Like many youngsters, David Quesal of Macomb grew up with Sesame Street, counting along with the Count, enjoying the antics of the Cookie Monster and learning ABCs and 1-2-3s with the cast and characters of the storied PBS children's show. It was also Sesame Street – and The Muppets – that led to a lifetime gig for Quesal.
"As someone with high-functioning autism, when I like something, I really like something," the 2005 Macomb High School graduate said with a smile at the start of the interview and the first question, 'Why puppets?' 'My mom was a teacher, so she knew when Sesame Street started, I'd like it, and I think I've been a Sesame Street and Muppets fan since birth. I started liking it and I've never stopped."
From his first puppet at the age of four, Count Von Count of Sesame Street fame, to using some of his stuffed animals as props and puppets he imitated what he saw on The Muppet Show and Sesame Street. Quesal's 'troupe' has grown to over 155 puppets over the years to entertain at community events, comic conventions, puppet conventions, birthday parties and on YouTube and Facebook. The David Quesal Puppet Troupe (DQPT) began in December 2005 when, as a freshman at Western Illinois University, he was asked to do a puppet show as part of Macomb's annual Dickens on the Square event.
Quesal uses his theatre background from MHS, as well as his bachelor's degree in theatre and acting from Western Illinois University that he earned in 2009, to create characters, voices, songs and skits for his cast of puppets, who are more like old (and new) friends for the Macomb man.
"I had Marty the Mammoth be an emcee, and Sam the Wolf and Clifford the Big Red Dog lip synced to folk music. Bernie the Bird sang and did comedy, Cameron the Chameleon, which was my OG that I bought from the old Magic Dragon toy store, played his horn to Lord of the Dance music, and Drago the Dragon danced and told a story. Even Kermit the Frog sang a few songs. I tried to put on a Muppet Show-style variety show," he recalled. "This first gig profits were used to buy my Wally the Wolf puppet."
But even before Dickens, and following the living room performances while watching Sesame Street and The Muppets, Quesal remembers being asked by some of the grade school teachers to put on a few puppet shows in the classroom. Throughout the years, he built his collection through gifted puppets, as well as buying puppets from the Magic Dragon and online. He explained that, especially when he was younger, he had texture issues related to autism, so he often favored stuffed animals, and puppets that were more on the full side, like Cameron the Chameleon, which still looks brand new.
"I still have Drago the Dragon as well, which was purchased with some of my high school graduation money. I remembered a dragon puppet from my daycare days that I always played with, so when I found Drago, I special ordered him as a graduation gift to myself," Quesal shared. "It was like reuniting with an old friend. He has a lot of sentimental meaning."
While puppets have come and gone throughout the years, because each one has held a special meaning – and a special place in his heart – Quesal treats their 'demise' much like a worn flag: he burns the puppets as a sign of respect for all they've provided over the years. One of the first worn puppets, which was something of a security blanket for Quesal, to the 'funeral pyre,' was his Kermit the Frog puppet.
What does it take for a puppet to be added to his troupe and collection?
"I might just see a puppet and I'm drawn to it, so I'll try it on and see how it feels on my hand. I like them to feel a little loose and fit my hand just right. As long as it fits, that a good start,' he explained. "But even if it feels right, but might have too small of a mouth, for example, I have a friend, Smith, who makes puppets and can retrofit something for me."
When Quesal sees a puppet he's interested in, he'll begin thinking about the character and ideas for an act, including the voice, and a bit or a song.
A few years before his first official puppet show at Dickens on the Square, he got his first Macintosh computer, which came with the Garage Band app. He began toying with the program and used it to record different voices and other effects, similar to the way Weird Al puts together his songs, using his own voice to sing different parts.
"Drago the Dragon is one of my easiest voices because I made it deep, like mine," he explained. "But really it depends on the puppet. For example, my puppet, Que the Weasel, which rhymes with my last name, was custom made, and because he has a smaller mouth, his voice is a little squeaky. Basically, he's my alter ego with a higher voice!"
Quesal showed up for the interview wearing a shirt that bears photos of some of his first puppets, which he still uses today: Que; Gordy Gorilla, who has a goofy, expressive face; Enzo Everup, who was made with parts from FAO Schwartz toy store's defunct Muppet Whatnot Workshop, and is somewhat 'hyper' because he's overcaffeinated; Jack Alope; Duckford Quacks, who has long, blonde floppy feathers reminiscent of Quesal's dyed-blonde, long hair in college; Bernie the Bird (who he refers to as the 'leader of the band,' or his 'Kermit the Frog'), and Leo Livingston, which is Quesal's Zodiac sign and his middle name (and his mother's maiden name). Quesal recently added a new puppet to his 'dino' collection as well … joining Marty the Mammoth, which is another member of the 'OG gang' and Trevor Triceratops is Terrance the Pterodactyl.
The 'gang' – or rather, troupe – joins Quesal up to 10 live performances a year, which includes being a regular at the 'Alpaca Beach Party' events at Little Creek Alpacas in Plymouth, where he's performed over 20 times over the past few years. Quesal also posts regularly on social media (facebook. com/davidquesal and tiktok. com/@davidqpuppets), and creates videos on YouTube (youtube.com/Quesal). He practices regularly, but for him, it's more of a way to relax and unwind.
"It's really therapeutic for me, and very rarely do I not have a puppet with me," he added. "I'm always happy to incorporate my puppets into anything I do. My favorite moments are when there are people around and I get to entertain them with my puppets."
While puppets have always been a part of his life and a big part of his personality, they also have helped Quesal cope with the bullying he experienced growing up – until he discovered his 'people' in theatre at Macomb High and at WIU – and to help him through depression and anxiety when those feelings creep in.
"While these are really brief periods, my puppets help my feelings improve," he explained. "I think I'd feel really empty without them."
"And let's face it, my obsession with The Muppets and Power Rangers, and my autism, made me a target for bullies from about third through 10th grade,' Quesal shared. "But then I found people who got me when I was in my first play, a one-act play, 'Life in the Fast Food Lane,' written by my friend, Joe Roderick, followed by Neil Simon's 'Rumors' in 11th grade and then my first musical, 'Anything Goes' in the spring of my junior year. My oddball personality was accepted. That's also why I went into theatre and acting in college."
Like his father, Quesal's son, Gryffen, who will be a freshman at Macomb High School this fall, also likes the stage. While he got into puppets for a while when he was younger, he lost interest about the time he entered sixth grade. Gryffen helps his dad set up at his gigs and will give some critiques here and there from the audience's perspective. While the puppet interest waned for Gryffen, the acting; however, has stuck. One of his earliest acting 'gigs' was as one of his dad's 'rats' as David played the part of the Rat King in the Jayme Larson School of Dance's annual production of 'The Nutcracker' from 20102016, and he was a part of 'Larceny and Old Lace' as part of the Macomb Middle School production this past spring. Two of Gryffen's favorite puppets are … no surprise, Griffons: Excalthizar and Lee, which is Gryffen's middle name.
Like his son, Quesal's wife, Rana, whom is more introverted than her puppeteer husband, understands how much the troupe and his hobby and act mean to her husband. Quesal noted that he made it very clear to Rana when they started dating who he was.
"My mom's first words to me when I told her I was seeing someone was, 'She knows about your puppets, right?!,' he said with a laugh."
While Quesal works full-time at the Hy-Vee Gas Station, he said he'd go full-time and worldwide as a puppeteer if the opportunity presented itself. However, even if it just remains a part-time thing, at the end of the day for Quesal, it goes beyond something that makes him happy.
"Yes, they're my therapy, but bringing other people some joy is the best," Quesal said. "Brightening someone else's day is what it's all about."
