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Puppets Who Kill
''Puppets Who Kill'' is a Canadian television comedy series produced by PWK Productions and originally broadcast on The Comedy Network. It premiered in Canada in 2002, and Australia on The Comedy Channel in 2004. It has also been broadcast in India, South Korea and Germany. The series was on the digital network Hulu and is currently on CONtv and Tubi in the United States. The show follows the antics of Rocko the Dog, Cuddles the Comfort Doll, Buttons the Bear, and Bill the Ventriloquist Dummy, four puppets with anthropomorphic qualities including individual histories of delinquency and recidivism. Canadian courts sent each of them to a halfway house for puppets, operated by a hapless and somewhat incompetent social worker named Dan Barlow, played by Dan Redican. ''PWK'' initially began as a one-man live theatre show written and performed by comedian/puppeteer John Pattison at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 1995. It later morphed into the series, using the same dark topics and f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dan Redican
Dan Redican (born 1956 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe '' the Frantics.'' As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage shows, the ''Frantic Times'' radio show, '' Four on the Floor'' TV show (which aired in England and the US under the name ''The Frantics''). They also have written and performed many albums which are still available on the website Frantics.com. Redican started his career as a puppeteer, performing with various partners at birthday parties and church functions, before joining Tom Vandenburg to perform two family shows at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on Dupont Street: "The Old Fisherman" and "A Day At Rotten Cheese Gulch". After this, Redican focussed on solo performances in London, Ontario at Smale's Pace (later renamed the Change of Pace). Redican entered the world of television puppetry on CHCH's ''Adventures of Snelgrove Snail'' in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States asserts sovereignty over five Territories of the United States, major island territories and United States Minor Outlying Islands, various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three Metropolitan statistical areas by population, largest metropolitan areas are New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Los Angeles, Los Angel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Children's Television
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are normally broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake, immediately before and after school schedules generally start in the country where they air. Educational television, Educational themes are also prevalent, as well as the transmission of cautionary tales and narratives that teach problem-solving methods in some fashion or another, such as social disputes. The purpose of these shows, aside from profit, is mainly to entertain or educate children, with each series targeting a certain age of child: some are aimed at infants and toddlers, some are aimed at those aged 6 to 11 years old, and others are aimed at all children. History Children's television is nearly as old as television itself. In the United Kingdom, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miniature Schnauzer
The Miniature Schnauzer is a dog breed, breed of small dog of the Schnauzer type that originated in Germany in the mid-to-late 19th century. Miniature Schnauzers may have been developed from the smallest specimens of the Standard Schnauzer, or crosses between the standard and one or more smaller breeds such as the Affenpinscher, Miniature Pinscher, and Poodles, as farmers bred a small dog that was an efficient Ratter, ratting dog. They are described as "spunky" but aloof dogs, with good guarding tendencies without some guard dogs' predisposition to bite. Miniature Schnauzers are recognized in four colors internationally: solid black, black and silver, salt and pepper, and white. It is the most popular Schnauzer breed, and remains one of the most popular worldwide, primarily for its temperament and relatively small size. As of 2022 it is the 17th most popular breed in the U.S. History The earliest records surrounding the development of the Standard Schnauzer in Germany come from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chain Smoking
Chain smoking is the practice of smoking several cigarettes in succession, sometimes using the ember of a finishing cigarette to light the next. The term chain smoker often also refers to a person who smokes relatively constantly, though not necessarily ''chaining'' each cigarette. The term applies primarily to cigarettes, although it can be used to describe incessant cigar and pipe smoking as well as vaping. It is a common indicator of addiction. Causes Many people chain-smoke when drinking alcoholic beverages, because alcohol potentiates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, leading to re-sensitization, hence inducing a craving. The extent to which chain smoking is driven by nicotine dependence has been studied. It does not seem that the amount of nicotine delivered is a significant factor, as the puff volume correlates poorly with the frequency of cigarette consumption. Clinical use Chain smoking is given as an example of excessive addictive behavior in the Diagnostic and S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toronto Fringe Festival
