Defeating arm fatique

[Professor Q.]

I am a puppeteer on a weekly live interactive call-in show helping students with their math homework. The show is an hour long, during which time I am holding my puppet above my head. After a while my arm starts to ache and my fingers often become numb. I do manage to find occasional times where I can be off camera for a half minute or so , but those incidents are few and far between, and can be awkward if not timed perfectly.

Is there any kind of a brace or aid made for puppeteers who have to hold their arms up for a long period of time? I work out daily and have strong musculature, so I know it isn't a problem with arm or back stregnth. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Professor Q.

[Puppets by Cher]

Yep there is Extender Arm Brace that you can use.

Being around children and adults with disabilities we have all kinds of fun gadgets to make like easier.

This is what it looks like. It's designed to handle post-op elbow arthroscopy, severe elbow strains and ligament trauma. The Bledsoe Extender Arm Brace should be used when limited R.O.M. or locked control of the elbow is desired. In most cases, the Bledsoe Extender Arm Brace can be formed, fitted and adjusted in 5 minutes or less.

This device is indicated for immediate application following injury or operative procedures to the elbow, or for stable or internally fixed fractures of the distal humerus or proximal to middle radius or ulna where locked or limited motion control of the elbow is desired.

Other words... your arm will stay in one position.

Go to- http://www.bledsoebrace.com/products/extarm.asp

They have a chart and you can follow it by how to measure your arm for the correct fit.

Take Care,
Cher
Puppets by Cher

[Puppets by Cher]

Prof Q,

Did that site work for you or do you need something else?

I have a welder here and we could make you up something if money is tight?
I have huge rolls of foam and cover it and even add some groovy fauz fur...
Yeah baby... he ehee...

Just let me know before the weekend so I can have him work on it for you or if this site was what you need.

Take Care,
Cher
Puppets by Cher

[Professor Q.]

Cher,

Thanks so much for your advice. I went to the brace site, and apparently you need a physician's perscription to get one of these braces, and their site won't even mention prices. Sounds a bit complicated, and expensive.

I would like to take you up on your offer to see if your welder friend could come up with a suitable substitute. As you can see from my video, I'm actually sitting on the floor with almost a full extension of my arm(straight up) which is a size 32"-33" in shirt sleeve size. Let me know if you need any more measurements or particulars, and if you can get an estimate of the cost of this brace. The Professor's lab coat is white, but even a blace cover to the brace would work (as a pair of pants), and would be eaisier to keep clean.
Thanks for looking into this for me, and I'll look forward to hearing from you with particulars.

Professor Q. (alias Bob Hallett)

[biblebetty]

how much would this cost, I'd be interested!

[biblebetty]

Wow, that's a long time to be holding your arm up. the best I can do is 25mins. I hope someone has an answer to this, I have the same trouble at the park. we do 5 shows and after the 4th show i'm ready to quit.

[Puppets by Cher]

Hey Bob,

OK.. this will be fun.
Let me see what we come up with.
If anything... we'll all have a good laugh.
I can see your face now... "You expect me to wear that thing?"
Thought Frankenstein looked all put together!
Kidding............ We make our own arm rods here in all lengths as well and they are beautiful.
Ask Spoon.. sent him a few.
If anything.. it will be functional and look nice.

Hey.. We're pros.

[Professor Q.]

Cher,

Maybe what we need is a giant arm rod that can work with humans (only half-kidding....)
Thanks for your efforts. I look forward to hearing from you.

Bob

[Puppets by Cher]

Well, you are right on that.
We have made arm rods as long as 6 feet long for our theater size puppets.

Why not use a black curtain and be behind it instead?
Like this..
I put this video just now on my page here at the puppet view as well..
I know many have seen this.
But I just couldn't resist posting it.
I think your probably trying to do this in the wrong angle?

Take Care,
Cher
Puppets by Cher

[Freggie Productions]

Ok, this video is funny.

[Freggie Productions]

I've found that if I keep my arm straight up (where my bicep is touching my ear) I can keep the puppet up almost indefinitely. I noticed Jim Henson and crew utilizing this method while watching behind the scenes footage. I gotta figure a man who guest hosted the Tonight Show with a puppet (that's a one hour show too) should know a thing or too about arm fatigue.

What's happening is you're fighting gravity and gravity is winning. Keeping your arm straight up is keeping gravity from pulling on your arm.

[Professor Q.]

Freggie,

Thanks so much for the tip. Although I do keep my arm mostly straight up, I havent' focused on that fact, nor kept the bicep up against my ear. I'll certainly give it a try once the school year starts again. Another factor that may be effecting the fatigue is the fact that I am actually sitting under a table, rather than standing, resulting in less bodily support for my arm. Unfortunately this situation can't be changed, although they do raise the table on blocks when I'm the puppeteer, due to my upper body height (otherwise my head would show).

Professor Q.

[Freggie Productions]

The other thing I forgot to mention is body positioning. I do a lot of my puppetry on camera too and find that my back should be as straight as possible. Maybe they can put together a simple stage (nothing that's going to break the bank of course) that will allow you to sit in a hole but keep your spine straight. Depending on your height it shouldn't have to be that tall.