It’s seems like forever ago since I first thought up Ziggy. I was a little bit obsessed as a teenager. I liked David Bowie. My favourite book was Scribbleboy, by Phillip Ridely and one of the characters names was Ziggy Fuzz. When it came to having to make up a character for my show Ziggy was at the forefront of my imagination.
Puppets are a funny old thing. Even for a basic puppet they are quite expensive, and once you get into the world of professional puppets they cost hundreds of pounds, so it was important to me to get a puppet that I would be able to use in every show, and who was unique.
I got in touch with Luna’s puppets in America and together we designed Ziggy. 3 months later he arrived on my doorstep, and since then he has been in the show.
Since Ziggy’s first gig he has developed a lot, and so have I... My mouth used to move A LOT, but I have practiced religiously, and daily and now my mouth barely moves at all, although I still struggle with P’s and B’s Ziggy is a lot more fluid, and he’s more ‘alive’ than I ever thought possible.
Ziggy has done a lot in 5 years. From festivals to theatre shows, birthday parties to adult comedy nights. Ziggy has even been on BGT for a brief second, and was lucky enough to meet the judges too. He used to be held by me (I could see no other way of having him mobile enough) before getting his own little table to sit in, which makes him less like a puppet and much more alive.
Me and Amy (my wonderful wife) have written a children’s story about him and my other puppet pals, but starring Ziggy as the main character in his quest to find his electric guitar. He even features in my song ‘Zip Zap Zoo’ which (excuse the plug) is available if you type Magic Frostie into Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes you should give it a listen its better than Baby Shark or The Crazy Frog.
But the big development (and the reason for writing this blog) is the latest exciting feature of Ziggy.
Around July last year (2019) work started on animatronics for Ziggy. This January (2020) he became ready to go. He is a fully interactive, animatronic puppet, with the ability to see, talk, move and even drive all by himself.
I need to be nearby, but as far as anyone could see Ziggy is able to do all this stuff without the need for me. I am so proud of him (it’s insane I know to be proud of a puppet) and I can’t wait to see what adventures we have together next. Check out the video to see Ziggy in action!