My journey down Avenue Q: Could Puppetry Be My Purpose? - Part Six: Conclusion.

Let me start by saying that "Avenue Q" was a most amazing six month journey. It ended with a six week season of sold out performances. Twenty one shows all up. It received great reviews, and broke all kinds of attendance records for the Brisbane Arts Theatre. 

I have since joined a group of puppeteers called, "UpATree Arts". It's a very different style of puppetry that they do. More of a pageantry style, with giant puppets that require several puppeteers to operate. It's very much like the Chinese dragons that are paraded around. I have helped to build a giant dragon puppet with light up eyes, which will be performed at a music festival on the first of September. This will be my first performance with the group.

As well as that, I have looked into various ways to get my puppet show business started. Money is the main requirement at the moment. I need to raise $75 to pay for a blue card (required if I want to perform puppet shows at children's birthday parties and schools). And I need to purchase a portable puppet theatre that easily sets up and folds up. I have a few of my own cheap puppets to start with, but I have also designed some of my own original characters which I would eventually like to have made professionally in the style of the Muppets. 

There is an amazing puppet maker in the US called "Creature Clones" who makes perfect Muppet replicas, and brings people's own designs to life in the same Jim Henson style. Nobody else does it like him. There are those who do build puppets like this, don't build ones from people's designs. And there are others who make puppets from people's designs, but they are cheap, low quality puppets. I'm not good at sewing, stitching, knitting or gluing things like this. And I don't know anybody else locally who can either. At least not in this specific style. For a start,  many of the materials used to make The Muppets are not available in Australia. I'm pretty intent on having my own original characters built like real Henson Muppets. 

I'm aware of the FAO Schwartz toy store in New York who have their "Muppet What Not" section, where you have a limited choice of bodies, head shapes, noses, eyes and costumes to put together your own Muppet. I like this idea, but as I mentioned, you have only a limited choice. And it's not really your own designs. It's something that's made from the choices of materials you're given. 

I want a "Muppet" that's mine. This guy at Creature Clones can do it, at a cost of $1, 200 per puppet, and $75 for postage to Australia. Yes, this is expensive. But I think it will be worth it in the long run. I'm poor, and haven't seen this much money in one place ever. So I just need to save up for the portable puppet theatre and the blue card. Then I must come up with an amazing show to perform at parties with my current puppets - which are not my own original designs, but I've dressed them and made tongues for them out of felt. So I've added personal touches to them.

I've been informed that puppeteers are hard to find for kids' parties. There are plenty of clowns and magicians for hire, but no puppet shows. There's a market, and I need to get in on it. From that, I can save up to have my puppet designs made. I can expand, and try to make a name for myself. 

Raising the money to get started:

Arts Grant - To qualify for an arts grant, I am required to write up a proposal for a project that is culturally significant and beneficial to the community... Simply being good at puppetry and wanting to make people laugh is not enough unfortunately. So coming up with a good proposal has been a big a challenge. 

Pozible/Crowd Funding - This is a fairly new way that artists can raise money to get their project started. You put your idea out there via a website, and ask your friends to donate towards it. In return for the donations, you give back prizes such as free tickets to the performance you're trying to put together, or list their name in the credits of the film you're trying to make. The more they donate, the bigger the prize. But if the full amount you want isn't raised by the target date, then everybody gets their money back and you don't get to start you project. So similarly, I would need a proposal that's great enough to inspire the public to want to contribute towards it. What prizes could I offer in return? A free puppet show for their kids? What would people want from this puppet show? What kind of show would they like to see? These are all the things I'm trying to work out.

As I've recently become unemployed from my day job (like so many others in Queensland right now), I have the opportunity to really look into this. My biggest dream has always to been to be able to live off what I'm good at and interested in. Admin, call centre, retail and hospitality jobs have always been what I need to do to earn money. But these jobs are just awful, dull, and often don't last for very long. I studied for five years in the fields of animation and film & TV. I set up my own cartoonist business, which just didn't earn me enough money to live off. And all of the bands that I've played keyboard with have never been snapped up by record labels or put in a situation of being able to comfortably live off the music we write and perform. 

I've come to accept that for most artists, this kind of work is voluntary and done for the love of it. And any money you make out of the arts is a bonus. All of those names we see listed in the credits of film and television productions, in the programmes of successful touring theatre productions, and in the linear notes of all the CDs we purchase from the store... These are the lucky people who were "discovered". For every one of those names, there are billions of others waiting to be "discovered". 

