Friends Forever Puppets

The performances are a variety of music styles and interaction with the audience. There is truly something for each member of the family in these shows and you will want to get the camera ready for the human-hand character as a couple volunteers from the audience assist in making him alive. Lately this character has been getting additional volunteers to be involved in his makeshift band, all wearing some sort of a hat. It is always fun and a memorable time for everyone. We are serious about laughter!

Newer to his ever growing repertoire are his dummy masks where he changes volunteers into his characters right before your eyes. This is always a favourite of kids, teens and adults. Also adding his talking whiteboard and a pinch of magic to the show, there is never a dull moment.
Shows are created to fit the age group and the setting where they are to be formed and the time of the shows very accordingly.

We come ready to go. All that is required is a covered area (if outside), good overhead lighting (fluorescents are fine), an eight foot table, room for the puppet theatre which is 8 feet across the front by 6 feet deep- preferably being able to be set against a wall with power. We bring our own sound equipment and mic.

Short Bio:

Ken Bishop has performed at various venues throughout Canada, the United States and Mexico, including the Edmonton Folk Festival, Man and His World in Montreal, Canadian National Exhibition, Children's Festival, Gospel Jamboree and the Pacific National Exhibition. He was the owner of a puppet company called the Kenuppets and performed four days a week for five consecutive years from his castle at West Edmonton Mall (about 4,000 shows). Ken also starred on Storytime , a Saturday morning kids program, which aired across Canada on the CTV network for over five years and in 26 countries. He has had the pleasure of working with many celebrities and singers. All of his puppets are original and at one time he owned over 350 characters.

Ken has written over 100 scripts for television as well as performing in a variety of music videos. He has taught puppetry, character development, and scriptwriting as well as puppet building workshops to both adults and students in classrooms and auditorium settings. He has also written 4 children books which are currently on Amazon (A Tale of 4 Blind Monkeys, Aardvark Park after Dark, Taddly and Fishly and What if?). Ken Bishop has performed in countless schools, jamborees, festivals and community functions with his creative puppetry style. Believing that "laughter is the best medicine", his puppets never fail to bring a smile to every face.

The performances are in the style of a variety show with lively contemporary songs and fast action skits and dialogue by one or more puppet character hosts. Having a puppet character emcee works well, especially during a festival where the audience is moving about or coming midway through a presentation. In this way, people will not miss a "storyline" and can enjoy the performance at any point.

These shows are designed to fit the venue with the intended audience or theme in mind. There are a multitude of characters like Reggi, Albert, Vulter, Boardie, 5 different dummy masks, Toby Mac, Stevie Wonder, and many others.

Besides puppetry, Ken also enjoys keynote motivational speaking to both youth and adults and presenting messages of hope and encouragement which will not be forgotten.

The Friends Forever Puppet Theatre sits on the ground or on a stage. It is 8' X 8' and the puppet characters come out of a height of about 5' 8" high so they can be seen from a fair ways back. The area at that height should be well lit and for bigger events we would use the house system and one headset mic.