Jamie Riding
Jamie Riding is a puppeteer, actor, writer, director and pantomime dame from Bournemouth, Dorset. Jamie had a very keen interest in puppetry from an early age. At nursery, he could often be found playing with the puppets and putting on shows for the other children. He loved it to such an extent that his favourite reading book at primary school was a children’s book on puppetry by the current Guild President, Ronnie Le Drew. He was fascinated by all the photos and different types of puppetry. He has also enjoyed all types of theatre.
As he grew older, he found his two passions in life - Puppetry and Panto. At the age of 11 Jamie saw Professor Brian Davey’s Punch and Judy Show in Bournemouth Gardens. From that moment onwards he was hooked! He was adamant that he was going to be a Punch and Judy Professor! It all began one magical Christmas morning in 2011. Jamie couldn’t believe his eyes when he came downstairs to be greeted by his very own booth and puppets! It was a dream come true! He then went on to perform his first professional Punch and Judy Show that summer, and has been performing his shows ever since.
Now and beyond – Jamie now runs a very successful entertainment company offering a wide variety of shows. He has performed his Punch and Judy show at a multitude of events up and down the country for the past 12 years. They include: ‘The New Forest Show’, ‘Marlborough Puppetry Festival’ (for fellow guild member David Leech) and the prestigious ‘Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppetry Festival’ in London just to name a few. His Magic Jay show which he developed in the early part of 2023, has a very cheeky mouse puppet character called Monty. This puppet was made by fellow Guild member, the legendary Phil Fletcher!
Punch and Judy and puppetry are and will always be Jamie’s greatest loves. He also finds time to don the frock every Christmas as his Pantomime Dame character Daisy. Jamie will be performing at the Weymouth Pavilion during the festive season in 2023 and he can’t wait to be doing Panto a little nearer home this time.
Check out more of Jamie’s work by visiting his website.
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