There comes a time when you realise that you simply can't keep flogging a dead horse and waiting for that big break to come. You're a small fish in a big pond. You have to do something outrageously bold. And clearly, dressing up as an evil clown and playing jazzy, carnivalesque heavy metal isn't bold enough. 

Having explored all options humanly available to me, and having put in as much money and time as I possibly could have to try and get my cartooning, animation and music into a position of financial comfort, I now simply consider these hobbies that I do for the love, rather than keep hoping that something amazing will come of it.

But the puppeteering is my last chance to make an impact. To become my own boss. To finally be able to do something I'm good at, and to be able to live off it, without having to mop floors or be abused by members of the public over the phone or face to face at a checkout counter. I want to entertain and make people laugh. I much prefer this kind of interaction with the public.

Avenue Q really inspired me to pursue my skills in puppetry further. I'm really glad I took the plunge and auditioned for that show, having never sung or acted before. It really will serve well in my goal to make a name for myself as a puppeteer. Let's hope I can come up with something amazing that's worth the public (or the QLD government) throwing their money at so that I can gather up the necessary materials to get started.

Introduction to Brett Hansen

Hello, I'm Brett Hansen. A bit of a social outcast. A bit of a weirdo. I'm pretty quiet and shy until I get to know people better. I have strange luck, strange adventures and a warped view of life. I'm married (2013 edit: Used to be), I perform with puppets, I draw cartoons, I write and perform music. I studied animation, and am a cartoon geek! I'm also a film buff. And I'm addicted to music. Interesting music. Different music. I have a Dad and two brothers, Todd and Dale. My wife Jen (2013 edit: Ex-wife... We're still friends though) and I go out to a lot of concerts, comedy shows and other events.

I studied classical piano between the ages of 3 and 15. Then I joined a jazz/funk band in 1999 called BORIS, playing keys and turntables (yep, I was a scratch DJ/turntablist).

In 2001, I helped form a quirky 6-piece "circus-metal" band called HEADKASE. For ten years, we took Brisbane by storm, dressing up in wacky costumes, masks and facepaint. We brought theatre, colour, jazz, techno, and all the fun of the carnival to the heavy metal scene. Our music appealed to fans of Mr. Bungle, Dog Fashion Disco, Vicious Hairy Mary, Carnival in Coal, System of a Down, Slipknot, and Insane Clown Posse. We didn't sound exactly like any one of those bands, but perhaps incorporated several elements of them all. We released an album and toured the country. We played to almost 1,200 people at our 10 Year Anniversary Show in January of 2011 at the Hi-Fi Bar. Members of the band currently live in Canada, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. But, like our big show in January, we have agreed to keep the band alive, and come together for the bigger shows. Shows that are worth the flight costs. A second album is very slowly starting to come together.

During this time, I was one of the main members of an experimental noise-art group called SILENT PARTNERS. We would play all kinds of shows with all sorts of musicians - horn players, string players, people from many different bands all jamming, improvising. Lots of crazy fun! We've freaked out a lot of people! We would perhaps appeal to fans of John Zorn, Mike Patton, John Kaada, Ulver, End, Einsturzende Neubauten, Toydeath, Boredoms, Fantomas, Locust, Painkiller, Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle and Monsieur Camembert.

I was also a member of a dream-like ambient quintet called MARLINCHEN (2003-2007). We described the sound as "a crawling ambience". The group featured violin, guitar, keys, bass, glockenspiel, and occasional operatic vocals. Perhaps of interest to fans of Sigur Rós, Amiina, Múm, Trinkets, Decoder Ring, Bloon, The Dirty Three, and Ulver, we had audiences sitting on the floor with their eyes closed, getting lost in the music. A far cry from the wild moshpits at Headkase shows! We mostly performed at Ric's Cafe in the Valley. But we also performed at small art exhibitions, and at The Troubadour. Members eventually moved to places like Japan and France, and one went on to join the popular Brisbane folk band "Lion Island".

In 2010, I joined an 8-piece ska/swing band called RAD ROCKETS ARE GO! Another crazy and colourful group! From first wave ska and reggae sounding tunes, to modern ska-punk, and big band swing jazz - we had the crowds' fingers a-clickin' and toes a-tappin'. Influences include Madness, Reel Big Fish, Rancid, Toots and the Maytals, The Skatalites, The Specials, Save Ferris, Desmond Dekker, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Royal Crown Revue, and Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Things were happening very fast for Rad Rockets. We were approached after every show, and being invited to play more shows every week! Sadly, after Christmas 2010, three members decided they didn't want to be a part of it anymore. The remaining members have since continued to rehearse and write, while searching for new members.

