This Tuesday, the Keswick Theatre will be overrun by puppets behaving badly when the Stuffed & Unstrung tour rolls into town.

Serving as ringleader for this adult puppet improv circus is Patrick Bristow. A successful actor (you may remember him from Ellen and Showgirls) and improv teacher in Los Angeles, Bristow co-created, directs and hosts Stuffed and Unstrung for the Jim Henson Company.

Here’s what he has to say about making felt perform spontaneously, how this isn’t the usual Muppet show, and how he feels about being a part of the most notorious film of the ‘90s.

How did you get involved with Stuffed & Unstrung?

Before it was Stuffed & Unstrung it was just a series of classes. Brian Henson wanted to add improv techniques to the skill set of some of the puppeteers that he hired on a regular basis for their various film and TV projects. He heard about me and brought me in to teach six weeks of a once a week three-hour class. The puppeteers took to it really quickly. Some of them actually had improv training before, but they hadn’t really done it with puppets, and that’s a different ball of wax entirely. So they were just doing so good and the classes were so fun that I suggested that we do an informal performance for the other Henson employees and give these puppeteers a chance to try doing puppet improv in front of a real but friendly audience.

Brian took it a step further and he scheduled the soundstage on the Henson lot — which is the old Charlie Chaplin lot –and brought in bleachers and sound equipment and everything. Before we knew it we had an audience of about 200 people for that first demonstration of puppet improv. There was no notion of doing it as a show at that point. There was a thought of “hey maybe this is a TV show down the road.” So we did that performance and there were people from the Aspen Comedy Festival there and they said bring your show to the festival in February. And we were like it’s not really a show, it’s just a demonstration, but okay.

So we went there and there were reps from the Edinburgh Festival there. They booked us for the following August and before you knew it we were getting these bookings kind of by kismet. So we started forming a show based on those early endeavors. The show has really taken its form over several years of performances here, there and everywhere. It became Stuffed and Unstrung, which is a puppet variety show that’s mostly improvised, but there are some set pieces as well. (more…)

I don’t even know what half of these are

In an era where politicians can announce their run for office on Facebook, Twitter, and make nationwide headlines for joining Pinterest and Spotify, the social media savvy voter has to ask… will candidates who don’t show up on the digital playing field be left behind?

Well, this Thursday, April 19th, you can have those questions answered for you at the National Constitution Center.

A number of political strategists and social media folks are coming to the NCC to chat about the role of social media and its impact on the 2012 presidential campaign, with Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post moderating.

Speakers include Maria Cardona, the Emmy-nominated Daniel Sieberg (Google Politics & Elections), Andrew Rasiej (co-founder of TechPresident), Todd Van Etten (Managing Director of Crowdverg), and more. For a full list of speakers and their backgrounds, visit the NCC’s official website.

The panel is free and open to the public. Come learn something.

Social Media: The New Political Battleground
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
constitutioncenter.org/calendar/social-media-the-new-political-battleground

National Constitution Center
525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 409-6895
www.constitutioncenter.org

When I was just a little kid, my mom wouldn’t let my brother and I have guns. Wisely, because we were like 5 and 7 years old. She also wouldn’t let us have toy guns, but that was a losing battle. You see, we loved acting out scenes from the surprisingly violent movies we were allowed to watch. Every stick became either a sword, rocks were grenades, and mailing tubes were bazookas.

Every day we were diving in slow-mo, twitching and pulsing as we took hundreds of imaginary bullets to the chest, gasping out instructions for the other to carry on without us, turning in performances that would make David Caruso accuse us of overacting. The amount of spittle spent on machine gun noises would probably gross us out today, but in our back yard we were heroes.

The one thing we always wanted, but could never convince mom or dad to get us, was fake blood. We would have settled for the packets you bite down on a la The Sting, or even just the liquid stuff that we could smear on our shirts during the dramatic “DON’T YOU DARE DIE ON ME” moments.

Alas, we never got it, but it did make us enthusiastic for the theater at a young age when we saw an outdoor production of Macbeth with enough of the red stuff flowing to make it appear that the Kool Aid man had been shot.

Which is a long winded lead up for the fact that ol’ Billy Wigglestick’s bloodiest play, Titus Andronicus, is being performed by the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theater from April 18 – May 19th. In addition to puppets and special light effects, the production will feature lots and lots and lots of fake blood.

I can hardly wait.

Titus Andronicus @ the Philly Shakespeare Theatre
April 18th – May 19th, 2012

Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre‎
2111 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 496-9722
phillyshakespeare.org‎

Jarvus Innovations is hosting the Jarvus Digital Media Gallery during this year’s Philly Tech Week.  Taking place on Monday, April 23rd from 7pm to 10pm, this event will feature local digital art on a series of TVs, monitors, and projectors around the studio.

