read moreWearing a Mister Rogers T-shirt with the
words “never forget” emblazoned across it, Terrence Burke studies a
newspaper while drinking an iced coffee at Northside’s Sidewinder
Coffee. The clothing choice is pretty indicative of Burke. In 2010,
Burke founded the zany puppet troupe Wump Mucket Puppets, creating and
performing with his original cast of characters, colorful in both
personality and hue.
Burke’s passion for puppetry started when
he was a child, growing up in Boston. Like many kids who grew up in the
’60s, without the DVR or Netflix of today’s toddlers, Burke loved
Saturday morning TV. He fondly recalls shows like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Captain Kangaroo, Punch and Judy, The Muppets and the early days of Sesame Street.
“I remember asking my parents, ‘What is
that? How do they do that?’ ” Burke says. “My mom found out that the
YMCA was offering a puppetry class and signed me up. I took it over.”
Shortly afterward, Burke met Big Bird and
Oscar the Grouch — aka Caroll Spinney, the hand behind these Muppets —
at a puppetry convention.
Fascinated, Burke continued to build and
experiment with puppetry and stop-motion animation until junior high,
when the fear of being deemed juvenile pushed him to channel his
creativity through school theatre and church choir instead.
After studying radio and television,
Burke and his wife moved to Cincinnati in 1993. His interest in music
led him to create local zine Screed, host an experimental music
show for WAIF-FM, organize community benefit concerts and work at a
music store. “Eventually I got burnt out,” he says. “I started to hate
music.”
In 2001, Burke’s life was flipped upside
down when his father suddenly passed away.
“I spiraled down into a
pretty bad depression,” he says. After agreeing to see a doctor, Burke
was asked what makes him happy. The answer was immediate: puppets. “[The
doctor] threw it back
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