Norwich Puppet Man
Encyclopedia
David Perry commonly known as the Norwich Puppet Man, is a street entertainer from Norwich
, Norfolk
, England
, who now resides in Great Yarmouth, whose performance
consists of dancing with a range of puppet
s while singing along to pop song
s played on a portable karaoke
machine. Attracting fan
s and hatred
alike, he has been repeatedly featured in the local news
media of East Anglia
such as the Eastern Daily Press
and the Norwich Evening News
. Lately he has also found fans on internet sites such as the video-sharing platform YouTube
or the social network
website
Facebook
.
s over songs by Elvis Presley
and The Beatles
. He first started performing as the Norwich Puppet Man in the mid-1980s, but in 1997 was forced to quit when his incapacity benefit
was stopped because he was earning money through busking
. He returned to busking on Gentleman's Walk
in late 2005 or early 2006, by which time he no longer needed a busker's licence and internet sites had begun to spread his fame. As he is over 60, he does no longer need a busker's licence.
He usually performs in pedestrian zones located in the city centres of Norwich
and Great Yarmouth
, typically two or three times a week and mainly in the afternoons and on weekends. In Norwich, the Puppet Man can mostly be found on Gentleman's Walk off St Peter Mancroft
and the old Haymarket around the bottom of Hay Hill. In Great Yarmouth he is usually found on Regent Boulevard.
Over the years, Perry's eccentric
style of “dancing in the city centre behind his ghetto blaster and waving his puppets in time to an eclectic range of music” has made the Puppet Man a cult figure in Norwich and Great Yarmouth. In a competition organised by Castle Mall shopping centre in June 2007 titled “The faces that sum up why Norwich is such a fine city”, he was named as one of the “25 Faces of Norwich”.
In summer 2008, Perry was hired by a nightclub in Norwich to perform some live action in front of 2,000 people for a student based event. In August 2008, the Puppet Man publicly announced that he was going to stop busking in Norwich and move his activities to Great Yarmouth, but has since continued to appear in Norwich on a regular basis.
His estimated total earnings per week is £3,750. This is based upon his 2009 interview with local radio. He annually donates 73 pence to BBC Children In Need.
While the provenance
of the first six puppets is unknown, “Basil” and “Suzy” were donated in June 2007 by the owners of “Langley's”, a Norwich toy shop located in Royal Arcade on Gentleman's Walk. Commenting on the puppets, Perry said about the gifts: “Some people don’t like my singing. I was pleased to get the new puppets. I’ve named the fox Basil and the squirrel is his girlfriend Suzy. Basil likes to dance to the Beatles and Suzy sometimes makes an appearance. Basil was a relation to Basil Brush
and now he’s been made to work on the street he’s not happy about it.”
s of Norfolk, claiming to capture unappreciated parts of the county. A group set up in his honour on the social network website Facebook gained more than 4,000 members, and tens of thousands of viewers have watched clips of him that were posted on the video website YouTube.
While Perry's peculiar brand of entertainment has undoubtedly made him locally famous, the quality of the Puppet Man's performances remains controversial. While some describe him as a “legend” and a “great favourite with many shoppers in Gentleman’s Walk”, others find him to be “a noisy obstruction totally bereft of any skill or creativity”. When Perry was named one of the “25 Faces of
Norwich”, a local shop manager said about the Puppet Man that he “adds fun to the streets of Norwich, he puts a smile on hundreds of people’s faces every day” while an angry letter from an anonymous reader of the Norwich Evening News
branded him a “dullard, in a backwater
of inbreeding
”.
In line with his varied public perception
, Perry has not only been featured in local newspapers and on the internet but also become subject to abuse
by some people and sometimes even violence. In September 2010, he was reported to have been attacked in Great Yarmouth.
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, who now resides in Great Yarmouth, whose performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
consists of dancing with a range of puppet
Puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, such as a puppet, in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or...
s while singing along to pop song
Pop Song
Pop Song is the first single by the Drugs. It was released in 2000 and earned the Drugs some positive press. It has been described as "addictive". A live version was released on The Only Way Is Up...
s played on a portable karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
machine. Attracting fan
Fan (person)
A Fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person with a liking and enthusiasm for something, such as a band or a sports team. Fans of a particular thing or person constitute its fanbase or fandom...
s and hatred
Hatred
Hatred is a deep and emotional extreme dislike, directed against a certain object or class of objects. The objects of such hatred can vary widely, from inanimate objects to animals, oneself or other people, entire groups of people, people in general, existence, or the whole world...
alike, he has been repeatedly featured in the local news
Local news
In journalism, local news refers to news coverage of events in a local context which would not normally be of interest to those of other localities, or otherwise be of national or international scope.-Television:...
media of East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
such as the Eastern Daily Press
Eastern Daily Press
The Eastern Daily Press, commonly referred to as the EDP, is a regional newspaper covering Norfolk, and northern parts of Suffolk and eastern Cambridgeshire, and is published daily in Norwich, UK....
and the Norwich Evening News
Norwich Evening News
The Norwich Evening News is a daily local newspaper published in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It covers the city and the surrounding suburbs, and is published by Archant. It is the best-selling newspaper in Norwich. As of 28 February 2011 this paper will be out for 6 am, as the stories are written...
. Lately he has also found fans on internet sites such as the video-sharing platform YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
or the social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
.
