May 27 – June 02 (2024) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

I saw this on Twitter this past week and almost spit out my iced tea, I was laughing so hard. I’m a big fan of alternative messages being presented because of burned out letters on lighted signs, but this may be the best one ever!

As I was walking into the Monsterpalooza convention on Saturday morning the song “Jaded” by Aerosmith was in my head, and stayed there for most of the day. What a great sounding song.

Monday the 27th – MEMORIAL DAY! – Even on holidays it’s sometimes necessary to work. A video game company was behind on their project so they asked my agent if I would do a one-hour session from my home studio on Memorial Day. I gladly said yes. I didn’t have much else going on anyway on this day, so why not make some dough? When I finished I called my pal Chris Malmin and asked him to meet me for lunch at Paty’s. I’ve known Chris since I was 25 and living in South Dakota. He’s pretty much like the little brother I never had. We had a 3+ hour lunch; laughing, reminiscing, and catching up. I drove back home and did some work around the house, and recorded some auditions that were due Tuesday morning. Later I typed out Wally’s Week, took my nightly WOG (walk/jog) and spent some time outside in the anti-gravity chair enjoying some relaxation under a gorgeous night sky. Since it’s my Memorial Day tradition, I made some hot dogs on the grill and watched the final episode from the first season of “The High Chaparral.”

Tuesday the 28th – FROGENSTEIN! – In anticipation for this weekend’s Monsterpalooza in Pasadena, I had a lot of things to do to prepare for a little project I was doing for the convention. I wanted to do a mash-up of Kermit the Frog and Frankenstein. If you’ve been following Wally’s Week for the past month or so, you’re well aware of the adventures; from the puppet arriving four days late, to all of the other things involved in creating this character. I needed some more Barge glue (a wonderful glue for puppet-making), so I headed over to Foam Mart in Burbank to get some. Right across the street is Hobby Lobby, so I went there to buy some other things I needed for the build. I picked up some special scissors to make his little wrist and leg scars, some elastic, and some “Kermit green-colored” Velcro. Perfect! I picked up a few groceries at the store, stopped at Paty’s for a salad, and headed home to do some work. I had an audition I needed to record, and I bought an additional weekend pass for Monsterpalooza for my friend Edi. Later I took my nightly WOG and spent some more time decompressing afterwards in my anti-grav chair outside. When I got back inside I sat down and compiled a detailed list for the things I’d need for this weekend’s convention.

Wednesday the 29th – BUCKET HEAD! – After a quick stop through the McDonald’s drive-thru for some lunch, I headed over to Atlas Studios in Burbank to do a one-hour session for another video game. I had done several sessions for this project previously, and it’s always fun to revisit it. Hopefully I’ll be in for a few more sessions before the game is officially released, as the producers said the response to my character during Beta testing has been very favorable. When I got back home I did some prep work, as my pal Drew Massey was going to come by later and help me construct the Frogenstein head piece for my Kermit puppet. I was OK making the monster boots myself, but the head piece was a different animal. In order to get an accurate measurement for the piece, my hand had to be INSIDE the puppet’s head. And that’s a little hard to do by myself. Plus having Drew’s expertise would be a fantastic addition to the character. When he arrived later I was amazed that he simply eye-balled what needed to be built, and really never took any measurements! That’s experience for ya! He also suggested adding the typical Frankenstein eyelids, which I hadn’t considered doing, but they looked great! We got the main piece constructed and after he left I continued working on it. I managed to get the fabric attached to the piece, and even applied the fake fur for hair. Because it would take some time (and a lot of hair spray) to get those trademark Frankenstein bangs on his forehead, I just let the hair fly free until after Drew had completed his work on it. I also added little metal clamps and screws to his head to give him that recognizable Frankenstein look. It was turning out very well! Drew will return on Thursday to finish up the head piece by attaching the bulky brow. I recorded my nightly auditions, worked around the house, took my nightly WOG, and relaxed in the anti-grav chair outside before bed.

