Puppets have long been used to bring joy and pleasure to many. They varied throughout the ages, differed from one area to the other and were influenced by the culture of their area. Yet the mutual purpose is to bring joy, pleasure and educational as well.
History has shown that puppets are a great source of information throughout the ages; the Javanese used shadow puppets made of paper and employing light and shadow in the performance to tell a story, called the Wayang. Traveling puppets were very common during Elizabethan England and puppeteers would use glove puppets telling stories from the Bible.
There are four main types of puppets, glove puppets, string puppets, shadow puppets, rod puppets and marionettes. As time passed by, the puppet went through a phase in evolution and through the help of Jim Henson came the hand-rod puppet.
In the 1970's the world was introduced to Sesame Street and the world was hooked on how lifelike the puppets were in hand gestures, mouth movements and slight facial expressions. The show was intended for children and provided educational material for toddlers and children, yet parents would join in on the fun. People have since fallen in love with Kermit the frog, Grover, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Guy Smiley and so many more lovable characters. Then came the Muppets, a derivative of Sesame Street with more adult humor. Who could forget Miss Piggy and her uber love for Kermit, crazy Gonzo and his dancing chickens, Fozzie and his not so haha jokes, Animal and his crazy skills on the drums, the Swedish Chef, the Professor and Beaker and so many more lovable characters.
It’s through these types of shows and their use of puppets that influenced many to want to learn the trait of the business, to become a puppeteer. It’s not for the serious soul; if you're silly and have a good sense of humor then you are very much a candidate. As is Saudi puppeteer Ammar Sabban, his white immigrant Yeti from the Himalayas Afroott and the rest of the puppet gang.
Arab News got an insight into what goes on inside the puppet world from certified puppeteer Ammar Sabban and how he turned his dream into reality.
Q. Puppeteer is an interesting job title, but one you love and enjoy doing so much. How were you introduced into this fun profession?
A. I’m the type of guy that looks for humor in every situation. I grew up watching Looney Tunes and Hanna Barbera cartoons as well as “The Muppet Show” as my mom recorded so many episodes while we were in United States [when I was] a child. If you’ve lived through the 1980’s in Saudi Arabia, you would remember how there was just that 30 minutes of cartoons per day, not to mention the excitement of Thursday morning cartoons. I was so mesmerized by “The Muppets;" I would analyze in my head the mechanism of how they’d get the mouth moving, hands gestures and a million questions roamed my head. I was literally in awe and I made a promise to myself that when I grew up I’d either do voice-overs for cartoons or become a puppeteer, but I became an architect instead.
Q. You went from wanting to be a puppeteer or doing voice-overs to engineer, what happened?
A. It’s the system — how can you be something other than a profession approved of in the Kingdom? A puppeteer. I don’t think so. I went to school, went on to King Abdul Aziz University, became an architect and landed a good job which I enjoyed until 2011. One visit to NYC for a workshop I was attending, I visited the Apple store and saw FAO Schwartz next door so I did the natural thing and headed inside. Toy shops and electronic stores are what entice me. Walking around, I later found a corner in the store where you can build your own puppet, I went nuts, the dream I had as a child came back rushing at me and I ended up designing two puppets to take home with me. In 2013, I took the family for a States summer trip and passed by NYC again and ended up with four more puppets, I couldn’t help myself, I loved puppets!
Q. So you had the puppets, but you were still working at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology. What changed your career path to what it is now?
A. At the time, I was introducing the idea of a puppet show but no one was convinced. Since getting the puppets, I was playing with them and figuring out how to perfect my hold on them; it was fun and I enjoyed it, I knew then that this was what I wanted to do. I had a creative consultancy and graphics design business on the side but I decided to make time for my puppets only. So I quit my job, continued to freelance with my side business and still promoting the idea of a puppet show. At the time there was word of the return of one of the famous Arab puppet show called “Iftah ya Simsim” or “Open Sesame” in English, and I sent in audition videos but I didn’t get it. Even though I was rejected, I still sought after the positive and decided to go ahead to do my own show on YouTube because it’s the best way to promote my ideas. It was a huge game changer for me, going from a steady job to becoming a puppeteer, but I loved it and it was a challenge I had to take upon myself.
Q. Your videos are very comical, witty and fun. You clearly had a good idea where you wanted to go when it came to content and ideas. Was it clear from the start or did you have some help starting up?
