Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 16:44:22 -0600
From: Freshwater Pearls Puppetry <puppetry-AT-freshwpearls.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Swazzles


I personally soak my swazzle in mouthwash before and after use. I carry 
a little bottle of it to gigs. (My favorite mini-Scope bottle recently 
got melted in the dishwasher and I had a heckuva time finding a 
replacement. A baby fruit juice bottle was the answer.) You don't want 
mouth bacteria growing on the swazzle between gigs. Early in my career 
I once made the mistake of just rinsing it in water, then storing it in 
a little plastic pouch. By the next gig, the thing smelled like 
roadkill! (But I had no backup and had to put it in my mouth anyway. 
The things we do for art!)

Regarding clarity when swazzling (thanks for the compliment, Trev and 
Sean!) it helps to overpronounce consonants and say "oi" instead of the 
long "i." What's always interested me is how much easier it is for 
children to understand the swazzle. I often warm up before a show by 
having Punch chat (sight unseen) with kids in the audience. At one gig 
I was doing this with a pair of brothers, who were there with their 
Dad. Every time Punch would crack a joke with the kids, they laughed, 
but the Dad said "What?" Finally one of the kids said, astonished, 
"Dad, you mean you really can't understand him?" And Dad said, "You 
mean you really CAN understand him?"

Nowadays MOST adults understand MOST of what my Punch says, until the 
swazzle tape gets old. When the adults in the audience begin to look 
puzzled, it's time to make a new swazzle.

Regards,
Diane

http://www.freshwaterpearlspuppetry.com


On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 15:55:30 -0500, seankeohane-AT-aol.com wrote:
> Soaking the whole completed swazzle in a warm water is 
> also important.
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