Thursday the 30th – THE “COUNT”-DOWN IS ON! – The day began with my pal Drew Massey helping to complete the Frogenstein headpiece by stitching on a bulky Frankenstein brow. He made it by putting a piece of armature wire inside a piece of L200 (rubbery material) and gluing it together. That way the brow could be bent to the contours of Frogenstein’s eyes. I was supposed to stop by the Alex In Wonderland studios after Drew finished so I could pick up the newly re-done Count Von Count replica puppet, as well as the finished costume for the Frogenstein puppet. I figured I’d stop at Paty’s and get a salad before heading over there. But while I was eating Alex texted me to tell me she wasn’t feeling well and was at the doctor’s. She said to come by later and check the progress. So, I headed back home. My pal Sara came over to do some work, and later my friends Scott and Vickie Sebring stopped by to transfer some newly-tweaked digital copies of the Laurel & Hardy films that weren’t reading on my system last weekend (see last week’s Wally’s Week). I tested them on my system and they all worked perfectly. Now I have all 40 shorts on a hard drive that I can randomly select from anytime I want to see them. We headed over to the Coral Café to get some dinner, and then we all went to Alex In Wonderland’s shop to check on her progress. She was just in the early stages of building the Frogenstein costume and I started to panic a little. I’d be leaving for the con the next day! The Count looked great with his new nose and monocle. I brought her the wire for the eyebrows, as the wire and the monocle needed to be stitched down to his face before the nose is stitched down. We still had a lot to do, but she promised me that her husband Mike would bring The Count by later that night so I could begin the process of building his eyebrows. Since his eyebrows “float” on wires, I needed to have the wires secured to his face under the nose. Then the two ends of the wires come out of spots toward the top of his nose, and that’s where I needed to add the leather backing and the felt eyebrows. With my fingers crossed I headed back home to record my auditions for the night. My pal Kenny Myers called me (he’s one of the top make-up artists in the biz and he made me up as Tony Clifton back in 2022) and asked if I was coming to Monsterpalooza. I told him I was. He said they’d be doing make-ups to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Young Frankenstein,” and he asked if I would stop by his booth and do some live announcing. I told him I would be honored, and I would have Frogenstein in tow. He thought it was a terrific idea! FUN! While I waited for Mike to arrive with The Count I did some packing for the weekend. I don’t like driving back and forth to the convention in Pasadena from my house every day, so I get a room at the hotel next door to the convention center. Back in 2022 when I did Tony Clifton for the After Party the producer got me a hotel room. Since then I’ve been spoiled. It helps with the parking problems too, as parking around Monsterpalooza is always a challenge. Later Mike delivered the Count and his new nose and monocle were vast improvements over the other ones. He had two little black wires sticking out the top of his nose and they looked like a bug’s antennae! I sat down in the kitchen and covered the entire puppet with plastic so no glue would drip anywhere I didn’t want it. I drew out the pattern for the eyebrows (which I had done wrong the first few incarnations of this character) and they looked perfect! I traced the pattern onto two pieces of thin leather, and glued it onto the backs of the wires. Then I spray-glued two pieces of black felt together, and cut eyebrows out of that. I glued the leather and wire together with the felt eyebrows. The idea is that the wires will be “locked in” between the leather and the eyebrows and never come apart. They looked fantastic. I got a ton of work done throughout the day and I was very happy. I took my nightly WOG but didn’t spend much time outside afterwards in the anti-grav chair. I needed to do an early session on Friday morning, so I hit the hay to get a little bit of sleep.

Friday the 31st – MONSTERPALOOZA: DAY 1! – First thing in the morning I set up for the Star Wars-related session that I’d be doing in my home studio. I can’t say anything more about it, but it was a very fun hour-long session. I did some last minute packing, and I was still waiting nervously for Frogenstein to be delivered by Alex from Alex In Wonderland. It looked like she might be bringing him over just mere minutes before I was set to leave the convention at 2. I got everything packed and loaded into the Gray Ghost, and got ready to go. Alex and Mike pulled up with Frogenstein and he looked FANTASTIC! She still had a few things to sew, so she stood in my garage and did last minute stitching. I drove to Pasadena and checked into my room – 566. Not 666. But 566. One floor below the devil, I guess. We all had a nice laugh about that. I unpacked and headed to the little restaurant in the hotel lobby. Later Angi dropped by to have dinner with me. The hotel had the silent “Hunchback of Notre Dame” with Lon Chaney running on the screen just outside the restaurant, so they really knew how to tap into the Monsterpalooza crowd’s interests. Shortly after 6, Angi and I grabbed my Beautiful Day monster puppet and got in line to get our wristbands. My back was already sore from all of the crazy activity leading up to this weekend. But the line went fairly quickly and we got inside with no problem. As is usual with Monsterpalooza I saw a lot of great friends. While the line was short for the museum, Angi and I headed in. I ran into my pal Casey Wong, a fantastic sculptor and make-up artist, and legendary puppet builder Bill Diamond. We had a great time chatting about puppets, make-up, and Muppets. Angi and I wandered around the convention and she took some great pictures and video on her extravagant camera. It’s amazing to see the look on people’s faces when they see a Muppet from across the room; even if they don’t recognize the character right away. Just the fact that it has the trademark Muppet look is enough to turn even the most hardened person into an immediate softie. We stopped by the Monster Party booth and saw my pals Larry, Matt, James & Shawn. It’s always great to see those guys. Even though the show was open until 11, we took off around 10. I was already pretty exhausted and I was ready to chill and have a bite to eat. We picked up some food in the little store in the hotel lobby and went to my room to eat and hang out with Angi’s little doggie Khloe. In honor of the character in the film “The Ghost of Frankenstein” named Cloestine (played by my friend, the late Janet Ann Gallow), I refer to Khloe as Khloestine. And she had quite the interest in the Frogenstein puppet, but we had to keep it away lest Khloestine mistake him for a chew toy!

