Since his childhood Spencer Cohen has been into many kinds of entertainment, now he’s begun to live his dream through live performances! He sat down with Enter Easy Entertainment and gave us the inside scoop into his creative mind, and what he’s planning for the future.
What got you into puppetry?
The Muppets! As a child, Sesame Street was my favorite TV show to watch. Fast forward to 2008, a new Muppets Christmas special, A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, premiered on NBC. I remember watching this special with my family on TV and loving it. It reignited my love for Jim Henson’s cast of lovable characters. From there, I started making videos with puppets, experimenting with puppetry and really trying to hone this special kind of art form. Then, I started taking classes taught by professional puppeteers, attending puppet festivals, and performing in puppet shows throughout the community.
What is your favorite puppet related program?
Honestly, there are too many to count! However, I will say that I love A Muppet Family Christmas because it includes characters from Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock all coming together as one big Muppet family! I loved watching this special as a kid on VHS. I also love the Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back. Master puppeteer Frank Oz did a phenomenal job performing puppet character (and Jedi master) Yoda. In fact, he does such a phenomenal job that one can simply forget that Yoda is a puppet, when watching the film.
How did the process of creating and naming your own puppets go?
My Aunt Karen has built and designed about 90% of my original puppet characters. It wasn’t until my senior year of college that I learned how to build puppets. Since then, I’ve built two puppets: a green monster puppet and a talking sandwich puppet named BLC (Bacon, Lettuce, Cheese). But I am thankful that my aunt continues to build more characters for me to perform. As far as naming my characters, I have named most of them after foods (Doughnut, Cupcake, etc.). I thought this was a funny idea.
Where do you perform with your puppets?
Lately, I’ve been performing my puppet character, Burger, in productions put on by the Puppet Shakespeare Players. With this NYC based theatre company, Burger and I have performed in Manhattan, as well as at Dominican College in Rockland County. Outside of our work with the Puppet Shakespeare Players, I’ve performed with Burger at the Jefferson Valley Mall and Delish Frozen Yogurt Cafe in New Paltz, New York.
What is your ultimate goal with puppetry?
To bring joy and smiles to people young and old. It may sound corny, but it’s the truth!
How long have you been producing music?
For about 8 years, I’d say.
What instruments do you play?
Guitar and ukulele. And I’ve been a singer my entire life.
Favorite artists?
I love The Beatles. They’ve written and performed some of my favorite songs! I also love Johnny Cash. He is one of my heroes and I love to cover his music. Paul Simon is great too. I love to cover his tunes, “Mother and Child Reunion” and “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.” In addition, I love listening to Jackson Browne and rock band Weezer.
Where do you usually perform?
Lately, I’ve been performing at The Peekskill Coffee House. It’s a fantastic place to play and the people that work there are super friendly and supportive of my music. I’ve also performed at the Jefferson Valley Mall and the 2011 and 2012 Music Makes a Difference: Concert for Cancer.
Anything else you want to tell the blog?
I’m always looking for gigs, so if anyone is interested in hiring a puppeteer or musician for a party or special event, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. My contact information, as well as more info about my work with puppetry and music, can be found on my website: spencercohen.com
See a performed by Cohen and his puppet Burger here: https://vimeo.com/230301186
If you want to support Cohen, he will be performing at the Peekskill Coffee House on May 6th!