Puppeteers
Alexandria Compo
Alex was raised by dazzle of zebracorn in a magical far off land. She is an illustrator and a graphic and textile designer. She is also a singing-songwriting-painter, blogger, wannabe gardener, aspiring aquarist and an amateur entomologist. A good idea-er and a kite flying enthusiast. Most especially, a lover of all things fluffy.
Alex is the puppeteer for Scout, Harper the Dove, Zelda the Zebracorn, and Medusa.
Garrett Ingraham
Raised by a pack of swamp gators in the marshes around Sandy Pond, NY, Garrett Ingraham as a young boy would spend most of his time alone. He entertained himself by drawing and writing his own comic books. He also developed a fondness for creating silly voices in his head, which then would eventually come out his mouth. Finally after many years of moderate success toiling as a graphic artist and a would-be coffeehouse mogul, Mr. Ingraham now has a somewhat socially acceptable means of utilizing his voice characterizations by way of puppetry and was invited to join The Guild of Thespian Puppets to voice one of the founding personalities, Clemens The Alligator. Mr. Ingraham tends to lean towards chaos-driven characters, and generally is quite loud and bombastic, contrasting, well…not at all with his usual wonky and unpredictable demeanor. He gives Clemens a loveable, irascible, somewhat befuddled nature coupled with a deep-seated fondness for napping. He gives Choopa a lust for food, Ethel Mermaid a lust for, uh, lust, and Sigmund Fraud access to a veritable smorgasbord of insanities to improperly analyze.
Mr. Ingraham currently resides above The Tramontane Café in Utica, NY with Ms. Robin Raabe, his companion since 1993.
Garrett is the puppeteer for Clemens the Alligator, Choopa the Chupacabra, Ethel Mermaid, Sigmund Fraud the Duck, Livingston the Elephant, and Shackleton the Yeti.
Douglas Keyes
Born to two real human beings, Doug is an actor and curmudgeon. As a child Doug loved to play with puppets. As he got older he dabbled in video games and bicycle riding. He bought a bike several years back, and recently started on video games. Now he does puppets. As Doug continues to regress, it is safe to say diapers are in his future.
Doug has worked as a professional actor portraying the Lord Mayor at the Sterling Renaissance Festival since 2009.
Doug is the puppeteer for Dickens the Cat, Flappy, Walter the Lochness Monster, Shakesbear, Madame JD Salinger the Jersey Devil, Ishmael the Sailor, Fraudrick the Blue Footed Booby, and Maury Arty the Villain.
Justin Parker
Born in what was once the apple capital of the world, Justin Parker was born to a pack of wild boars on November 6th, 1990. He eventually was excommunicated from what he had come to know as his family when they realized he would truly never have the desire to hunt as one of them. Instead, Justin dreamed of a different life, one involving felt and funny voices. Finally, in his mid twenties, he has achieved his life’s goal.
Justin is the puppeteer for Barry Plumpit, Bruce the Bunyip, Nancy the Shark, Mike Mothminski the Mothman, Galileo the Gremlin, and Irving the Pumpkin.
Michael Patrei
Michael is the puppeteer for
Hamlet the Monkey,
Edgar the Raven,
Sal the Mule
Bradbury the Tiger,
Merl the Honey Badger,
Lil’ Dickens the Cat
and Sir Stanley Beaglesworth.
Nicholas Patrei
Nicholas Patrei was raised by a fluffle of jackalopes in the woods of Russell Park in Ilion, NY and as a result he is a true Renaissance man. Besides being a puppeteer for The Guild of Thespian Puppets, Nick is a painter, a craftsman, an artist, a scientist, a musician, a writer, and most of all he is a family man. As the science teacher for the House of the Good Shepherd in Utica, NY, Nick embodies their mission statement by providing “care that changes children’s lives.” He truly cares about his job and the children that the House of the Good Shepherd serves. Through his own excitement and enthusiasm for science he is able to convey to these children the wonder of the world we live in.
Nick has painted several portraits of the puppets from The Guild of Thespian Puppets including Edgar the Raven and Clemens the Alligator. He is also the brother of Michael Patrei, the founder of the Guild.
Nick is the puppeteer for Biggles the Cardinal, Plato the Jackalope, Gregory Peck the Woodpecker, Cervantes the Bull, and Krampus.
Past Contributing Puppeteers
Gregory Scott Mirell
During his time with The Guild, Greg was the puppeteer for Darwin the Squirrel and others.