Australian Puppetry Exhibition at QPAC (QLD)

Posted on September 28, 2017July 5, 2026 by Brett Hansen

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

Posted on July 2, 2017July 5, 2026 by Brett Hansen

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.

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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

School Holidays with Larrikin Puppets

Posted on June 21, 2017December 11, 2019 by Brett Hansen

If you’d like to take the kids along to see a puppet show these school holidays, here’s where to find Larrikin Puppets:

Saturday 24 June: The Woodford Show
Woodford Showgrounds
38 Neurum Road, Woodford
Puppet Shows at 9:30am and 11:15am

Sunday 25 June: Vibe Markets
Bribie Island Community Art Centre
191 Sunderland Drive, Banksia Beach
Puppet Show + Mini Puppetry Workshop at 10:00am

Monday 26 June: Burpengary Library
101 Station Road, Burpengary
Puppet Show at 10:00am

Monday 26 June: Deception Bay Library
9 Bayview Terrace, Deception Bay
Puppet Show at 2:30pm

Tuesday 27 June: Woodford Library
1 Elizabeth Street, Woodford
Puppet Show at 10:00am

Tuesday 27 June: Bribie Island Library
1 Welsby Parade, Bongaree
Puppet Show at 2:30pm

Wednesday 28 June: Logan Hyperdome Library
66 Mandew Street, Shailer Park
Puppet Show at 11:00am

Saturday 1 July: Mary Poppins Festival – Day In The Park
Excelsior Band Hall
Macalister St, Maryborough
Puppet Shows at 10:30am and 1:00pm
Puppetry Workshops at 11:30am and 2:00pm

2017 What’s On 4 Kids Awards & Conference

Posted on June 16, 2017December 11, 2019 by Brett Hansen

On Saturday, 10 June 2017, Elissa and I had a lovely time with our children’s entertainment and activity provider industry peers at the 2017 National What’s On 4 Kids Conference and Awards.
The guest speakers at the conference taught us a lot about our industry and all the different ways we can share our services with parents and teachers.
We even got to meet TV stars Tina Harris and Mark Harris from Lah-Lah’s Big Live Band – as seen nationally on ABC Kids, Channel Seven and Nick Jr.
The awards night was a fun gala dinner where we recognised all the entertainers and activity providers around Australia who are doing great things for kids.
We were a finalist in the ‘Best Party Entertainment’ category.
Best Children’s Party Entertainment (Party Planners and Entertainers, Clowns etc) sponsored by Lah Lah’s Big Live Band
Winner – Kids Disco Parties

Happily Ever Laughter Children’s Entertainment
Larrikin Puppets
Strawberry Fundaes Kids Parties
Superstar Parties
SuperSteph’s Super Party Heroes
Unreal Kids Parties

To be a finalist is a big deal in itself! And while other categories all had five finalists, ours had seven! A huge congratulations to the winning finalist Kids Disco Parties. They provide kids around Melbourne with awesome dance parties at schools and birthday events each week!
We brought Troggg and Flossy along to bring lots of smiles and laughter to everybody in attendance at both the conference and the awards, and received a lot of very nice compliments, and posed in a lot of photos and selfies with everybody.
It was a very fun weekend at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane.

Brett 🙂

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVQWupjhcvf/?tagged=whatson4kidsconference
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVPc57LBtDz/?tagged=whatson4kidsconference

Tia Gostelow – “That’s What You Get” puppet music video

Posted on May 30, 2017December 11, 2019 by Brett Hansen

Triple J Unearthed High Indigenous Initiative Winner Tia Gostelow has a brand new single out called, “That’s What You Get”. The song’s music video features puppets, and Larrikin Puppets (Brett Hansen & Elissa Jenkins) performed puppetry in it!
Puppets built by Scott Richards from Maxx Puppets.
Film production company: Why Not? Films.
Directors: Branden Wittchen & Luke Angelo-Roberts.
Producer: Emma Giddins.
Also starring: Ryan Hance.

Check out Tia’s single on Triple J (on rotation), Spotify, iTunes and Apple Music. See www.tiagostelow.com for news and tour dates!