Style
Using a karaoke machine, the puppets dance while David Perry sings his own interpretationInterpretation
-Language:* Language interpretation, the facilitation of dialogue between parties using different languages* Interpretation of tongues, a supernatural ability to understand unknown languages* Semantics, assignment of meanings to symbols-Philosophy:...
s over songs by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. He first started performing as the Norwich Puppet Man in the mid-1980s, but in 1997 was forced to quit when his incapacity benefit
Incapacity benefit
Incapacity Benefit is a United Kingdom state benefit that is paid to those below the State Pension age who cannot work because of illness or disability and have made National Insurance contributions. It is administered by Jobcentre Plus...
was stopped because he was earning money through busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
. He returned to busking on Gentleman's Walk
Norwich Market
Norwich Market is an outdoor market consisting of around 200 stalls in central Norwich, England. Founded in the latter part of the 11th century to supply Norman merchants and settlers moving to the area following the Norman conquest of England, it replaced an earlier market a short distance...
in late 2005 or early 2006, by which time he no longer needed a busker's licence and internet sites had begun to spread his fame. As he is over 60, he does no longer need a busker's licence.
He usually performs in pedestrian zones located in the city centres of Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
and Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
, typically two or three times a week and mainly in the afternoons and on weekends. In Norwich, the Puppet Man can mostly be found on Gentleman's Walk off St Peter Mancroft
St Peter Mancroft
St Peter Mancroft is a parish church in the Church of England, in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. It is the largest church in Norwich and was built between 1430 and 1455. It stands on a slightly elevated position, next to the market place...
and the old Haymarket around the bottom of Hay Hill. In Great Yarmouth he is usually found on Regent Boulevard.
Over the years, Perry's eccentric
Eccentricity (behavior)
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive...
style of “dancing in the city centre behind his ghetto blaster and waving his puppets in time to an eclectic range of music” has made the Puppet Man a cult figure in Norwich and Great Yarmouth. In a competition organised by Castle Mall shopping centre in June 2007 titled “The faces that sum up why Norwich is such a fine city”, he was named as one of the “25 Faces of Norwich”.
In summer 2008, Perry was hired by a nightclub in Norwich to perform some live action in front of 2,000 people for a student based event. In August 2008, the Puppet Man publicly announced that he was going to stop busking in Norwich and move his activities to Great Yarmouth, but has since continued to appear in Norwich on a regular basis.
His estimated total earnings per week is £3,750. This is based upon his 2009 interview with local radio. He annually donates 73 pence to BBC Children In Need.
Puppets
The puppets David Perry has used since appearing as the Norwich Puppet Man are:- “Dougal” (a purple dog, on string)
- “Roy Waller” (a snake hand puppetHand puppetA hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the leg or face that occupies the interior of the puppet. Glove puppets are a variation of hand puppets...
made out of a sock) - “Billy McDog” (a canine hand puppet)
- “Gary” (a banana eating gorilla, named after Gary GlitterGary GlitterGary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...
.) - “Big Tom” (a duck)
- “Mick” (a dog puppet, named after Mick JaggerMick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
) - “Brenda” (named after David Perry's wife)
- “Basil” (a fox)
- “Suzy” (a squirrel)
While the provenance
Provenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...
of the first six puppets is unknown, “Basil” and “Suzy” were donated in June 2007 by the owners of “Langley's”, a Norwich toy shop located in Royal Arcade on Gentleman's Walk. Commenting on the puppets, Perry said about the gifts: “Some people don’t like my singing. I was pleased to get the new puppets. I’ve named the fox Basil and the squirrel is his girlfriend Suzy. Basil likes to dance to the Beatles and Suzy sometimes makes an appearance. Basil was a relation to Basil Brush
Basil Brush
Basil Brush is a fictional anthropomorphic fox raconteur, best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet, but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips...
and now he’s been made to work on the street he’s not happy about it.”
Public perception
Over the years, the Norwich Puppet Man has built up a cult following. As a local original, he has even appeared in a series of postcardPostcard
A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....
s of Norfolk, claiming to capture unappreciated parts of the county. A group set up in his honour on the social network website Facebook gained more than 4,000 members, and tens of thousands of viewers have watched clips of him that were posted on the video website YouTube.
While Perry's peculiar brand of entertainment has undoubtedly made him locally famous, the quality of the Puppet Man's performances remains controversial. While some describe him as a “legend” and a “great favourite with many shoppers in Gentleman’s Walk”, others find him to be “a noisy obstruction totally bereft of any skill or creativity”. When Perry was named one of the “25 Faces of
Norwich”, a local shop manager said about the Puppet Man that he “adds fun to the streets of Norwich, he puts a smile on hundreds of people’s faces every day” while an angry letter from an anonymous reader of the Norwich Evening News
Norwich Evening News
The Norwich Evening News is a daily local newspaper published in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It covers the city and the surrounding suburbs, and is published by Archant. It is the best-selling newspaper in Norwich. As of 28 February 2011 this paper will be out for 6 am, as the stories are written...
branded him a “dullard, in a backwater
Backwater
Backwater or Backwaters may refer to:* Backwater , water in a main river which is backed up by an obstruction such as the tide or a dam, or a branch of a main river which runs alongside it before rejoining it...
of inbreeding
Inbreeding
Inbreeding is the reproduction from the mating of two genetically related parents. Inbreeding results in increased homozygosity, which can increase the chances of offspring being affected by recessive or deleterious traits. This generally leads to a decreased fitness of a population, which is...
”.
In line with his varied public perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
, Perry has not only been featured in local newspapers and on the internet but also become subject to abuse
Abuse
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment for a bad purpose, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, sexual assault, violation, rape, unjust practices; wrongful practice or custom; offense; crime, or otherwise...
by some people and sometimes even violence. In September 2010, he was reported to have been attacked in Great Yarmouth.