Steve Petra is a very clever, creative and talented person. I must humbly apologize for doing to Steve what I have done to others over the years. I remember seeing Steve at the convention, BUT! I didn't know it was him. His face was familiar but I had forgotten who it belonged to. I could gesture or smile, acknowledging him but that's as far as I could go because I really didn't know who he was, even though I eaten with him the year before, I think. Many faces are familiar but I have forgotten your name, who ever you are. I know that if I stop to say hello to you I'll have to ask, 'who are you'? OH! Yeah! Now I remember.
Sorry Steve, I didn't mean to slight you, nor do I mean to slight anyone else. I have forgotten. Sorry.

Bill, at my college graduation I told my friends, "In the future, when I am rich and famous please don't hesitate to come up to me...and remind me that I once knew you."

What is the puppet just behind Steve Axtell's right shoulder? It looks like a mouse.

Wow! Over 28,000 hits on your Baby Boomer video on Youtube, Steve Petra! Congrats! My favorite was "It's Alive"!

These are links to things referred to in the interview

Book - "Of Muppets and Men"
http://www.amazon.com/Muppets-Men-Making-Muppet-Show/dp/0394520858

Making Puppets Come Alive - Carol fijan & Larry Engler
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Puppets-Come-Alive-Puppetry/dp/0486293785/ref=sr_1_1?
s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293642854&sr=1-1

First Axtell puppet - Melon Bird from "Cavetown"
http://flic.kr/p/95H6x9

First ventriloquist show - lots of Axtell product
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39264260@N04/5303419413/

PetraPuppets Library Gallery - You can see my collection of Axtell puppets getting larger
http://petrapuppets.com/galleryl.html

PetraPuppets Archive pics - Jeanie made this archive to show the progression from early puppet
ministry to our first school assemblies
http://petrapuppets.com/archive.html

Author & teacher - Carol Fijan & Steve
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39264260@N04/5303994288/

Working cover for Let's Get Visual DVD;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39264260@N04/5304033816/

Ax it was nice that you had Steve Petra to interview I find Steve an exciting and fun Vent to learn from..We grew up in the same area of Long Island...When people ask me if I miss Long Island or New York..well if I had gotten to know Steve in those earlier days I might not have made the move...I am happy in Florida but it might have been exciting to have had the opportunity to learn from someone who was close to home like him...

Steve I have replied to your request as to how many axtells we all own, do you have a need to know with this question?? Oh I know the person with the most figures wins a trip to california to spend a day with the great Ax!!! Hahaha!!!

Still performing the Baby Boomer routine. It happens to be in a show that continues to be popular: "Allstar Musical Maniacs".
That show was created 6 years ago to work with a Summer Reading theme for libraries. A librarian told me that I would be doing that show in libraries for years. The reason - the title of the show has "Music" in it. She was right!!

The title of your show is the first thing a customer sees. I firmly believe that show titles are really important to marketing a program. For me, a good title is evocative. It suggests an experience that is wildly fun, exciting, engaging and... UNIQUE.
Unique is a significant element in the equation. I've seen some performers give names to their programs that are the same or similar to other performers offerings. Not a good start. A bit more effort and imagination helps for a better blastoff.

Do you ever repeat a library show for a future theme that fits? For example, your Zany Zoo could become Animal Planet for this year's theme. (I'm planning on Cool Critterz from other Continentz!) My show is a repeat of one from 2004 which had a Safari theme.

I think it's fine to repeat a show, especially if the theme is exactly what is needed and it's fresh for the current audience. I had an opportunity to do that for last year's library program. It was a water theme and about 8 years ago I did a show called "Stink or Swim - with Skunk and Shark. I really thought I was going to use most of that show in 2009 but when it came time to work on the "retooling" my concepts of staging and characterization had developed and the repeat idea wasn't exiting enough. What I did do is use one character from the old show and another from a different discontinued show then added new characters and magic.

2002 Stink or Swim


2009 SplashTastic