#128 – The Puppet Master Special: Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Punch & Judy And A Lifetime Of Puppetry With Michael McCormick

In an extra-long special episode of GCC, Mike speaks with Michael McCormick; a masterful puppeteer who has taught puppetry for film & TV at New Mexico State University, worked with Jim Henson on Dark Crystal & Labyrinth and even created the Star Wars character Salacious Crumb!

In this conversation, they talk about how Michael first got into puppetry, the influence & reach of Punch & Judy shows, why puppets intrigue Michael, the charactures of puppetry, his time on Dark Crystal, Labyrinth & the set of Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi, his near-death experiences, Brian & Wendy Froud are also mentioned, along with his time teaching puppetry in the New Mexico State University, his work on David Bowie’s costumes on Labyrinth, some stories from being on-set on various productions and it all wraps up with Michael’s idea for a new TV show – so many great topics are covered, this is definitely worth a listen!

 

Mike has also uploaded the video version of this episode to the GCC YouTube channel so you can see the puppets Michael kindly show us: https://youtu.be/D4kz0jSVoj0 

 

Michael McCormick’s Fandom Wiki Page: https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Mike_McCormick

Check out the Fight Before Christmas movie to see Michael McCormick doing Punch & Judy on-screen!