Saturday the 1st – MONSTERPALOOZA: DAY 2! – When I got up in the morning I cut some pieces of sticky-backed black and red vinyl to use as the fingernails and wrist scars for Frogenstein. I figured the vinyl wouldn’t stick to the fleece on Kermit’s skin for very long, but I’d give it a shot anyway. In the future I’m going to use the male side of red and black Velcro, as that will stick to the fleece material very securely. My pal Sara showed up to assist me for the day, taking photos and video, and generally helping out. Unfortunately my pal Edi got sick, and wouldn’t be coming. I had bought a separate weekend pass just for her, so I called my pal Jim Ojala to offer it to him. He said he’d meet me later in the day to pick it up. So at least it didn’t go to waste. Saturdays at Monsterpalooza usually sell out pretty fast, so it’s never difficult to find a taker for a spare wristband. I made contact with Scott at the Premiere Products, Inc. booth and told him I was ready to announce anything he needed. He had me hype up the “Young Frankenstein” tribute and it was a great presentation. The character make-ups looked fantastic! Frogenstein was a huge hit, and it was great improvising and interacting with the Monsterpalooza fans. Later Sara and I headed back to the hotel to get a late lunch. The restaurant is very convenient, but I wish they had a great selection of food beyond just hamburgers and Mexican food. I remember eating there last year and they had a much wider selection of entrees. Oh well, it was convenient at least. Sara took off and I headed back to the room at the end of the convention to take a nap. By the time I got up it was about 9:30 at night, and I had agreed to meet my pal Perry outside the hotel for some cigar time. We always talk about doing it every year, but something always comes up to prevent me from meeting him. This year we were doing it! It was a “TWO cigar” night (which is rare for me), but we had such a great time chatting and chilling about everything from monsters to Laurel & Hardy, that we talked for about 3.5 hours…until 1 in the morning! I had brought down the ice bucket from my room filled with ice and two Cokes in glass bottles. It was an amazingly fun time! I went back to my room to pack up some stuff I wouldn’t be needing for the rest of the trip. Assuming that bell carts would be hard to come by at 11am checkout time the next morning, I commandeered one at 2am and took the majority of my luggage down to my car and stored it there. That way, when checkout time comes the next morning, I’ll only have two bags with me that I can carry by hand.

Sunday the 2nd – MONSTERPALOOZA: DAY 3! – After a quick shower, I loaded up my remaining items in two bags and carried them down to my car. I’m sure glad I pre-loaded my car with the majority of the stuff the night before, as bell carts were (as expected) very hard to come by. I got to the convention with only one bag in-hand, and that bag contained The Count. I ran into my pal and seamstress Maggie Roberge (who helped construct The Count) and we walked around the convention floor. She had her original puppet creation Hunter the wolf, and I had The Count. Again, it was fun interacting and improvising with the Monsterpaloozans. My friend and Christoween trademark attorney Stephanie met us to hang out for a while, and we had fun commenting on all of the merchandise and how perfect Christoween would be for Monsterpalooza some year. We took some photos, I shot some videos with people, and it was a great time. It’s amazing to see people’s faces when they spot a Muppet and pass by. But when the puppet moves, looks at them and talks to them in the character voice, they are overcome with delight. It’s so much darned fun! Later my pal Isaiah arrived to hang out with us, and I’m glad I got to introduce him to Stephanie. Isaiah and Maggie will be creating stop-motion Christoween puppets very soon for a 1 minute sizzle reel we’re creating. At the end of the day Maggie, Stephanie and I found ourselves back at the hotel restaurant for lunch. I put the Count in my car and we went back to the convention to do some last-minute shopping. I did some more announcing at the PPI booth, and then PPI’s owner and I hatched a plan to create pre-recorded announcements for future conventions that he could play all weekend-long without me having to be on-site. Brilliant! Right around 3:30 I headed back to my car to head home. I. Was. Exhausted. But happily so. It was a fantastic weekend, but my lower back was killing me! When I got home I did some work and put some stuff away. I knew that if I laid down for a nap I’d never make my dinner engagement later…so I made myself busy. Later I met my pals Alex Zsolt and Rob Richards at the Smoke House for dinner. They had both just attended the funeral for Disney music legend Richard Sherman. I got back home and I had to grab a nap! Later I got up refreshed, and took a nice WOG and spent some VERY relaxing time in the anti-grav chair. It was nice and cool out, and very, very pleasant. I came back inside and put some more stuff away from the weekend. It was a busy night, but eventually I hit the hay and hoped to sleep for a good 7 to 8 hours.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

My pal Dr. Lou George (Dr. Doom, to his friends) received the Dr. Doom bust I sent to him as a gift. His daughter Claudia also approves!

Puppet builder, puppeteer, producer & legend Drew Massey checks the fit of the completed Frogenstein head on the Kermit puppet.

At the video game session this past week, I brought along my Voices Against Cancer tote bag filled with cold iced tea! I can’t wait for the next convention this July 20 and 21 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota!