Lukasz Puczko is a puppeteer and puppet maker based in Poland who is best known for his dog marionette named “Burek,” which he crafted out of wood, string, and artificial fur. Burek stars in fully improvised shows on streets and public spaces all over the world. The Dodo explains that Puczko carefully studied “the intricacies of dog mannerisms” so that he “would better know how to bring Burek to life.” All that observation and studying paid off, because Burek is surprisingly lifelike. At first glance Burek appears to be a real dog as the puppet seems to play with children and other dogs. Honestly, I had to do a double take!
Check out this cool video of Burek in action. Puczko explains how the dog marionette works:
Fully improvised show with unique type of marionette. Puppet has a smell from other dogs, what with a propper wind can bring a dog to Burek in seconds what randomly starts interaction. Body language allowed by handmade construction is the key here. Burek is not barking, but people around my shows are. This puppet is working as well as a therapy dog for people who are afraid of dogs. Those are very random moments during a show on a street, but not that impossible to handle with this puppet. This is 7th generation of Burek, first has been made in 2009.
The dog in the video who is playing with Burek certainly seems engaged – its tail is wagging the whole time, as the dog pounces and bounces, trying to make sense of what’s going on but having fun all the same. One viewer cleverly commented, “Dog is experiencing uncanny valley.” I think I am, too!
XTRAX provides this bio of Puczko:
He has been performing with his puppets (mainly marionettes) for the last nine years. In 2013, after five years of studying he graduated from the Academy of Theatre in Warsaw with Department of Puppetry in Bialystok (Poland) with a Masters Degree of Puppetry. Since that time he has been working around the globe mainly with his solo projects.
To see more of his amazing work, follow Puczko on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube.
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