vibe Markets.
– School holiday puppet shows in five libraries, including one at the Logan Hyperdome Library attended by an audience of 320 people.
July
– Two puppet shows and two puppetry workshops at The Mary Poppins Festival in Maryborough.
– Puppetry workshop at Centacare St Francis Xavier OSHC in Goodna, under observation by staff from the Youth Touring program (formerly known as Queensland Arts Council).
August
– Two puppet shows for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day in Kingston and Woodridge.
September
– Puppet shows at Kawana Waters Hotel.
– Troggg as puppet MC at the Annual General Meeting of disability organisation R.O.P.E.
October
– Puppet show at South Bank Parklands 25 Year Celebration.
– Meeting with puppeteer Dennis Murphy of Murphy’s Puppets from Sydney (performing at an event in Brisbane).
– Our two-day “Island Puppetry Workshop” at Island Dance, Bribie Island where we had a lovely class of attendees from Sydney, Regional NSW, Melbourne, Mackay, Brisbane and Redcliffe.
– Puppetry training and consultancy for the cast of Avenue Q at Sunnybank Theatre Group.
November
– Puppetry work in the Jonathan M. Shiff production of children’s fantasy-drama TV series, “The Bureau of Magical Things”.
– The first two performances of a lifetime of annual November puppet show bookings at Nurseryland Childcare Centres, replacing the legendary Bernie & Eileen Ehmer’s Marionettes & Puppets after their 47 year run.
– Big puppet show for Santa’s Arrival at Station Square Shopping Centre in Maryborough.
December
– Troggg as puppet co-MC at Moorooka Christmas Carnivale.
– Two big puppet shows at the Bundaberg Pageant of Lights.
– Puppet show at Caboolture Christmas Carols.
Christmas 2017 with Larrikin Puppets
Elissa and I have had another very busy period in the lead up to Christmas, with puppet shows in childcare centres, libraries, staff Christmas parties, and a series of larger festival events and a shopping centre. This has included a couple of memorable shows in Central Queensland.
At Station Square Shopping Centre in Maryborough, we presented our big Christmas puppet show for Santa’s Arrival. A couple of hundred families flocked to see and meet the puppets and of course Santa Claus. Our newest character Marina, who is Troggg’s little sister (pictured left with Frazzamatazz and Santa) made her stage debut, much to the delight of audience members young and old. Marina was a hit!
Above: The big audience enjoying the puppet show. Below: How our puppet stage looked set up next to Santa’s magical Christmas village between Sanity and Big W at Station Square Shopping Centre, Maryborough. 
We then took the puppets up to Bundaberg to perform two puppet shows on the main stage at the 2017 Pageant of Lights. What a magical event that was! Our first puppet show was a 10 minute preview show before the official lighting of the Christmas tree, and the magnificent street parade featuring 70 colourful floats.
Straight after the parade, the wide-eyed children and their festively jolly families gathered again at the main stage to enjoy our full-length Christmas extravaganza puppet show, which featured Troggg and Marina, Frizzby and Flossy, the crazy antics of Frazzamatazz and the always hilarious Freerange the Chicken and Cheesecake. For the big finale number, we chose volunteers from the audience to come up and perform some backup singer/dancer puppets. It was a spectacular night for everyone, and we received some very positive feedback afterwards from families and event staff.
Closer to home, we performed a shorter version of our Christmas puppet show as part of the entertainment line-up at the Caboolture Christmas Carols, again choosing audience volunteers for the finale and receiving some lovely feedback afterwards.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bcyt2SMFR5p/?tagged=visitmoretonbayregion
Troggg also joined Thomas Gilliland to co-MC the Moorooka Christmas Carnivale (Another Hipster Christmas). The 2016 event was sadly interrupted by a vicious and cyclonic storm, causing quite a bit of anxiety for organisers at the 2017 event. We were all very thankful that this year’s event played out to the end of the fireworks display.
A very busy and rewarding Christmas period for Larrikin Puppets this year! Merry Christmas, everyone!
From Brett Hansen – Principal Puppeteer at Larrikin Puppets.
https://www.facebook.com/LarrikinPuppets/videos/1014055922066396/
https://www.facebook.com/LarrikinPuppets/videos/1014049992066989/
https://www.facebook.com/LarrikinPuppets/videos/1014044935400828/
Cakes Featuring Troggg and his Larrikin Puppets Friends
We perform puppetry at a lot of events with cakes. As you can imagine, birthday cakes are the main attraction at the birthday parties we visit. But we see cakes at Christmas functions, special events where Troggg is the puppet MC, childcare centre celebrations and various other occasions.
Whenever Troggg or one of his puppet friends has made it onto a cake, it’s always very amazing to us. We’re not a corporate empire like Disney. Larrikin Puppets is a small business, and people have made cakes featuring our characters! How cool!
Here are four occasions where this has happened:
1. Troggg cake (2017). Melanie’s 3rd birthday party in Kallangur. Melanie’s mum Andrea has a friend called Katie who made this very detailed cake of Troggg’s face! Look at the fur and hair! Troggg loves cakes! This one was like he was looking into a mirror! 
2. Troggg cake (2014). Injune Under 8’s Day. They don’t get much in the way of puppet shows in the outback town of Injune (an hour out of Roma). They made a Troggg cake to celebrate! It’s not often you travel long distances to find that they’ve made cakes with your characters on them! There he is waving at us! This was a wonderful surprise. 
