• Castle Critters

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  David Marin, founder of Castle Critters, dreams of running a small theater someday, but for now, he and his son Max restrict their puppets-and-pop-songs act to birthday parties and, occasionally, subway stations. (They recently drew a huge crowd on the L train platform in Union Square.) The Marins’ routine—really more of a live concert than a puppet show—involves puppets blaring out instantly recognizable songs like “With a Little Help From My Friends” (performed with a little help from a lion), “I Got You Babe” (co-starring two bears), and “Hip-Hop Hooray” (sung by a leopard-skin-clad little man named Nanook of the North Bronx). Needless to say, kids eat it up, singing along and laughing hysterically. Private shows run about $250 an hour, more if you add a puppet-making workshop.

From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine