4. Rocky Mountain Puppet Slam

In October 2018, at the third Rocky Mountain Puppet Slam, Katy Williams performed in front of a full house at Sunnyside’s Diebolt Brewing Co. The 26-year-old didn’t have a dummy on her knee, nor was she working the strings of a marionette. Instead, she’d created a “crankie” by mounting a long, rolled-up piece of paper with a series of illustrations on it inside a suitcase tipped on its side. When Williams cranked the handles, the scroll slowly uncoiled, sharing the tale of Jack as he tried to save the world from the apocalypse by building a rocket ship to the moon. The production involved shadow puppets, flashes of light, and a song titled “Jack and the Apocalyptic Moon Journey” performed on a mandolin." - Mary Claire Fischer