Here’s the official music video for your viewing pleasure:

And a nice blog article by Nastassia Baroni at Music Feeds about the clip: http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/premiere-tia-gostelow-gets-caught-unconventional-love-triangle-thats-get-video/

PREMIERE: Tia Gostelow Gets Caught Up In An Unconventional Love Triangle In ‘That’s What You Get’ Video

2017 Queensland Small Business Week

Posted on May 12, 2017December 11, 2019 by Brett Hansen

Support Larrikin Puppets entry into 2017 Queensland Small Business Week social media competition by liking our video

Larrikin Puppets wants to bring play to workforces with Puppets At Work, our new corporate arm. To help make this happen, please support our entry into the 2017 Queensland Small Business Week social media competition by LIKING our video entry on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The more likes and shares the post gets, the more chance we have to win a $10,000 grant to help us fund and launch the project! Competition ends on May 15, 2017.
The direct link to the video on Facebook (where you can “like” and “share” it) is: https://www.facebook.com/LarrikinPuppets/videos/901302536675069/
If you’re on Twitter, the direct link to “like” and “retweet” is: https://twitter.com/LarrikinPuppets/status/862653090897448960
If you’re on Instagram, the direct link to “like” it there is: https://www.instagram.com/p/BT88ssIhDuC/
Thank you for your support!
Brett and Elissa
Big thanks to Business Queensland!
#QLDsmallbiz #Time2thriveQLD

Larrikin Puppets perform at QPAC for My Fair Lady Cast and Company

Posted on April 28, 2017December 11, 2019 by Brett Hansen

Larrikin Puppets had the great honour and privilege of being chosen as corporate entertainment for the cast and company of My Fair Lady (Opera Australia), directed by Dame Julie Andrews. Our puppet show was held on the rooftop terrace at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) on Wednesday, 26 April 2017. Among the very special members of our audience were Charles Edwards (Downton Abbey), Anna O’Byrne, Reg Livermore, Robyn Nevin, Mark Vincent, Tony Llewellyn-Jones, Deidre Rubenstein, Josh Gates, Joel Parnis and Don Winsor.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTVu-rpFgE7/
The mastermind behind booking Larrikin Puppets to entertain the show’s cast and company was cast member Don Winsor, who thought an adult level puppet show would be a fun surprise for everybody during their farewell BBQ between shows on the production’s final week in Brisbane.
The premise of this specially tailored puppet show had the puppets auditioning for a puppet version of My Fair Lady, with Frizzby serving as host, and Troggg auditioning for the role of Eliza Doolittle (arguing with Flossy about the difference between the Cockney flower girl and animal whisperer Doctor Doolittle). The most memorable moment for the cast was the performance by Freerange the Chicken who they described as “random chicken”.
After the puppet show, Elissa and I wandered around with Troggg and Flossy to meet the various cast and company members and pose for photos and selfies with them. It was an unforgettable afternoon enjoyed by all.

Said Mr. Don Winsor in an email later that night, “GREAT job today. It was just what the doctor ordered and the company can’t stop laughing… particularly about the chicken, for no reason I can point to. Thanks for doing a bang up job!”
Big thanks to My Fair Lady Australia for choosing us, and chookas for the rest of the tour!
Brett Hansen

What’s On 4 Kids 2017 Awards Finalist – Larrikin Puppets

Posted on April 10, 2017December 11, 2019 by Brett Hansen

Previously we wrote a blog post about how Larrikin Puppets was nominated in the national What’s On 4 Kids Awards in the ‘Best Party Entertainment’ category.
Well, thanks to all of your votes, we are now a finalist in that category! Thank you very much, everybody!
What's On 4 Kids Finalist
We’ve answered some interview questions and are looking forward to attending the big What’s On 4 Kids Conference and the Awards Dinner, both being held on Saturday, 10 June at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane.
Larrikin Puppets Deja Voodoo Woodford Troggg and Fossy (with Brett and Elissa) will be attending too, and meeting several other great entertainers and educators from around Australia.

The Best Children’s Party Entertainer category (Party Planners and Entertainers, Clowns etc) sponsored by Lah Lah’s Big Live Band has been narrowed down to seven finalists. They are:

Happily Ever Laughter Children’s Entertainment
Kids Disco Parties
Larrikin Puppets
Strawberry Fundae Kids Parties
Superstar Parties
SuperSteph’s Super Party Heroes
Unreal Kids Parties

Childcare Centre1 A lot of competition here from some truly amazing and hard working entertainers. So please keep your fingers and toes crossed for little old us! 🙂
Whatever the outcome, we’re looking forward to spending a full day and night listening to guest speakers who are industry leaders in the children’s entertainment biz, and cheering on our fellow finalists who all share our passion for bringing smiles and laughter to their little faces, and making life fun and full of wonder and joy.

