I’d always thought that, in all the great sci-fi constructs, there’s always the guy who seems like he’s the commander, but then you reveal that there’s an even bigger puppet master up above and beyond him.
There are those on Wall Street and in the plutocracy who feel that Geithner is a hero who deftly steered the country from economic ruin. To many ordinary Americans, however, he is considered a Wall Street puppet and a servant of the so-called banksters.
We need an attorney general for the people, not a presidential protector and puppet of the administration.
We used to do sock puppet shows for my auntie back in the day. Me and my friends would do accents of Englishmen, and we would sip tea and act like we were rich in front of the family, and they thought it was just hilarious, the level of perception that we had about things that we’d never experienced.
People have said I’m a puppet, an instrument of my grandfather, but I think they quickly realised that I’m my own person, that I have autonomy in my actions. I think they rapidly realised I could look after myself.
I always loved putting on shows – when you’re the youngest of seven and five are older sisters, you’ve got to get noticed somehow! I did puppet shows and magic shows… even ventriloquism. My doll’s name was ‘Dan,’ and I used to write these scripts, and my schoolmate hid under the table and supplied Dan’s voice.
I used to do puppet theatre and also mime and musical theatre in Florida for competitions and festivals, which was great. I was very much involved in theatre when I was in college.
I always say I want creative control. A lot of people don’t think about that. And that’s what every artist should think of – being creative and not just a puppet.
One time, it was really funny, I was going on stage… and they were like, ‘Oh, we didn’t mic the puppet! Mic the puppet!’ So, that’s how I know that sometimes I do a very good job, because they think that the puppet is actually, like, real.
I’m not here to be a puppet, if you will.
I started with Katie, a doll I got on eBay on my 10th birthday. I don’t use her anymore. I’ve got a new Katie now, a real ventriloquist’s puppet.
When I’m gigging, there’s an uneasy shift when I pull a puppet out. People look at me aghast and I feel I have about 20 seconds to win them over. You even get the prejudice among other people in your own profession.
I’m no financial expert. I scarcely know what a coin is. Ask me to explain what a credit default swap is, and I’ll emit an unbroken 10-minute ‘um’ through the clueless face of a broken puppet. You might as well ask a pantomime horse.
As a director, there is nothing more fun than seeing an audience screaming and jumping. You are the ultimate puppet master, controlling the emotions of the audience.
Analysis gave me great freedom of emotions and fantastic confidence. I felt I had served my time as a puppet.
Funny enough, there have been puppets in everything I’ve written because I have a huge love of puppets. There’s a big puppet musical at the end of ‘Sarah Marshall.’ I wrote ‘The Muppets.’
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