Max Verstappen to Formula 1 fans, motorsport followers and just about everyone on this planet, is a four-time World Champion and Red Bull driver, but there is another one, a puppeteer from Santpoort-Zuid.
Long before 27-year-old Verstappen, the World Champ was born, his 67-year-old namesake and fellow Dutchman was around, carving his career in the world of entertainment as a puppet master.
In fact, once upon a time, Max the Puppeteer was far more famous than the once unheard-of Max the wannabe F1 driver.
An unimaginable scenario described by Bas van Bodegraven who started the ‘Max Verstappen Racecar Driver Latest News‘ fan club before the Dutch prodigy had ever completed a single car race. He was karting at the time.
Asked in an interview how he came up with the name, Bas recalled: "There’s a puppeteer who also has the name of Max Verstappen. In early 2014, he was far more famous than ‘our’ Max, so we put ‘Racecar driver’ in the name, and ‘latest news’, because that was the purpose.
"Now, ‘our’ Max doesn’t need the addition of racecar driver anymore, but once you have over 5.000 members, you can’t change the name of your Facebook group," explained van Bodegraven.
When young Max was far less famous than older Max
The website of Max Verstappen - the Puppeteer - how details how he made his name, told in the following tale:
On a sunny Saturday morning in 1964, seven-year-old Max stepped into a puppet theatre for the first time. It was a magical experience that would change him forever. He still remembers that day like it was yesterday, when the puppet bug completely took hold of him.
Not long after, Max began creating his own puppet shows. During his high school years, he could be found weekly at the local puppet theatre Merlijn in Haarlem, famous for its legendary television characters Rikkie and Slingertje. What began as a modest role doing odd jobs soon led to assisting the puppeteer with his performances.
At that time, there was no formal training for puppet makers or puppeteers, but Max was undeterred. He chose to study arts and crafts education, a decision that later proved invaluable. After all, a puppeteer must be a versatile artist, and much of the knowledge he gained there has proven essential in his work.
Today, the 'other' Max travels across the country with his puppets
“To children, they’re living beings,” Max says with a smile. “Their imagination is so powerful that they effortlessly perceive things I don’t even show.” For him, every performance is a wondrous experience that never loses its magic.
In addition to his work as a puppeteer, Max is also a director, writer, and producer of puppets for various well-known television productions. His talent has not gone unnoticed: he has received multiple awards and nominations, including at the International Children’s Film Festival in Chicago and the Cinekid Children’s Film Festival in Amsterdam.
Nowadays, newly commissioned puppets made by him regularly appear in musicals, theatre productions, music videos, and films. Visit the Max Verstappen Poppentheater & Atelier website>>>
Maybe it is time for Max Verstappen and Max Verstappen to meet?
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