Here are some ideas for adding to your Christmas show:
1. Use your red sponge ball routine to represent Rudolph's nose taking Santa all over the world.
2. Use your magic drawing board to draw Frosty the Snowman. When you draw the magic hat on him he comes to life! As you sing the song with Frosty you realize that he is supposed to have a corncob pipe. Then you can talk about smoking being a bad habit to start. Snowmen shouldn't smoke. Shouldn't play with matches, etc.
3. Use an appearing broomstick trick (or 10 foot pole trick) for Frosty's appearing broomstick. For church use the 10 foot pole trick for the shepherd's staff as you tell about the shepherd's and the angel.
4. Your puppet wants to be someone in the Christmas story. He knows a song about the mother of Jesus. (starts to sing, "Mary had a little lamb." Wasn't Jesus the lamb of God?) After you discuss different characters he decides he wants to be the angel that gives the good news. Problem is, he can't fly. He asks you for a balloon (12 inch or greater). You blow it up and he takes it in his mouth. As he does so he floats upward and you have to pull him down each time. Finally realizes that he can give the good news about Christmas without flying. For non-church groups he could decide to be Rudolph and you would use a red balloon. Original floating idea from Ronn Lucas.
5. Use a candy cane for a magic wand. Give it to each volunteer that comes up.
6. Put up a backdrop and use your puppet from behind the backdrop to lip synch to a Christmas song.
7. Call up a member from the audience and sing a duet with them. (You provide their 'interesting' voice.) You could dress them like Elvis and help them sing Blue Christmas. If you call up two people have one as the back-up "O00-ooo-who0-whoo!" on Blue Christmas.
8. Axtell Bear is clueless about Christmas because he has always slept through Christmas. He thinks Santa is a bear. (You said he has claws!) (more on this later)
9. Lion puppet thinks Christmas is HIS birthday! He thinks the wise men came to see him, etc. Why? "You'll find the baby lion in the manger."
10. For you balloonatics: Start with one balloon fully inflated, but release some air to make it softer. Tie the ends together to make a circle. A wreath. A halo. Then twist it into a figure 8 by twisting two sides together. A Christmas bow or angel wings. Then pull the centers of those two sides together and twist them forming a four sided star. Call up a wise man to follow the star. As he/she wanders around holding the star up high then you make a sword balloon and talk about Wicked King Herod. Put the start on the end of the sword balloon, turn it over, and you have a cross on a hill. God planned for baby Jesus to grow up and die on the cross... Then turn it over again and bend the shaft and you have a flower. Then 3 days later Jesus rose again. The story of Christmas is just the beginning... (Thanks to Gene Cordova for this set of balloon twists.)
11. If you do a rabbit puppet in the hat routine just put him in a Christmas present and have him do the funny stuff. (And ask Steve Axtell when he's going to come out with a really cute puppet in the hat.)
12. Use the magical d-lites as Rudolph's nose. Or spread the joy of Christmas with a smile.
13. Bird puppet has never seen snow. Always flies south for the winter! So has never heard about Frosty the Snowman, etc.
14. Pull out a big sock and talk about when you hung your dad's sock on the fireplace for a stocking. Until one year you realized that your mom's sock would hold more. Pull one leg of a nylon hose out of the dad's sock and stretch it.
15. Have a zombie routine? Call it a Christmas ornament and make it float to a Christmas song.
16. Professor's Nightmare trick: The 3 different size ropes represent 3 sizes of the balls of a snowman. The head, middle, and lower body. Which is the most important? All 3 are equally important. Concept: Everyone is important and it takes a friend to make a snowman.
17. Axtell baby puppet. You keep trying to sing Silent Night, but the baby needs attention! Perhaps it wasn't such a silent night after all.
18. Pull your puppet out of a giant present.
19. If you do a nesting boxes routine, turn it into a nesting presents routine.
20. Make a Polar Express magic trick. You have a ziplock bag with small jingle bells in it. You call up an adult and a child and let them each choose a jingle bell. The child's works and the adult's doesn't. (The kids know the movie.) Here's the force. Use the freezer version of the ziplock bag. It has stiffer plastic. Slice one bag in two and put one side down into a second bag so you have two different sides to place jingle bells. One side has bells that work, one side has bells that doesn't. You could call up a few members of the audience and each child gets one that work and each adult gets one that doesn't. You may have to trim the top and sides of the insert more. I can't remember. And you'll have to use a small tool to empty a few jingle bells. A great force bag!
21. Balloonatics: Make Rudolph with a red balloon. For the antlers you make one medium twist for the head, then 6 smaller twists. Fold the six and twist so you have 3 on each side and you have antlers. Make the rest of the body like a dog's body.
22. Baby in a manger balloon. Poke the nozzle into the balloon about 1 1/2 inches. Pinch it as you pull your finger out, then twist several times. This is an apple twist and forms the head of the baby. Then make a 3 inch bubble for the body. Now make a 4 inch side, 3 inch pillow, and 4 inch side. Those 3 wrap around the baby as the manger. Use the remaining air to form the bottom of the manger under the baby. Then do whatever you do to let out excess air and wrap the empty part of the balloon around the pillow to hold it all in place. (Takes practice)
23. The old storyteller is having problems. He can't find his teeth. Finally sings, All I want for Christmas are my two false teeth.
24. Oh, that's good, No, that's bad gospel routine by Tony Borders. V: Ventrilouquist F: Figure
V: I LOVE Christmas! It's the most wonderful time of the year! It would have been great to have been there on the very first Christmas.
F: You mean the one in the Bible?
V: Yes. When baby Jesus was born.
F: That wasn't such a good Christmas.
V: Sure it was! Everything was good!
