For the past 17 years, author and entertainer Eric Leclerc has become a respected and accomplished performer. His magical illusions have brought him all over the world. Thousands of people have seen him in action from Thailand to the Caribbean.
Eric is in constant demand. His presentations are fresh and can be described as interactive amazement for all audiences. Whether he is performing on a cruise ship in the Bahamas, entertaining the Ottawa Senators hockey team, or simply sharing his talents with customers in local hot spots, his trademark style has earned him repeat bookings time after time.
Capt' n Matt
Capt' n Matt's Treasure Hunt is a fun, interactive one-man puppet show in which the audience helps to track down the elusive pirate Stink Beard who has stolen the treasure. The theme of the show is books and reading. The "treasure" we are after is the captain's giant magic storybook, which we find after a musical adventure to different islands and meeting many comical characters. The children are enchanted by the book's big pop-up pages, as it tells the story of our adventure of finding the book; a story within a story kind of thing. The children leave with the idea that stories come from their own life experiences, and that each child is a story in the making. The show runs one hour, promising laughter, and music and audience participation.
Markus
Join Markus... and let the smiles and laughter begin!
Television: YTV's Tree house, Mr. Dress up. Fred Penner's Place, TVO Kids Canada, CITY TV's Breakfast TV. Winner of the U.S. Parents' Choice Award. Early Childhood Educators Gold Pin Award. Produced 7 CDs, 2 Videos. Headliner at Sky dome, Ontario Place, Wonderland, Roy Thompson Hall
Markus is a well-known Tree house TV personality and a huge hit with Canadian kids and families. Markus performs music from his 7 award winning CDs in venues across Canada for Tree house Live, a co production of Komodo and Tree house TV.
Since 2005, Markus has performed along side Bob the Builder during Tree house Live! National Tours, Toronto's Ontario Place, the Calgary Stampede, Capital EX, etc. Markus' concert performances are a blend of boundless energy mixed with joy and warmth as he sings about the joy of music, family and friendship involving and engaging the audience right from the start. Every concert is a fun-filled session of original music and humorous anecdotes that capture a child's imagination.
Before you know it, toes are tapping, hands are clapping and kids are dancing
Gentle Wings Puppet Theatre
Kingston is home for the Purple Dragon Puppet Troupe. The troupe members combine their talents as musicians, magicians, woodworkers, teachers, artists and philosophers to create original puppet performances. They transform space and time from the familiar to the fabulous. The puppets range from six inches to eight feet and incorporate styles from around the world. They weave the stories through magic sets and live musical sounds capes engaging both the actors and the audience.
"It sounded so alive, so real. There were so many colours. It was funny, hilarious and great!" - Student
FRANK MESCHKULEIT
Frank Meschkuleit fell into puppeteering by accident. A naturally funny guy, the Kitchener, Ontario native was encouraged by one of his teachers to audition at a big casting call for The Muppet Show in Toronto. "They needed 75 puppeteers, 'cause Jim Henson wanted to do a shot with the biggest number of puppeteers in the history of television," says Meschkuleit. Convinced he'd never be hired, he showed up incredibly unprepared. "I did something hugely stupid. I drew a little sort of Senor Wences face on my hand and did my Tattoo voice from Fantasy Island. I just kept talking, figuring they'd throw me out any second." Instead, they asked for his resume and photo. He pulled out a little photo-booth snapshot and scribbled his name and number on the back.
The next thing he knew, he was called back to work on one of the Muppet movies, launching what has now been a two-decade career as a television and film puppeteer. Meschkuleit credits have ranged from TV's wholesome Fraggle Rock (he was Junior Gorg) to the grade-B slasher flick Bride of Chucky, where he was one in a team of 11 puppeteers bringing the ghoulish little killer doll to life. Appropriately enough, Chucky was dismembered for the film.
"We'd be doing segments of Chucky," says Meschkuleit. "They had just the head, or just the arm, so you could do a shot of the arm reaching to grab a knife. When all 11 of us were operating the doll, it took quite a bit of choreography and synergy to get everyone in the same body all at once."
About 10 years ago, Meschkuleit decided to work up a live show to perform when his hand wasn't in front of the cameras.
In fact, says Meschkuleit, puppets are the perfect vehicles for irreverent and risque humour. "It's alarming how much funny stuff a puppet can do and get away with," he says. "It's easier for a puppet to play the role of court jester and poke fun at something that's on people's minds than it is for a human actor."
Outside of the Muppets, Meschkuleit has puppeteered on such series as Iris the Happy Professor, Noddy, and Don't Eat the Neighbours. In film, he worked on Bride of Chucky, Scary Movie 3, and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (operating a raccoon).
Puppeteer Frank Meschkuleit claims he has manipulated or voiced chickens, turkeys, robots, beavers, hippos, peanuts, elephants, wolverines, aliens, predators, killer dolls, vampires, raccoons, alligators, dragons, mice, ostriches, eyeballs, reindeer, sugar, wallpaper, chairs, fraggles, garbage bags, dodos, dinosaurs, hands, dogs, cats, shoes, numbers, bears... and some less memorable things, too!
