Artist Statement

The Harvey and Sam Puppet Company has been performing for over thirty years.

Artist Bio

​For past thirty years I have been performing puppet shows in churches, festivals, schools, and other events. I stumbled into puppetry, because there were no job opennings in the area I majoredin while attending college. The first puppet shows I ever saw were on TV and I knew this was the career for me. My only problem was I did not know any puppeteers or anyone that knew a puppeteer. So I went to college and majored in Religion, which was the worst degree one could obtain. I graduted in 1982 from Anderson University (Anderson, Indiana) with the hope of working in a church and I could not find work any where. After two years of trying to find work in a church, I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a puppeteer. I named the puppet company after the two main puppet characters which are Harvey and Sam. The Harvey and Sam Puppet Company launched out 1984 and I was convinced it would fail after two to five years. I was wrong about failing in puppetry and things have come such a long way since my early days in 1984. I forgot to mention my name is Mike Dickson and I am the puppeteer with the Harvey and Sam Puppet Company. I have been performing puppet shows throughout Baltimore, Washington DC, York Pa., and Harrisburg Pa. since 1984. I have performed at Artscape since 2013 and I performed at the first Light City. Visit my web site and learn more about what I can offer your organization.