By Dane DeHart
The Big Bad Chicken and other puppets will be scuttling around Orem Public Library tonight around seven o”clock.
The Chicken one of several characters from the group Maxed Out Puppetry, will be performing a skit called “The Twelve Days of Chicken” during the puppet show for Orem residents.
Maxed Out Puppetry is a company that performs puppet shows for children throughout the state.
“They do skits and songs and stories for kids,” said Lori Stevens of the library faculty.
Monday night, Maxed Out Puppetry will perform several skits-one of which will be a “fractured version of the Gingerbread Man.”
“We encourage the kids to laugh and get excited,” said J. Max Wilson, one of the puppeteers and founders of the group.
Wilson said the group started when he and his cousin and roommate were attending BYU. While performing in a comedy group, they acted out a skit called “The Inter-species Dating Game” where one girl was picked from the audience and was set up with three animal puppets.
“That particular skit went wildly well,” Wilson said.
The company is based in Orem and three of the four members are BYU graduates.
The group has four active puppeteers between the ages of 26 and 34 with one additional member who helps occasionally.
Sean Healy, Wilson”s college roommate and partner in Maxed Out Puppetry said he enjoys his time performing.
“I get to spend time with these guys,” Healy said. “We”ve been good friends for some time.”
Healy said the members of the group perform in addition to other jobs they have.
“John and I are web programmers,” Healy said.
Maxed Out Puppetry has a website that features pictures of the cast and it also includes videos of some of the groups most popular skits.
