me and ducky
me and ducky
Biography
“A good character is almost always derived from an aspect of the performer's own personality.” Wayne (Puppet Dude) Haynes
As long as I can remember, I have been a fan of puppets; from Mr. Moose on Captain Kangaroo to the Land of Make Believe in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood to every character created on Seseme Street, I have always been fascinated with the concept of inanimate objects coming to life to entertain and educate.
​
I first started working with puppets when I was 12 years old in the small town of Rush Springs, Oklahoma. Our church started a small group to train its youth group how to do missons. We became a full-fledged clown/puppet troop; ministering locally.
​
Now, we jump ahead quite a few years where i worked as a theatrical technician for the Oklahoma Christian University of Science and Art, it's that I decided to advance my training. Every class i could take on puppetry, animatronics, design and ministry, I had taken them all. I even added a minor in child developmental psychology to my degree.
​
In today's society, where everything is becoming so digital, it has inspired me to do whatever I can to keep this art from disappearing or becoming boxed in and pigeon-holed as Vegas entertainment and preschool education.
Thus leading me to create Puppet Dude Productions. with it's online training and entertainment arm, Puppet Dude TV.
​
Originally conceptualized in 2012, multiple events kept it from coming to pass and actually becoming reality until 2016 with advanced training on developing an online presence for the venture.
​
Though our main concentration is, and has been, on puppetry, the goal of Puppet Dude Productions is to keep the suspension of disbelief alive and help others to use their talents to educate, create and entertain through stage and street performance.
​
You may never have a desire to ever use a puppet, but many of the performance skills we teach can spill over into other avenues such as performance magic, clowns, story tellers, and so much more.
​
Now as for the future of Puppet Dude Productions, My goal is to grow into a new studio. Puppet Dude Studios will then be able to invite in new talent for training and more. I want to make professional on location videos, not just from our home studio, but from around the world. There are so many art forms that are disappearing and I want to capture them all before the history is lost.
