For Surfer Dudes, This Bulgaria Gig Is Way Cool

They’re Rude and Crude, the two surfer dudes. Their favorite slogans, repeated by prepubescent teens who caught their act on KUSI (Channel 51) on this summer’s surf reports, are “way cool” and “strike a pose.” They’re just two Southern California guys in pursuit of rays and waves, but somehow they have managed to wrangle an invitation for themselves and their puppeteer owners to the international puppet festival in Bulgaria, which starts today.

Puppet troupes from Japan, Spain, Holland and other nations will be attending, but Rude and Crude will be the first American puppets to participate in the festival.

“It will be fun, but the Dudes may be a culture shock for the Bulgarians,” said Jim Rust, the hands and voice behind Rude Dude. Rust and partner Peter Oliver, who is also the voice of Crude Dude, launched the Real Characters puppet troupe last October. They will take the two dudes and several of their milder-mannered puppet duos such as Professor Footz and Arnie, and the Dufus Brothers, to the festival.

Like so many puppets these days, the members of Rust and Oliver’s troupe were created for the television camera. But what makes them unique is they are routinely filmed on location--on the beach, at the Del Mar Fair and elsewhere--not just in a studio or at a theater. Rust and Oliver admit that a lot of people think the name Real Characters describes them to a T, and the latest Real Characters are Rude and Crude.

Rude has a mat of red hair, a skull earring and 11 pairs of sunglasses. Crude sports a fuzzy blonde Mohawk and a Mexican friendship wrist band. Both wear neon pinks and greens and talk nonstop out of huge orange mouths.

During the summer, they gave the beach and surf report on KUSI’s Kids Club, a show hosted daily by Shotgun Tom Kelly. The Dudes’ report will continue on the show this fall, along with a new segment where the Dudes answer fan mail. Crude and Rude will also make a guest appearance at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 1 and 9 on the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, a Los Angeles cartoon show that airs on KUSI and 146 other stations nationwide.

In Bulgaria, the Dudes will be attending a festival steeped in the rich traditions of Bulgarian puppetry, Rust said. The city of Varna’s festival is held every three years to perpetuate Bulgaria’s classic puppet drama. Troupes come from all over the world and participants are required to stage a Bulgarian classic in their native language.

Real Characters won’t compete in the festival itself but Rust and Oliver will videotape the eight-day festival for a documentary on Bulgarian puppetry. Real Characters will also stage mini performances with Rude and Crude and the other puppets to illustrate the video heritage of American puppetry, Rust said.

“The American vision of puppetry is through television, which is very different from live puppeteering. In Bulgaria, shows may run 55 minutes but American puppet shows run 22 minutes at the most without commercials. It’s a much faster pace and a totally different cultural experience.”

Real Characters will also offer demonstration tapes of American puppet programming in Varna as well as a second Bulgarian festival in Plovdiv.

In Bulgaria, “puppetry is more of an honor and tradition bound art form than in the United States,” Rust said. Puppeteers can get master’s degrees and learn art direction, set design, acting, and script design.

“It will be nice to bring back this rich culture,” he said. “We’ll get to meet international puppeteers and learn some new skills.”

The invitation came through Katalina Petrova Reeves, the former chief of the Bulgarian Department of Puppet Theaters. She gave up her post with the Ministry of Culture to marry San Diego architect Donald Reeves and moved to San Diego last January.

She would like to bring an international festival to San Diego, and this documentary project is a first step in getting people interested, Rust said. Reeves contacted Rust and Oliver in August through a video supply company. She was looking for a video and puppet troupe--one knowledgeable about both video and puppetry.

The troupe is still looking for sponsors to help underwrite the cost of the trip, Rust said.

“We hope to help the Iron Curtain melt a little further,” he said. “There’s a lack of knowledge between the people of Bulgaria and the United States.”

“We want to help the two countries exchange cultural ideas so people become people. Understanding starts with cultural exchange and art. Children in the United States are going to grow up thinking about the Eastern Bloc countries differently than we grew up. It’s hard to dislike people who like puppets.”

If the reception to the Surfer Dudes by the Soviet navy men who visited San Diego this summer was any indication, Real Characters can look forward to a warm welcome.

“We wanted them to to see something of American culture that was different than a parade of people staring at their boats. They were flabbergasted when we came on board. The first thing they wanted to do was trade their uniforms for our puppets. Then they all wanted pictures with the puppets.”

Real Characters also gave each of the Soviet captains a pilot video of Professor Footz’ Treehouse “as a gift from the children of San Diego to the children of Moscow,” Rust said. The show, which the troupe hopes to develop for syndication on television, is meant for a younger group of children than the Surfer Dudes and is more educational, Rust said.

The pilot for the show is one of several tapes they will show at the Bulgarian festival, along with sample programs from the television series Alf and the Muppets.

Each of the Professor Footz shows will have a Let’s Go segment, taking the puppets on location, Rust said. In the pilot, the two Dufus Brothers, who always manage to get into a little bit of trouble, take the children to see how bread is made at a bakery. Ignoring Norman’s pleas to wait for someone to show them around, Elmo barges full steam ahead into the bakery, falling over into a bin of flour.

“It allows kids to see a mistake without damage,” Rust said. “It was a safe accident but at the same time we hope kids get the message there are reasons for rules.”

Going on location serves an important purpose for kids who, due to school budget cuts, “don’t take as many field trips. We’d like to go to places kids may not get to go to,” Rust said.

Also children feel safe with puppets, Rust said. “They’re smaller than children, which makes the adult behind them less intimidating. They’re fun to look at and they’re colorful. Kids know people can hurt each other. Kids see a lot of hurt all the time on television, but you never see puppets hurting children.”

“Our puppets get a lot of hugs from kids.”