I decided it was about time to do another book review, and for this one I have chosen Cabaret Mechanical Movement: Understanding Movement and Making Automata by Aidan Lawrence Onn and Gary Alexander. This was something I picked up at an exhibition of automata at the Perth UNIMA Congress. What is automata? Well, it’s a mechanical device that usually involves cranks and levers to create a moving object. Consider it the early version of robotics. Indeed it was often used by ancient Greeks and others to create magical experiences in spiritual settings. Automata lies at that blurry edge where it’s debatable whether or not it’s part of puppetry or just wooden toys: either way, this book can be useful for those who want a better understanding of devices and mechanics for moving their puppets. Here I’ll discuss the good and the bad of this book.

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Animatronics is perhaps one of the most fascinating types of puppets - but also one of the most complex. Animatronic puppets are basically ‘robots’; mechanically operated puppets, which can be manipulated from a distance.

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