A. Oh no way! It was hard, the person who helped me from the get go was Omar Hussain. We met up for some work together and I presented him with my idea, he was intrigued and a few weeks later we were brainstorming ideas and filmed a pilot episode. My show was becoming a reality. A few weeks later I met Faisal and Feras Sheraiff who sponsored two episodes. Loay Naseem came into the picture after that and also sponsored two episodes. It was a great start, I learned how to do almost everything such as editing. I bought lots of instruments and had gotten an essence of the job required from me to get it done within the limits of my vision for the show.
Q. You not only create your own videos, but you’ve participated in many initiatives with the help of your puppet Afroott the Yeti. First of all, who is Afroott and why did you choose to get involved instead of just simply create more videos?
A. I wanted to show what a puppet can do, to educate, to get viewers to laugh or simply to get a message through. Afroott is a Yeti who emigrated with his parents to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from the Himalayas. With a puppet you can get away with a lot of stuff and I chose to participate in a number of initiatives that promote positivism. I steer away from profanity because the intent of my shows is to be a family-friendly show just as The Muppets were. I put limits and chose not to show images that portray negativity, hostility or profanity because in the end I want children to watch with their parents, something fun for them to see. Not something that can influence them to do something bad and ill-mannered, a TV show for the whole family to come sit and enjoy together, of which, ironically, our media lacks. I’m no social counselor, but the content I choose is what I would want my kids to live by, good manners and humor doesn’t need to derived from profanity. If the initiative sends a good message, count me in. I joined Outlanders in KSA, Engineering for Kids, YIG Community, Bringing Joy, No Bullying and also did some sketches for Jeddah Comedy Club along with other entities.
Q. You’re a self-taught puppeteer, not to undermine your effort, but you’re really great at it! Have you attended any workshops or classes at all that helped you get better?
A. Ever since I chose to make time for my puppets, I’ve watched countless video tutorials on the arts of puppeteering, especially those that included the late Jim Henson, creator of Sesame Street and the Muppets. I spent so many hours playing around and training myself with my puppets — there is more to it than just hand movements. It was a bit difficult when it came to finances for me to just go and attend a long workshop especially since I didn’t know if this new career path would last, but my break came a few months ago when one of my best friends and supporters went to San Francisco for work and I went along. We searched for a puppeteering institute and found one that specialized in puppet building, designing and puppeteering for TV. We had to compress a two-month workshop to ten days, and as luck would have it, we trained under one of the people that actually worked on Sesame Street in the 1970’s and the first Muppet movies, Mr. Michael Earl. We learned a lot since he was also working with the late Jim Henson, as well as the inside story of how working with Jim Henson was at the time. I received the highest compliment from Mr. Earl as he compared my style to an early Jim Henson! With that being said, it was the best experience of my life. I’m now certified, I love this job!
Q. What are your future plans for yourself and your puppets?
A. I want to expand more in the Kingdom for one. I’ve gotten a lot of criticism about being biased to the Western region, since I’m from Jeddah it just came natural to me. But I intend to seek talented people from around the Kingdom and from the Arab world such as Egypt for example. Getting a puppet such as Afroott to interact with other cultures, showing the blunders from these interactions with humor involved will introduce not only Afroott but also the differences and similarities of other cultures with the Jeddah culture as an example, it’s simply a funny way into the different cultures of our country and region. I just signed a contract with Lomar to produce six episodes but I was simply self-employed doing what I wanted, when I wanted and presenting my take on the show. I have to have a say in what content the show must present and having signed up with a company means that my applications will be respected and my ideas will not go wary.
Q. Having created such an overhaul with your career and life in general, who was your inspiration behind your love for puppets and the forces that drove you to your chosen career path now?
A. Jim Henson is my role model and the creation of Sesame Street and The Muppets changed my life, I was hooked from the first time watching. My mother would sometimes joke around how I was engulfed in my bubble while watching The Muppets and how nothing, no matter what, could snatch me away from the TV. Changing my career was one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken in my life. But with the support of my beloved wife Bedour, my kids Hamza, Dana and Saria along with my parents Dr. Aidaroos and Prof. Ebtisam Halawani, I was able to push through that difficult phase in my life because they believed in me 1000 percent. The journey of getting to where I am now would have been far more difficult if I didn’t have their support as well as the support of the many friends I’ve come upon since the start of my YouTube videos staring Afroott. That belief inspires me to go ahead and continue with the dream of having a great family-friendly show for everyone to enjoy. It’s simple but their support means the world; it’s what drives me.
For some of the funniest videos out there, check out more of Ammar Sabban and his puppet Afroott on his YouTube page Afroott, and Instagram page with the same name. Enjoy!
