Harry Potter Fans: Meet Neil Cicierega of Potter Puppet Pals

LeakyCon: Potter Puppet Pals

“Snape, Snape, Severus Snape…”

For any Potterhead out there that doesn’t know, there was a YouTube video called “The mysterious ticking noise.” It went viral. It’s awesome! Go watch it and come back.

Now that we’ve caught up, I got to meet Neil Cicierega, the creator of Potter Puppet Pals this past October’s LeakyCon. His most popular videos have millions of views featuring fan-favorite characters from the Harry Potter universe. Neil does the voices for all his characters. “All the voices are me,” Neil says, “Hermione is me pitched up a little bit.”

Since skyrocketing to YouTube fame, Neil has been traveling doing live performances where he does all the voices as well. “If Ms. Piggy and Frank Oz were doing a song together, I wouldn’t be able to do it real-time, and that’s how most puppet skits work with me because I do all six or seven voices,” Neil humbly states.

Surprisingly, the first doodles that inspired these characters came from his sister, who he gives the original credits. “Then they became animations that I made in Flash,” says Neil.

Back then, he saw that streaming video was on the rise, and he had to join. “We made real puppets,” says Neil, “and we kind of rode that wave in that 2007 summer of viral madness.”

He is also working on his own original music and mash-ups under the name Lemon Demon. He says he’s not making it for the possibility of viral videos, but because he wants to “be online and make stuff for people.” More puppet stories are coming. His daughter LOVES Sesame Street, which is all the motivation he needs to keep the Potter Puppet Pals alive!

If you want to see the puppets, his album cover, and everything else, check out the video.

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *