Where to find puppet makers in Australia?

Puppet makers in Australia, are I believe, a hidden industry. For the general public, they are very hard to find. But they are out there. The best way to find them is to start with my list of puppet sellers. Puppet makers are marked with an asterisk (*). There is more info about buying Audreys, Avenue Q puppets, ventriloquist dummies, and so on. You may also be wanting to look at the list of people who offer workshops to make your own; or find a repairer, or learn about how much puppets cost and some good info on how to go about commissioning a puppet.

But there are other ways too: one is by seeing some puppet shows; many performers also build their own puppets, and if you see a puppet you like at a show, you can always easily find out who made it. If the puppets were made by non-performers, they or the producers might be willing to give you the puppet maker’s contact details (or pass yours to them). Puppet makers are always interested in commissions, so don’t feel shy about asking one of the cast/crew for some info, a website to visit, or a business card.

Very few Australian puppet makers advertise online. Why this is has never been made clear to me, but it seems as though most of the ‘older’ generation of puppeteers are happy with their word-of-mouth business since it’s worked for them long before the net came along. Those that do have websites are listed at the above link.

I will also add that few puppet makers sell via puppet or toy stores: for the simple reason that they are a niche item and are also not capable of factory-production on the level of Folkmanis or other toy/puppet makers. You can sometimes find them selling via online sites like eBay or Etsy. 

The second option is to contact UNIMA Australia, the centre for puppetry in our country. They have a list of members (browse the site by location, type of puppet, etc), and are extremely happy to send requests for help through to their members via email and website. OPEN, a free newsletter sent via email, run by Dream Puppets, is also worth advertising in (submissions are free); or via @OzPuppetry, a Twitter feed run by Hilary Talbot that lists updates about local puppetry - she is herself, a puppet maker.

You should also check out the stuff about repairers.

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