F: Well, they didn't always think so!
V: What do you mean?
F: It all started when Mary saw an angel.
V: Yeah! That's good!
F: No, that's bad. Mary was afraid of the angel.
V: Oh, that's bad!
F: No, that's good! The angel said, DON"T BE AFRAID!
You are going to have a baby!
V: Oh, that's good.
F: No, that's bad. Mary wasn't married yet!
V: Oh, that's bad.
F: No, that's good. She was engaged to Joseph!
V: Oh, that's good.
F: No, that's bad. When he heard that she was going to have a baby, he didn't want to marry Mary.
V: Oh, that's bad.
F: No, that's good. Joseph had a dream and an angel came to him.
V: Oh, that's good.
F: No, that's bad. Joseph was afraid of the angel.
V: Oh, that's bad.
F: No, that's good. The angel said, Don't be afraid! This baby is the son of God. You should marry Mary. And then you'll be merry!
V: So what happened?
F: They got married. Then they had to go to Bethlehem to pay their taxes and Mary was getting big with the baby.
V: Oh, that's bad.
F: Yeah. Especially for the donkey. When they got to Bethlehem there was no place for them to stay. They had to stay in a stable with the animals!
V: Oh, that's bad.
F: You mean b-a-a-a-ad (like a sheep).
V: Yes, that's b-a-a-a-a-d!
F: And that night baby Jesus was born!
V: Oh, that's good.
F: No, that's rad, dad!
V: Not bad!
F: I'm glad!
(Note: You can write a part two about the wise men for later in the show.)
25. General jokes:
What's a manger?
That's where they feed the cows.
Oh, no! They're going to feed the baby to the cows?
Bear or lion or crocodile, etc. can offer to take care of the sheep while the shepherds are gone. I'll put them in a safe place (as he pats his tummy).
26. Bear skit:
V: What's your favorite part of Christmas?
B: What's Christmas?
V: You don't know what Christmas is?
B: No.
V: It's a holiday!
B: When is it?
V: December 25th! Every year!
B: I'm always asleep by then! I sleep all winter.
V: Oh, that's right! So you don't know anything about Christmas?
B: I guess not!
V: What about Santa Claus?
B: Is he a bear?
V: No.
B: You said he has claws.
V: That's his name. Santa Claus.
B: What's he look like?
V: He has a big, round belly.
B: Just like I do!
V: He has white hair on his head and all over his face.
B: He's a polar bear!
V: No he isn't!
B: Where does he live?
V: At the north pole.
B: I told you he's a polar bear!
V: He likes to have children sit on his lap.
B: So he can eat them.
V: They tell him what they want for Christmas.
B: What color is his fur?
V: He doesn't have fur! He wears a red and white suit.
B: Oh! He works for Coca-Cola!
V: (sidenote: Santa did get his red and white suit from Coca-Cola when he was used for advertising. The look stuck.) He also has a black belt.
B: WHOA! He knows karate!
V: And he wears black boots.
B: What's inside the boots?
V: Warm socks.
B: What's inside the socks?
V: His bare feet.
B: SEE? I TOLD you he was a bear!
----
B: When did you say Christmas was?
V: Dec. 25th.
B: One time I woke up near the end of December. I had to go to the bathroom. Then I heard some singing outside the cave.
V: Oh? What were they singing about?
B: They were singing about baby Jesus (for secular shows: a reindeer. It made me hungry.)
V: Those were Christmas carolers. Were they good?
B: They were delicious!
V: Well, tonight you are going to learn more about Christmas! Why don't you sit back and listen and enjoy the show. (Put him away.)
NOTE: If you like these ideas please send some of your own. Thanks! -Tony Borders an Axtell fan!
Thanks for the kind words. Be sure to click on the picture on Axtell's website for more ideas about how to use each puppet. I think it would be fun to use Patrick Smith's magic trick about future occupations (What's My Job, may be the name of it.) And then ask the kids if any of them had ever thought about being a dentist. Explain that you have a puppet who has a toothache. Bring the child up and then have the alligator come up. You have opportunity for teaching about flossing, brushing properly, brushing the tongue to avoid bad breath, drinking milk, and watching what you eat.
These jokes are my favorite for the toothy Axtell animals, such as the gator, lion, bear, etc. They can be used with any.
F: I love children! They're delicious!
V: Don't worry parents. He's not going to eat one of the kids.
F: No, I'm not. Nobody can eat just one.
(after you meet a child) It's nice to eat you.
V: She sure was a sweet volunteer.
F: Yes. I'll have dessert!
F: (to volunteer) Would you run around in circles?
V: Why do you want him to run around in circles?
F: I like fast food!
F: My stomach doesn't feel too good.
V: I wonder why?
F: Must be someone I ate.
F: The doctor said I was gaining weight.
V: That's because all you do is eat and sleep.
F: You're right! From now on I'm going to sleep more!
V: You should start eating healthy food.
F: How many of you kids are healthy?
(Use one to 3 of these in any particular show. Too many and you might scare the little kids. They are really good for a quick use of a volunteer. Warning: Out of hundreds of usages I did have one first grade teacher say that it was inappropriate. That's not too bad, but I do pass it on.)
I should be doing school work..yes on a Sunday. Tony, thank God for ideas people. P.S.-I ordered my sound system from Florida Magic Sound. Owner Dan Christopher is a great guy also for sound systems ideas for school gyms and church basements. Cool Yule and a Frantic First. Ron Crowley
As Napoleon Dynamite would say,Fine!" So many fine ideas. And crediting Ronn Lucas..you MUST see him. I saw him do a show in Las Vegas with his sock and three rubber bands! Ron Crowley