3. Monster puppet cupcakes (2014). Brett’s wife Elissa made these cute little cakes for their first Valentine’s Day together. They’d only been dating for a few months at the time. The two middle faces are our friends Troggg and Flossy.
4. Monster puppet cake (2012). Brett’s friend Kate Rohde from ImproMafia is a bit of an expert at making cakes. She enters cakes into the Ekka cake contest every year! Back in 2012, Kate made this cake featuring Frizzby and the other (unnamed) blue monster. Brett played piano at the weekly ImproMafia comedy shows, and this cake was in celebration of Brett’s acceptance into the cast of ‘Avenue Q’ that year.
So there you have it. It’s only happened four times, but they were four very heartwarming times. Perhaps you’d like to consider making cakes of Troggg and the gang. We’d like to see a Flossy cake or a Frazzamatazzz cake! Go on! Here they are below for reference!
Frazzamatazz in Townsville, Airlie Beach and Springbrook
Brett and Elissa recently took two weeks off for a “reef to rainforest” holiday.
They visited family up in Townsville before exploring the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef (including snorkelling at Hook Island, swimming at Whitehaven Beach and cocktails on Hamilton Island).
Then they went down south to the Gold Coast hinterland, into the mountains of Springbrook for a relaxing week at “The Mouses House” rainforest retreat.
This was supposed to be a break from puppetry. But that didn’t stop Frazzamatazz from stowing away in Brett and Elissa’s luggage and tagging along.
Here he is at The Strand in Townsville:
And then he came up to the lookout on Castle Hill to see Townsville from above:
Frazzamatazz had a great time at Sunday lunch with Elissa’s extended Townsville family.
Just when Brett and Elissa thought they had a moment to themselves for the drive from Townsville to Airlie Beach, Frazzamatazz made another appearance at Home Hill, where he gave a special shout out to Elissa’s mother:
Not many people know this, but Frazzamatazz is very fond of watermelons. So you can imagine how delighted he was to find a gigantic slice of watermelon at a roadside fruit stand in Bowen. Of course he climbed inside:
In Airlie Beach, Frazzamatazz made friends with some of the cruise ship passengers who were stopping by for the day:
In Springbrook, Frazz made friends with a scrub turkey in the rainforest…
… who then ran away.
All up it was a lovely holiday for Brett and Elissa. And you know what? Why take a break from puppets? Turns out Frazzamatazz was actually great company during the break.
Upon their return, they performed a puppet show at the Kawana Waters Hotel in Buddina on the Sunshine Coast.
Australian Puppetry Exhibition at QPAC (QLD)
Puppet People: A Snapshot of Australian Puppetry
10 October 2017 – 27 January 2018
Tony Gould Gallery, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane
A wonderful free exhibition celebrating Australian puppetry was held at the
Tony Gould Gallery at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) in Brisbane.
The exhibition featured an impressive collection of puppets from around Australia, including
pieces generously loaned by South Australian puppeteer Keith Preston from
Preston’s Historic Punch & Judy.
Visiting the Exhibition
The Tony Gould Gallery is located on the ground floor at the entrance to the Cremorne Theatre,
facing the Brisbane River and approximately halfway along the riverside of the QPAC building.
The closest parking is the Performing Arts Car Park, with the Grey Street entrance to the
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre also nearby.
During exhibition seasons, the gallery was open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00am to 4:00pm,
with free admission.
About This Post
Information about this exhibition was originally published in the
UNIMA Australia Newsletter in September 2017.
Venue information was sourced from the QPAC website.
Larrikin Puppets is proud to be a member company of UNIMA Australia.
The Mary Poppins Festival in Maryborough
The Magic of Mary Poppins Comes to Maryborough
Brett and Elissa spent the weekend in Maryborough, Queensland, approximately 255 kilometres north of Brisbane on the Fraser Coast.
Maryborough is famous as the birthplace of author P.L. Travers (Helen Lyndon Goff), creator of the beloved Mary Poppins books. Following years of persistence from Walt Disney, her stories were adapted into the classic film that continues to delight generations.
Each year the town celebrates its literary heritage with the Mary Poppins Festival, a wonderful celebration of storytelling, creativity and live performance. In 2017, Larrikin Puppets were invited to present puppet shows and interactive puppetry workshops throughout the festival.
A Day of Puppetry
Our performances and workshops took place throughout Saturday, 1 July 2017, inside the historic Maryborough Excelsior City Band Hall. We were delighted to discover that Troggg had even been drawn in chalk on the sign outside to welcome visitors!
Audiences enjoyed the zany adventures of Troggg, Flossy, Moss, Frizzby, Frazzamatazz, the Cheesecake, Freerange the Chicken and their animal friends, all with a special Mary Poppins twist.
Workshop participants then stepped behind the scenes to learn the basics of Muppet-style puppetry before joining in a Mary Poppins-themed lip-sync and dance routine with the puppets.
Meeting Fellow Puppeteers
One of our lovely workshop participants was puppet builder and performer Alison Crane from Maryborough’s own Aunty Alison’s Puppets.
Troggg Explores the Festival
Troggg had a wonderful time exploring the festival and especially loved the vintage cars that filled the streets throughout the weekend.
Festival Videos
Festival Highlights
