THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 13, 1996 TAG: 9607120060
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Profile
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 100 lines
THE GHENT HOUSE that puppeteer Jerry Halliday shares with two roommates smelled sweetly of incense. Light streamed in, and the roomies were engaged in wholesome activities, like cleaning out the backyard fish pond.
At a first-floor entrance, two trunks full of life-sized puppets and props were flung open, airing out from a string of recent gigs. In the last few weeks, Halliday has taken his act to smoke-filled nightclubs all over Ohio, from Cincinnati to Cleveland.
The puppets are caricatures of female stars. Joan Rivers was plopped in a trunk with her mouth open. Bette Davis reclined on a nearby ironing board, an unflinching glare aimed at the man who created her.
On Saturday, Halliday will parade his wisecracking celebs in a rare local performance - at Uncle Louie's Restaurant, at Wards Corner in Norfolk. And Halliday does it all - makes the puppets, manipulates them on stage, writes their comedy sketches and even speaks for them, doing on-the-mark impressions of Joan and Bette and the other brash divas.
Living again in Hampton Roads, where his career got started some 25 years ago, Halliday has found Ghent ``a breath of fresh air.'' Especially after a decade in the desert-dry, neon-garish environment of Las Vegas.
In hot spots like the Rio and Riviera hotels, he made grand entrances moving through feathery flocks of topless showgirls. Sometimes, he would run down lit staircases toward an applauding crowd.
Heralded as ``the world's foremost nightclub puppeteer'' by the Las Vegas Sun, Halliday parlayed his position into club dates across the country and in Canada.
Upstairs, in his third-floor bedroom in Ghent, he pulled out a dog-eared notebook listing more than 100 clubs, indexed by states. ``I've been doing it so long,'' said Halliday, shrugging. ``I've networked so much.''
A personal trauma he wouldn't discuss brought him back to Norfolk a year ago. Meanwhile, a spiritual lifestyle involving yoga and meditation has helped him to heal, he said.
In the 1960s, the pungent aroma of incense was used to mask the odor of marijuana. In Halliday's house, the odor signaled a search for a higher consciousness.
Though he said he's not really a follower, Halliday has studied the path of ``siddha yoga.''
``It's getting beyond your small ego to who you really are. God is infinite. And that's all that exists. This air's God. This floor's God.''
In the past, the 47-year-old Hampton native has not exactly come across as a spiritual devotee. In 1980, he premiered his first puppet show for adults at the Naro theater in Ghent.
``Pinocchio's Hot Night Out'' was satirically X-rated, in the naughty manner of cartoonist R. Crumb. The show included anatomically correct puppets engaging in sex.
When he tried to stage the show in area clubs, the state Alcoholic Beverage Control department proclaimed the show lewd, and blew the whistle.
``And they never even saw the show,'' Halliday complained, 16 years after the fact.
Nowadays, Halliday is watching his puppets' mouths, as well as his own. ``I've got to be careful about what I say in this conservative area. See, I do want to do children's shows in the future. And I don't want to come off too racy.''
He wants to open his own marionette theater in Norfolk geared to families. ``I'd paint it on the outside,'' perhaps like a fantastic toy shop. ``So, you'd just have to see what's inside. And inside, you are in this other world.''
As for new characters, he plans to start building a puppet of talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell. ``I'd like to finish her in two weeks.''
His friend, former Norfolk resident Bob McKinnon, is a director of O'Donnell's show, Halliday said. McKinnon told him that if he built the puppet, he would book Halliday on the show in the coming months.
The fall holds a lot of promise for Halliday. In October, he will perform at an international comedy festival in Toronto. He said his act will be taped as part of a documentary film on the festival. Halliday also has been asked to emcee.
``It's a big break for me. And, of course, I'm thrilled. And I'm being paid for it. To be part of this, I would have paid them.''
Halliday used to approach his career with an eye to fame and fortune. Now that he's been on television talk shows and on major stages, his view has changed.
``I realize that by having my own show, I have a voice. I can say whatever I want to say about the universe. Basically, my job is to entertain people and make them laugh.''
But he also believes what a friend told him once: ``My show is my ministry. Laughter is healing. And that's why I'm on this planet. To amuse people. And that's pretty cool.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
BILL TIERNAN
The Virginian-Pilot
Jerry Halliday with his Bette Davis puppet - and, in mirror, Joan
Rivers.
WANT TO GO?
What: ``Joan Rivers & Company,'' featuring Jerry Halliday and his
puppets
Where: Uncle Louie's Restaurant, 132 E. Little Creek Road, Norfolk
When: 10 p.m. Saturday
How much: No cover, but a dinner reservation is required.
Call: 480-1225 by CNB