When Spitting Image returned to British TV screens a few short years ago, Tory cabinet minister Michael Gove was a guest on a radio show, and he was asked for his opinion of his puppet (above). He claimed he thought it was great. When the host expressed surprise at this verdict because his alter ego’s features were rendered as male genitals, Gove replied, ‘Well, I have always been told I have a great face for radio.’
Reader, I designed that puppet. The initial directive to turn Gove’s cheeks into a perky brace of testicles came from Spitting Image’s creator, Roger Law. I took matters a little further by reimagining Gove’s nose as a diminutive membrum virile, and Roger approved the idea gleefully.
Question, if you must, the sophistication of the humour underpinning such a creation. But it does at least throw a little light on the process behind the fabrication of puppets for the show, which I thought I’d outline for you here. And trust me when I say that producing the blueprints for moving, talking puppet likenesses is the most fun it’s possible to have as a caricaturist.
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