Short Australian documentary: The Puppeteer

Posted on March 19, 2017December 11, 2019 by Brett Hansen

Caboolture film maker Gabor Kukucska set himself a challenge to make 52 short documentaries in 2017. That’s one per week! These documentaries are about inspirational people. And one of these people is Queensland puppeteer Brett Hansen – founder of Larrikin Puppets.
From childhood bullying and awful workplaces to personal difficulties like unemployment and the end of his first marriage, this 13 minute film tells the whole story. Strong encouragement from his loving family helped shape Brett’s life, and eventually he met the love of his life Elissa Jenkins, whose support has meant the world to Brett in the continuing growth of Larrikin Puppets.
The film also talks about the types of bookings Larrikin Puppets receive, including puppet shows and puppetry workshops. We learn about the Small Business Development Conference in Melbourne, and Brett’s advanced training in the USA with puppeteers from The Muppets and Sesame Street.
This is the teaser trailer that was shown in the lead up to the film’s official release:

The full 13 minute film is available to see now for free at https://inspireflix.com/docos/the-puppeteer/ by creating a free (and quick) login or signing in with Facebook. The login gate is because film festivals don’t accept films with full public access on YouTube or other such video sharing sites. We would love to see this film accepted and screened at festivals around the world. But we would also love you to login and see the film here and now at the InspireFlix website (formerly My Doco Club).
Here’s the preliminary video from Facebook starring Troggg the blue monster: https://www.facebook.com/InspireFlix/videos/1795284477458119
NOW LIVE at https://inspireflix.com/docos/the-puppeteer/ – “The Puppeteer” – Brett’s dream to become a working puppeteer, and the struggles and triumphs along the way.

FILM CREDITS

Brett Hansen, Elissa Jenkins, Ross Hansen, Sandra Gartner, Troggg, Freerange the Chicken, Frazzamatazz.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Production – Buyah Media
Cinematography – Gabor Kukucska

What’s On 4 Kids 2017 Awards Nominee – Larrikin Puppets

Posted on February 21, 2017December 11, 2019 by Brett Hansen

Larrikin Puppets is a nominee in the national What’s On 4 Kids 2017 Awards sponsored by Di Bella Coffee. We’ve been nominated in the ‘Best Children’s Party Entertainment’ category, sponsored by Lah-Lah’s Big Live Band. Voting opens Thursday 23rd February at Midday EST, and you can vote here: http://www.whatson4littleones.com.au/award-voting.asp

Just go to http://www.whatson4littleones.com.au/award-voting.asp

Scroll down and look for ‘Best Party Entertainment’. Then scroll down the drop-down menu to find Larrikin Puppets. You may vote in the other categories too for entertainers or classes or activities that you also like. But for the Best Party Entertainment category, please do us a huge favour and give us your vote. Screen Shot 2017-02-23 at 12.02.31 PM

Voting closes on Friday 17th March 2017 at 6pm EST.
The 2017 Di Bella Coffee What’s On 4 Kids Awards reward, recognise and celebrate the very best in children’s activities, classes, clubs, volunteers, family days out and kids’ party entertainers across Australia. #whatson4kidsawards
The 2017 What’s On 4 Kids Awards will be held on Saturday, June 10, 2017 at the Hotel Grand Chancellor.

The full list of What’s On 4 Kids Awards nominated entertainers in the Best Party Entertainer category are:
Balloon Artistry by Aaron Smyth
Cleo the Clown
Easy Breezy Parties
Emabella Rose Face Painting
Ever After Parties
Face Painting By Starface
Fly By Fun
Funtime Kids Parties
Gecko Sports
Glass Slipper Entertainment
Happily Ever Laughter Children’s Entertainment
Jack Sharp Magic
Jelly Tots Perth
Kids Disco Parties
Kids Entertainment Sydney
Kids Love to Cook
Larrikin Puppets
Laser Warriors Mobile Laser Tag
Lil Busy Bodies (Anita Nichols)
Lilly’s Body Art
Little Builders Entertainment
Parties Kids Remember
Pinta Crafts
Strawberry Fundaes Kids Parties
String of Beads Parties
Super Hero Parties – Super Steph
Unreal Kids Parties
Voting in the What’s On 4 Kids Awards closes on Friday 17th March 2017 at 6pm EST.