Do you like supporting the local arts?  Do you like free food and drinks?  Do you LOVE pixels?  Then this event is for you.

And if you’re a local digital artist, you can have your artwork featured!  Visit the Philly Tech Week website to find out how you can submit your work.

Jarvus Digital Media Gallery @ Philly Tech Week
Monday, April 23 from 7pm to 10pm
908A N. 3rd St, Philadelphia, PA 1912
www.facebook.com/events/277485352317164

Poster by Haunt Love

Its been a while since we had a Geekadelphia movie night at The Trocadero, but that’s about to change. Friday, May 4th we will be screening the 1987 classic Masters of the Universe at the Troc followed by Skeletor Karaoke for FREE! I am a HUGE fan of Skeletor Karaoke and he will also be on hand helping with hosting duties. If that isn’t enough for you, before the film we will be screening the world premier of the trailer for the South Fellini horror epic Alpha Girls.

If you have never seen Masters its definitely a product of the 80s and something that has to be seen to be believed. The film (produced by the infamous Cannon Films) was released AFTER the popularity of the cartoon and toyline, leading to a box office bomb, the demise of the studio, and the cancellation of their planned adaptation of Spider-Man.

Fun Fact: The left over sets were used in another 80s classic with another 80s action superstar… Cyborg with Jean-Claude Van Damme.

There will also be some awesome prizes for those who dare to dress up as their favorite Masters of the Universe characters (She-ra counts!). Dolph Lundgren, beer, karaoke and blood splattered sorority girls this night has everything, BE THERE! Since it’s first Friday, doors will be at 8:30 with the film rolling at 9:00. Karaoke will start at the film’s conclusion. Check out the trailer below!

Deals on the Way is a nifty Chrome Extension that integrates into Google Maps and aggregates data from deal sites to help you find discounted food and entertainment in your local area.

Once you install the extension, ask Google for directions and you’ll see a button that opens up a window offering up discounted gift certificates, event tickets and vouchers.  You can even customize the deals that you see by modifying the filters across the six categories and the 50+ sub-categories.

Here’s a video of how it works:

Deals on the Way from Aksel Gungor on Vimeo.

The “on the Way” part of the name represents the idea that you can find deals even when you’re traveling outside of Philly.  We know you would NEVER leave Philly, but let’s pretend you were shipped out of town for work.  Instead of eating at the crappy hotel restaurant and watching reruns of Family Guy on TV, you can use this site to find something interesting and different without having to sign up for a plethora of local deal sites.  Heck, it can even help you find something interesting right here in Philly!

The group that created the extension, Ridaroo, is a local Philly-based start-up run by a group of Drexel graduates.

According to the Mayans, December 21, 2012 is going to be a really, really bad day for everybody. Or if you talk to fans of The Walking Dead, a zombie uprising is inevitable and we all need to be ready.

Thankfully for everyone, Nerd Nite has our backs. As a public service, they are going to host A Nerd’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse as part of the Philadelphia Science Festival. For just $5, you will learn what to be on the look out for, discuss the various ways movies and television have portrayed the end of days, and be trained how to survive and what you need to make your very own apocalypse survival kit.

So be at Frankford Hall  at 8:00 PM on April 26th to learn what to do when the world ends. Remember, when have the Mayans ever been wrong?

Nerd’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse @ Philly Science Festival
April 26th, 2012, $5
www.philasciencefestival.org

Frankford Hall
1210 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19125
www.frankfordhall.com

Website design has gone from something very complicated that you needed to hire someone to do for you to something almost anyone can do for themselves. And WordPress is a big part of the reason why.

Started in 2003 as a free, open source blogging tool, it now powers millions of websites across the internet and makes setting up a website as easy as a download and a few clicks. But one of the great things about the platform is that you can customize and tweak it as much as you like, or keep it simple and just start posting.

If you ever wanted to know more about WordPress, Philly Tech Week has you covered.

The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philly WordPress Meetup group are presenting WordPress for Beginners & Intermediates, presentations designed to get you rolling and working with the platform. The Beginners presentation will cover posting content, handling comments and working with video and audio. The Intermediates presentation will go over creating themes and plugins and what exactly that entails.

So be at the Philadelphia Inquirer’s building (400 N Broad St, Philadelphia) at 6:00 PM on April 25th. It will cost you $10 and you do have to register, but it will be worth every penny if you want to know the ins and outs of WordPress and what it can do for you.

WordPress for Beginners & Intermediates
April 25th, 6pm, $10
www.phillytechweek.com/events/WordPress_for_Beginners-Intermediates

Philly Tech Week
www.phillytechweek.com

The chip tune impresarios are back again this month with a fantastic line up of artists to soothe your aching digital auditory inputs. Last month was 8 static’s pulse pounding debut at their new venue and now they’ve decided to dial it back a notch or two on the old hacked and soldered sound board.

