Beaky Boo Walkabout
The Penguins Have Come for Christmas. They've Brought an Elf. Nobody Asked Them To.
The Penguin Family — Cheeky & Beaky the Emperor Penguins & Crumpet the Elf | Animatronic Christmas Walkabout Street Theatre for Hire
The Act
There is a bucket of trout involved. This is important information. Cheeky and Beaky will go absolutely anywhere the bucket of trout goes, and Crumpet the Elf — lively, irreverent, comprehensively in the festive spirit — has worked this out.
Crumpet has been assigned to the penguins by the North Pole. This was, by any measure, an optimistic decision. He is doing his best. The penguins are doing what penguins do — investigating everything, following the fish, waddling with a confidence entirely disproportionate to their grasp of the situation, and making absolutely firm friends with every person who stands still long enough to meet them.
Cheeky and Beaky are Emperor Penguins — large, beautiful, animatronic and utterly, utterly irresistible. They dance. They waddle. They prance. They accept strokes. They pose for photographs with the patient good nature of creatures who have decided that public life suits them very well indeed, provided the fish situation is managed. Crumpet manages the fish situation. He also manages the banter, the crowd, the questions about Antarctica, and his own considerable enthusiasm for the season.
The result is one of the warmest, funniest, most universally beloved Christmas walkabout acts available — an act that works on every level for every age, that leaves no audience member uninvolved, and that generates the kind of spontaneous, joyful chaos that no stage show can replicate.
The Characters
Cheeky & Beaky are fully animatronic Emperor Penguins — built and performed to the same extraordinary professional standard that runs through every Creature Encounters act. Up close, the effect is astonishing. At a distance, photographs require explanation. They move, they react, they communicate unmistakably through every waddle and nuzzle that they are delighted to be here and that the fish is very good.
Crumpet the Elf is the funniest person at your event and the most professionally challenged. He is warm, quick-witted, entirely committed to the job, and in possession of the kind of festive energy that is completely genuine and completely impossible to manufacture. He will put your audience in the Christmas spirit whether they were planning on it or not.
A Note on the Trout
The bucket of trout is the secret engine of this act. It is, in the most literal sense, what makes the penguins move — and in the most theatrical sense, it is what gives Crumpet his authority, his leverage, and most of his best material. It is not mentioned in the marketing. It is mentioned here because event managers who understand the mechanics of an act book with more confidence, and because the trout bucket is, in its small way, a work of genius.
Perfect For
The Penguin Family is the outstanding Christmas walkabout act for Christmas events, winter festivals, Santa's Grotto experiences, Lapland and Arctic themed occasions, ice and snow themed events, shopping centre Christmas activations, civic Christmas celebrations, pantomime, children's literary events, family festivals, outdoor arts programmes, corporate Christmas parties and any occasion that calls for festive street theatre that is warm, funny, interactive and genuinely unlike anything else on the market.
The act pairs beautifully with the Snow Lion, Polar Pip and Inka for a full winter event — four completely distinct emotional registers, one unforgettable day.
What People Say
"I had the pleasure of walking around with them on all three performances and I have to say my face ached from laughing so much - absolutely amazing.”
- Helen Cole, Merthyr Tydfil MBC
"Creature Encounters is extremely professional, creative and hugely talented. Very reliable, dependable, helpful and personable. Michael and Jamie are two of the nicest people I ever had the pleasure of doing business with. Would highly recommend."
- Diane Norton, Ilford Business Improvement District
Booking Information
Performers: 3 (Cheeky puppeteer + Beaky puppeteer + Crumpet the Elf)
Format: Walkabout — roaming across your event site for 3 × 30-min sets per day
Props: Trout bucket — do not ask Crumpet about this in front of the penguins
Suitable for: Indoor and outdoor events — flat, accessible terrain preferred
Technical requirements: A clean, secure and private changing space within 30 metres of the performance area, plus free parking
Please note: This act dislikes stairs. The penguins, however, are unbothered by the cold.
Package opportunity: Book alongside the Snow Lion, Polar Pip and/or Inka for full winter event coverage — please enquire for details
Available: UK-wide and internationally
Tech spec: RAMS and PLI availableon request
To check availability or discuss your event, use the Enquire button below. Crumpet will be there. The penguins will follow.
International Excess Baggage Details
Minimum x 4 Performers required to travel
x 7 Suit Cases @ 78 x 58 x 28cm
23kg +23kg + 23kg + 23kg + 23kg + 23kg + 23kg
Total: 161kg - 7 pieces
Creature Encounters are designers, makers and performers of extraordinary puppet experiences, based in Birmingham. Established in 2004, we have delivered world-class animatronic street theatre across the UK and internationally, including Kuwait, Indonesia, Estonia, Singapore, Monaco, Russia and beyond.
