#BlogTour-‘Zippy And Me’ by Ronnie Le Drew with Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi

About the book…

Over the course of almost half a century, puppeteer Ronnie Le Drew has worked with the greats – from David Bowie in ‘Labyrinth’  to Michael Caine in ‘Muppet’s Christmas Carol’. But the role that defined his career was ‘Rainbow’’s Zippy, who he operated for more than twenty years.

Zippy and Me is the first time a Rainbow insider has told the true story of what went on under the counter and inside the suits: the petty squabbles between performers, wrangling with TV executives, and scandals such as the ‘love triangle’ between musicians Rod, Jane and Freddy. Not to mention the now infamous X-rated episode shot for an ITV Christmas party, which subsequently found its way to the Sun.

Interweaved with the dirt on what really went on behind the scenes is the story of Rainbow’s heyday in the 1970s and 80s, when its stars found themselves catapulted into an exciting showbiz world – scooping a BAFTA award and even performing for the queen – and the story of a young lad from a south London council estate who defied his parents’ protests to became one of the most respected puppeteers of all time.

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things tours for the blogtour invite and Unbound for my gifted review copy of ‘Zippy And Me’.

I must admit to be trepidatious about reading this, I am of the age where Rainbow formed a psychedelic part of my childhood,and was worried that behind the scenes revelations would unravel those golden days !

Puppetry formed a huge part of television for children in the 70’s/80’s and as there was such a paucity of kids tv, the ones we watched were magical and memorable and meant an awful lot to us -imagine, if you will, no repeats, no way of watching a show again, you had to be there and watch it live and if you were lucky, act the stories out with friends and toys.No 24 hr entertainment, no dvd’s , a limited timeslot then back to boring grown up stuff. Puppets were the stuff of legend and Rainbow stood head and shoulders above anyone else at that time .

But, we kids never thought about the people inside those felt creations-we saw puppets and never questioned why all the characters slept in the same bed, why you never saw their legs, did you even need a permit for keeping whatever Zippy was and how did George get his eyelashes to look like that?

‘Zippy And Me’ is an incredible book. Finely tuned and well balanced, it does not tear down childhood memories and leave you sobbing in a corner at the idea of the X rated scenes, it adds layers to the myths that filter into to your lives as an adult about your childhood heroes (though the original Bungle will pretty much make most of those who remember that abomination shudder!) It does the impossible for those who grew up in the 80’s and have had most their memories tainted, by the horrendous things that people who will not be named did.It gives you resonance, depth and warmth and sheer great storytelling, all shot through with a gentle sense of humour that lets Ronnie’s voice shine.

The determination that Ronnie had to pursue his dream, saving his money to buy his first theatre, painstakingly cutting out figures with sister and colouring them in to perform shows for his friends in the bombed out remains of 60’s London, despite huge opposition from school and his family, is just everything.

His parents wrote to his teacher trying to dissuade him from this , and his response is hilarious and also wonderful adroit-

”Thank you for your letter.I can entirely see your point of view.For my part,I merely endeavour to get young people to think both deeply and widely about their choice of career.In this connection it is difficult for them to take the long view as they have little knowledge of life.Aristotle tackled this question over 2,000 years ago.One of the important questions in taking the long view is prospects.This was the particular point which worried me about Ronnie’s choice.”

Ronnie agreed a 6 month period with his parents and teachers in which to establish that he could make a career and a living in puppetry, and despite family tragedies, and terrible odds, he not only proved himself right, he made a career which has lasted from then till now and hopefully will continue into the future.

Zippy had a zip for a mouth, we are still unsure what creature he was but he was angry, annoyed, hilarious and very naughty-he said the things that us children only wished that we could whilst I bet parents watching would’ve wished they could zip our mouths as easily! George was a goody two shoes, Bungle was always confused but Zippy was a smart mouth who also had rare moments of pathos where his loudness was because no one seemed to listen to him, and sometimes that left him sad.

As children, we only see the puppets,we don’t think about the people inside them and as adults, we realise that that was the magic of the puppeteer.There is no Zippy without Ronnie Le Drew, yet whilst Zippy made Ronnie as name ,he had a life, a profession and skills with which he has created lasting memories for generations. By blending his memoirs and his career projectory, he takes us backstage and shows us where the magic is made at a point in entertainment history where legends were created.

His is a story that will enchant generations as he starts in the Little Angel theatre in Islington, then moves to the BBC,ITV and then Hollywood,following his dream. Not bad for a dolly waggler!

About the author…

Ronnie Le Drew is one of the UK’s most respected puppeteers, and recipient of the prestigious Harlequin Award. He has operated many of the most iconic children’s puppets of the twentieth century – Zippy, Sweep, Muffin the Mule, Bill and Ben, Brains from Thunderbirds – as well as working on classic puppet films such as Labyrinth , Little Shop of Horrors and The Muppet Christmas Carol . He continues to work regularly as a puppeteer in TV, theatre and advertising and also teaches at the London School of Puppetry, which he founded in 1987.

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