We had the good fortune of connecting with Sherry Layne and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sherry, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
There’s a song lyric from the musical version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels that sums up what I strive for. “An opus to be proud of though it’s written in the sand.” A lot of what I do doesn’t end with something tangible I can keep, like teaching a one-off improv workshop or building a puppet that gets shipped off and I never see it again. Even though what I do is often gone once it’s done, I try to make it the best that it can be and something I can always be proud of.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is silliness. As an entertainer, I mix clowning and puppetry into interactive performances. As a teacher of the arts, I bring similar silliness to model the joy of creativity to my students. And as a puppet builder, I aim for my creations to help others bring that silliness to their audiences.

I like to find the unexpected in the everyday, and what excites me the most is transforming typical objects into ridiculous characters.

My professional path had some unexpected turns. I was very artistic growing up and always thought I’d be in entertainment. By my mid-twenties, I had a full-time job at a production company, with benefits, one of them being Cookie Fridays! Plot twist, I was essentially an office manager and I wasn’t doing anything creative myself. For my own happiness, I had to choose creativity over cookies and get back to entertaining.

I juggled five jobs, but I was making a living doing things like improv, puppetry, and clowning—ironically though, not juggling. Every job taught me a new skill or a piece of knowledge I didn’t know before. It also connected me with other like-minded artists, and we built a community where we could to send potential gigs to each other. That made finding work easier. Even now, a lot of work I get is because someone referred them to me.

A lesson I learned is that I can always learn more. Every project comes with a new challenge, and by seeking knowledge, I can be more confident and do better work. For example, as I started to design more and more content for children, including shows and workshops, I felt like my artsy background wasn’t enough. So I enrolled in grad school. Now with my Masters in Educational Psychology, I have the know-how to be developmentally-appropriate in my silliness!

Success is seeing my art connect with people, from hearing a crowd of kids giggle in delighted surprise to being tagged in a post of someone lip-syncing to their favorite song with one of my puppets. Come be a part of my success and I’d love to be a part of yours!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in the North Hollywood area, so I love my valley locations! First stop for food is always Salsa and Beer. There will be a wait, and it will be worth it. Then, we could take a little trip to the Academy of Television Park, touring statues of classic television icons. I’d want to check out the schedule at Vidiots in Eagle Rock to see what awesome throwback movie they might be screening. We’d spend a bunch of time and quarters at Player One Arcade Bar, and once I defeated my friend at air hockey, we might walk over to Idle Hour for a chill cocktail. And at some point, I’d take them axe throwing! Yes, I was in an axe throwing league at one point! Unfortunately my favorite venue LA AX recently closed, but we could book their mobile unit!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have to shoutout Camp Bravo, a Southern California theatre arts camp I went to as a theatre-obsessed high schooler. It’s 25 years later, and I still get to go to camp every summer, although now it’s as a workshop instructor. Camp Bravo taught me how to collaborate and create no matter the constraints. Not only did they give me my first opportunity to teach, but they also gave me a community of creative and compassionate friends.

Another shoutout is for Story Pirates, an arts education and media organization I’ve been a part of for 12 years. They’ve helped me hone my skills, and cemented my love of children’s entertainment and education (or edu-tainment if you will). They too created an incredible community of artists I’m honored to be a part of.

Website: https://www.puppetlayne.com

Instagram: PuppetLayne

Other: Tiktok: @puppetlayne

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.