Jabberwock!
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! ….The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
Our Jabberwock is an animated and illuminated puppet beast mounted on a tricycle chassis, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s famous nonsense poem Jabberwocky. Initially made in 2020 during the Covid 19 pandemic when all other work had disappeared, the Jabberwocky helped save our sanity that year. A mutant word coined by Carroll, Jabberwock, according to him, translates as: “the fruit or offspring of much excited and voluable discussion”. We reckon that means the Jabberwock is right at home in our contemporary world.
The Jabberwocky is mobile and suitable for illuminated trails, events, parades, processions & festivals. It works equally in daylight, dusk or nightime conditions, is operated by 2 puppeteers and packs down into a transit van.
Contact us for more information.
Designed & made by Dave Young & Jane Gaffikin.
The Jabberwock attempts to have a coffee in Hebden Bridge. Photo by https://www.craigshaw.photography/
Redcar Illuminated Parade, Nov 2021. Photo courtesy Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council
Jabberwocky at Wye Valley River Festival Parade, Monmouth, 2022.
Jabberwocky posing in front of Beverley Minster @ Beverley Puppet Festival 2022. Photo by Abbie Jennings https://www.abbiejennings.co.uk/
Making new friends at @ Beverley Puppet Festival 2022. Photo by Abbie Jennings https://www.abbiejennings.co.uk/
Jabberwocky at Devizes Winter Festival 2022. Photo by Jane Gaffikin
Lighting test December 2021. Jabberwock is undergoing constant fettling & improvement in the lighting, sound & tech departments...
Jabberwocky in Hebden Bridge. Photo by https://www.craigshaw.photography/
Jabberwocky in Hebden Bridge. Photo by https://www.craigshaw.photography/
Jabberwocky's first outing at Newbury Winter Lantern Trail 2020
In the belly of the beast...2 video cameras & monitors give the operators crucial visibility, 1 camera in the head gives them a Jabberwock's eye view. Also visible here is part of the soundsystem - a synthesizer app on mobile phone connected to a bluetooth speaker in the head
Jabberwocky in Hebden Bridge. Photo by https://www.craigshaw.photography/
Jabberwocky under construction. For more details and insight into the construction process see my Pinterest board of the build (click on image for link).
Lighting test after changes & improvements Photo by https://www.craigshaw.photography/
Jabberwocky in Huddersfield for Halloween event at the Piazza Shopping Centre