Trash80 will be exhibiting his very own brand of melodic and decidedly danceable auditory delights. You’ll have your feet moving to some of the most jazzy chip tunes you’ll find. Occasionally eschewing a purely 8-bit auditory aesthetic, Trash80 really knows how to seamlessly bring together the 8-bit and analog world.

Shawnphase will mix up the mood with an ensemble of ambient electro-metal band goodness. Adding some traditional instruments to the usual menagerie of 8-bit hardware really provides some extra depth to the music.

Disassembler is going to be there to delight you with some Nanoloop grooves. If you’ve been in attendance before, you’ll know that he’s been to a few of the open mics and knows how to keep people moving on the dance floor.

Visualicious will also be there to lull your eyes into a trance with some gorgeous visuals. As always, there will be a fascinating workshop going on before the show. This month, Dino Lionetti from Cheap Dinosaurs will be talking about odd time signatures and how to craft a song using them.

All of you budding chip tune artists out there better listen up! You can sign up for the open mic, but slots fill up quickly and it is best to register as soon as you can!

This month is a show that will probably be talked about for a long time to come, so it would be best to experience it first hand rather than have someone describe all of the music to you in words. It just isn’t the same as hearing it with your own auditory receptors. For more information, visit 8static’s official website.

8static
Saturday, April 14th, 2012, 7pm
$7-10

PhilaMOCA
531 North 12th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19123

I am not proud of this Photoshop

Update: Contest over! Thanks for playing! The Philadelphia Science Festival is quickly approaching, and we sure are psyched here at Geekadelphia. With institutions all over the city celebrating in their own way, there are a TON of events to check out.

But there are only twelve movies.

Listen Geeks, I know you. So we’ve teamed up with the folks at the Science Festival to run this awesome contest. We’re giving away a special film package to a lucky reader.

You’ll score two passes to see ALL THE FILMS during the festival, and each pass is worth nearly $100 ($96.50). One of the films is free with admission to the Franklin Institute, so as a bonus, you’ll get free admission to the museum for the day. Movies screening at the Science Festival include:

• 4/21: Man on a Mission *
• 4/22: Eco Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson *
• 4/22: Wiebo’s War *
• 4/23: Chasing Ice
• 4/23: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
• 4/24: The Chocolate Farmer *
• 4/24: The Corridor
• 4/24: Apartment 143
• 4/27: The City Dark
• 4/28: Flatline
• 4/28: Pink Ribbons, Inc *
• 4/29: A Fierce Green Fire *

* Indicates a Philadelphia and/or East Coast premiere.

Yes, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is seriously playing during the Philadelphia Science Festival. Do not question this. DO NOT.

So in the tradition of this being a festival about science, leave a comment about your favorite science fiction flick for a chance to win. I’ll select one of you at random on Monday, and winners will have their tickets mailed to them directly from the festival. Please note, a lot of these films overlap, so you’ll have to choose your movies wisely.

Make sure you visit the Philadelphia Science Festival’s website for more information on the awesome celebration of SCIENCE.

Philadelphia Science Festival 2012
April 20th – 29th, 2012
www.philasciencefestival.org

Red Tettemer’s Annie Heckenberger is basically Philadelphia’s Plutarch Heavensbee. If you don’t get the reference, I apologize. If you do, then head to the Marion Anderson Center on April 16th, for the Philadelphia Foursquare Games, a Hunger Games inspired foursquare tournament.

Tributes have been chosen from Indy Hall, Technically Philly, InLiquid, the William Way Community Center, PANMA, P’unk Ave, Social Media Club Philly, and of course, Geekadelphia.

Competitors from each ‘district’ will duel it out on the court in this terrifying game of foursquare. A victor will be crowned, losers will cry, and it will all be livestreamed.

The event is free. The winner will walk home with a trophy and some serious bragging rights. Come hang out. And may the odds fornever be in Technically Philly’s favor.

Philly Foursquare Games
April 16, 2012
phillyfoursquaregames2012.eventbrite.com

Our friends over at Medium Rare Cinema are screening another one of a kind cut of a film that you can’t see anywhere else. Head over to the Broad Street Ministry this Thursday, April 12th at 7:30pm to catch an uncut version of the Ringo Lam 1988 classic School on Fire.

This version, which they’ve dubbed Ringo Lam’s original cut, was achieved by restoring 36 edits. This accounts for more the 6 minutes that were forced on Lam by Hong Kong censors.

The film involves a young schoolgirl who becomes caught in a tragic stranglehold of triad activity after she testifies in court over a triad beating. When this news reaches the triad leader, she must pay him protection money for what she has done as events begin to escalate.

The film will be presented digitally in Cantonese with newly translated English subtitles. There will also be a discussion afterwards, accompanied by trivia and prizes. All this for a mere $5. Check out the trailer below!