The Toronto Fringe Festival is an annual theatre festival, featuring un-juried plays by unknown or well-known artists, taking place in the theatres of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Several productions originally mounted at the Fringe have later been remounted for larger audiences, including the Tony Award-winning musical '' The Drowsy Chaperone,'' and the sitcom '' Kim's Convenience.'' Features The Toronto Fringe Festival started in 1989 and hosts over 150 productions every July. It is well known for not having a jury to judge which plays will be presented. Instead it uses a lottery system which gives each play an equal chance. It depends mostly on volunteers, donors/sponsors, and government grants. One notable feature is the 24-hour playwriting contest in which contestants write a play in one day based on items selected by the Fringe and the winning play is performed on the last day of the festival. File:TorontoFringeLottery.jpg, Winners at the 2009 Toronto Fringe Selection L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. Description Performing as a puppeteer can be physically demanding. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by their own hands placed inside the puppet or holding it externally or any other part of the body- such as the legs. Some puppet styles require two or more puppeteers to work together to create a single puppet character. The puppeteer's role is to manipulate the physical object in such a manner that the audience believes the object is imbued with life. In some instances, the persona of the puppeteer is also an important feature, as with ventriloquist's dummy performers, in which the puppeteer and the human figure-styled puppet appear onstage together, and in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedian
A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience directly is called a stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. A popular saying often attributed to Ed Wynn states: "A comic says funny things; a comedian says things funny." This draws a distinction between how much of the comedy (drama), comedy can be attributed to verbal content and how much to acting and persona. Since the 1980s, a new wave of comedy, called alternative comedy, has grown in popularity with its more offbeat and experimental style. This normally involves more experiential, or observational reporting (e.g., Alexei Sayle, Daniel Tosh, Malcolm Hardee). As far as content is concerned, comedians such as Tommy Tiernan, Des Bishop, Kevin Hart, and Dawn French draw on their background to po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One-man Show
A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show, one-woman show, or one-person show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including autobiographical creations, comedy acts, novel adaptations, vaudeville, poetry, music and dance. In 1996, Rob Becker's '' Defending the Caveman'' became the longest-running one-person play in the history of Broadway theatre. Traits of solo performance Solo performance is used to encompass the broad term of a single person performing for an audience. Some key traits of solo performance can include the lack of the fourth wall and audience participation or involvement. Solo performance does not need to be written, performed and produced by a single person—a solo performance production may use directors, writers, designers and composers to bring the piece to life on a stage. An example of this collaboration is Eric Bogosian in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Worker
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work practice draws from liberal arts, social science, and interdisciplinary areas such as psychology, sociology, health, political science, community development, law, and economics to engage with systems and policies, conduct assessments, develop interventions, and enhance social functioning and responsibility. The ultimate goals of social work include the improvement of people's lives, alleviation of biopsychosocial concerns, empowerment of individuals and communities, and the achievement of social justice. Social work practice is often divided into three levels. Micro-work involves working directly with individuals and families, such as providing individual counseling/therapy or assisting a family in accessing services. Mezzo-work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halfway House
A halfway house is a type of prison or institute intended to teach (or reteach) the necessary skills for people to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. Halfway houses are typically either state sponsored for those with criminal backgrounds, or privately run for those with substance abuse issues. As well as serving as a residence, halfway houses can provide social, medical, psychiatric, educational, and other similar services. They are termed "halfway houses" due to their being halfway between completely independent living and in-patient or carceral facilities, where residents are highly restricted in their behavior and freedoms. The term has been used in the United States since at least the Temperance Movement of the 1840s. Definitional problems There are several different types of halfway houses. Some are state sponsored, while others (mainly addiction recovery homes and mental illness homes) are run by "for profit" entities. In criminology th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recidivism
Recidivism (; from 'recurring', derived from 'again' and 'to fall') is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to Extinction (psychology), extinguish it. Recidivism is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested for a similar offense. The term is frequently used in conjunction with criminal behavior and substance abuse. ''Recidivism'' is a synonym of ''relapse'', which is more commonly used in medicine and in the disease model of addiction. Causes A 2011 study found that harsh prison conditions, including isolation, tended to increase recidivism, though none of these effects were statistically significant. Various researchers have noted that Loss of rights due to felony conviction, prisoners are stripped of civil rights and are reluctantly absorbed into communities – which further increases their alienation and isolation. Other c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