In 2011, I was asked to perform as musician with improvisational theatre company IMPRO MAFIA for their weekly "Speakeasy" shows. Much like the TV Show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", teams of actors improvise their way through funny scenes, sketches, songs and mimes. It's the first time (since a piano recital I played at the age of 10) that I've been the only musician on stage, without several other band members who have my back. Thankfully, the actors/improvisers are talented and professional enough to make this work. Coming up with something on the spot is the aim of the game, and mistakes are often what makes it all the more funny. At the time of writing this, I have only performed two of these shows so far. I'm still a bit nervous, but I'm getting there. Learning something new each week and building up more confidence.

I am a cartoonist by trade, drawing cartoon illustrations for technical and general print media. Some clients have included Education Queensland, Lifeline, Leukaemia Foundation, Commerce Queensland and 4zZz radio station. My formal qualifications are - Diploma of Visual Arts: Animation; Diploma of Freelance Cartooning & Illustration; Advanced Certificate in Multi-Disciplinary Arts, Design & Technology (Fine Art & Illustration); Certificate III in Animation; Certificate III in Film & Television.

http://www.bretthansen.com features my student films to download, as well as samples of my cartoon and art work. My animated student films, "Blind Man's Rough" (1998) and "Weasel Boy in: Shop Goes the Weasel" (2000) have screened at several film festivals and art shows, and can also be found on YouTube.

 

In 1997, while in the USA, I had the pleasure of meeting and discussing animation techniques with fellow animators in Hollywood studios Klasky-Csupo (Rugrats, Duckman, The Simpsons 87-92) and Film Roman (The Simpsons 92-current, Family Guy, King of the Hill).



For money, I work as a storeman in the loading dock of a supermarket. I've been in the retail industry since 2006, working in Grocery, Dairy, Service (checkouts) and Fresh Produce.

Before that, I worked in a couple of market research call centres. I conducted surveys and political polls over the phone. Not sales, mind you. That's telemarketing. Market Research is very different, but still considered just as annoying to the general public. I went into retail when the call centre I worked for moved all work to New Zealand. I also spent a year doing a traineeship of Office Administration. Full-time on the job training, with one day a week at Business College.

Common question I'm asked: Why Brett? Why are you working in office admin, market research and retail? You're a fully qualified and skilled artist and musician! Why don't you simply get a job in the arts?

My answer: Unless you're lucky enough to be discovered by someone big in the industry or someone rich and famous, it is impossible to live off the arts. I've entered into every film and art festival, and had my art displayed far and wide by the clients who've hired me to draw for them. I've performed music all over Australia, making many fans and contacts in the music industry. Headkase's album has received positive reviews and radio airplay all over the world, and we've appeared on local and national television (including "RAGE" on the ABC). With all of this, I (and most artists in Brisbane) remain 'undiscovered'. But we don't give up. We keep following the dream and doing what we love. It doesn't pay the bills, so we have to work less interesting jobs for whoever will hire us. But I know that I would be nothing without these creative outlets. There's no point in giving up on art just because it doesn't pay the bills.

The other thing I just wanted to mention is my wonderful mother, Helen Jean Hansen. She was kind and loving and put everyone else before herself. An amazing sense of humour, always singing and joking. She passed away on the 15th of July, 2010 from Ovarian Cancer. It was so sudden. From diagnoses to her passing, she only had about nine or ten months. When the pain starts, and you go to get it checked out by a doctor, it's already too late. There's no early detection. She remained positive and full of humour right until the end. It was a horrible loss for us. Please donate to the Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Research. One of my Mum's nurses was involved with that organisation. http://www.gyncan.org

RIP Mum. Helen Jean Hansen
 1944-2010



On a lighter note, I've been married to my amazing wife Jen since August 2009. She studied journalism years ago, and currently works in a government call centre. Like the arts, journalism is a bit difficult to break into. But she's starting to make a few contacts here and there, and appears from time to time as an entertainment reviewer on 612 ABC Brisbane, reviewing some of the concerts and comedy shows she and I attend. 

2013 edit: Sadly the marriage was short lived. We tried all we could to save it. But we simply grew apart. I don't feel that marriage is a joke, and I don't feel good about what has happened. But we enjoyed six wonderful years together. Apparently, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

So that's me! That's my life. Hope you enjoyed this novel of an introduction.