tags: Art Artists on Tumblr Film Storyboard Television beauty is embarrassing movies neil berkeley pee-wee herman pee-wee's playhouse puppets trapped in the tumblr closet video wayne white
Trapped in the Tumblr Closet: Master Puppeteer Wayne White
“I’m a middle-aged man who’s living out a 5-year-old’s fantasy.” So says Wayne White, artist extraordinaire most famously known for creating the puppets behind Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Versatile — and lauded for his eccentric, colorful work — in almost every artistic medium, White creates word paintings, comics, psychedelic sculptures, music videos, and, like the Southern ol’ boy he is, plays the banjo.
But how exactly does one get into puppets? For White, it was all about avoiding a college term paper a few decades ago, and the rest is history — as chronicled in the recently released documentary Beauty Is Embarrassing, an award-winning film on White’s life by Neil Berkeley. We sat down with White and Berkeley to discuss Cheerio-throwing puppets and the magic of the moving image.
If you have a chance to check out this documentary, do it. If you are a creative type of any kind and/or caliber, check this documentary out. Even if you are not a fan of White’s aesthetic, you will be blown away by his energy and his ability to ignore the nay-saying voice that tends to shoot most creative sparks down before they are given a chance to take root.
