PUFFS or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic
Dramaturgy Website by Amanda Visger
The Playwright​
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Matt Cox: a playwright, actor, director and sound designer based in New York City received his BFA from Carleton State University (Stephenville, TX). Through this work as an actor before playwright, he attended Stella Adler Studio for Acting Summer Intensive and trained at The Upright Citizens's Brigade Theater.
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Actor turned sound designer and playwright, his range of works that he has written and co-written range from radio plays, plays, and improv works. All of the works that has has created has been produced Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and even having performances in Australia.
Throughout his role as a playwright, he has produced a wide variety of shows ranging from types of parody's and inspirations from other popular series. The plays include:
- The Kapow-i GoGo Saga
- The Kapow-i GoGo
- The Kapow-i GoGo Holiday Special
- The Kapow-i GoGo Holiday Special II: The Carol of the Clones
- I am Mr. Snuggles
- Puffs Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Yeats At A Certain School Of Magic & Magic
- Witches!? In Salem?!
- The Magnificent Revengers
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The following was an interactive live show produced, written, and directed by Matt Cox:
- Guy Choiceman Decides To Save America!
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He was the author of the following radio play:
- El Hombre Bovino
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His sound design credits are as follows:
- The Kapow-i GoGo Saga
- Puffs Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Yeats At A Certain School Of Magic & Magic
- Witches!? In Salem?!
- The Magnificent Revengers
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His acting credits include:
- Kapow-i GoGo (The PIT)
- Blogologues
- The Mysteries (Flea Theater)
- Salem Mass (Flea Theater)
- Restoration Comedy (Flea Theater)
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Following all of these credits, Matt is working on upcoming projects and plays some with reboots and others brand new ideas. Those as follows:
- The Ferret Show
- Guy Choiceman Decides to Save America!
- The Magnificent Revengers
- Our Cinematic Universe Or; The Marvendale Community Ulti-Mates
- Happy Little Trees: A Bobyssey
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Interviews with Matt Cox
With all of the major works Matt. has done many interviews talking about Puffs with relative to how the well known play was written, developed, and expanded from the only 5 show sequence that it originally opened with.
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Potterless Podcast interviews Matt Cox
(starting at 3:17 - aprox 1 hour)
SO WIZARD interviews Matt Cox
(starting at 29:20 - aprox 20:00 portion)
BUILD interviews Matt Cox and Cast
(aprox 26 minutes)
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How Did Puffs Come About?
Now, Puffs didn't magically appear from the mind of a certain author associated with a certain well recognized series. It rather came from a train ride back in 2015.
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From A Concord Theatricals Publication interview with Matt Cox, " The initial thought that sparked the idea of Puffs was: wouldn't it have been just so terrible to be one of the may other wizard kids at that particular magic school who were just there to get their standard wizard education."
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Puffs rather developed on a train ride in 2015 as thoughts pondered about writing a story about the other kids that attended that certain school that was most famous from that one famous wizard. From there, the idea sparked with "The Puffs" or rather the not so cool kids at a wizarding school had a story to tell that was worth telling.
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Alongside Colin Waitt and Stephen Stout, the ideas began flying off and about with Puffs into the air through many ideas and thoughts on how ideas could make the parody that we know it as.
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From A Concord Theatricals Publication interview with Matt Cox continued on why Puffs was written the way that it was. "...We've all been awkward, we've all done weird things that still haunt us when our brains drift to it, we've all been a little lost- because at some point we've all grown up. And we've all felt like background character who can't catch a break while someone close by seems to have everything going right."
With this, Puffs originally developed for a 5 show run at the Peoples Improv Theater, better known at The PIT, in 2015. Before the premiere, the first reading of the show was cast and developed through all of the people reading went on to be the initial cast of the production.
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Now, this show was just a show, produced by 2 close friends to Matt, Stephen Stout and Colin Waitt, with the budget of only a few thousand dollars. Now with this, costumes and props were pulled together by one of the cast members, most of them coming from the closest of cast members as well. Sound designer was done by writer Matt Cox (the sounds can still be published with rights under Matt for any production of Puffs).
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With thee only 5 night run that The PIT originally had, the success of the show led to The PIT extended the stay for 8 more months for the start of the popularity of the Off-Off-Broadway show.
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In late 2015, Tilted Windmills Theatricals decided to extend the show to Off-Broadway at the Elektra Theater. Two years into the shows extended run, Puffs moved to New World Stages with the same cast, designs, and directions from the previous theater.
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Fathom Events make a mark with Puffs as well with an announcement in 2018 that they would be broadcasting a live filmed version of the play in theaters all around the world for two nights only. This then recording was later uploaded to BroadwayHD, iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play.
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​Ontop of the widespread popularity of Puffs, other productions took place alongside the publications for school to put on the production themselves.
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The Entertainment Quarters in Sydney, Australia with incorporation of G-rated shows for younger audiences on the weekends adapted the show re-working designs. In Canada, The Lower Ossington Theatre was adapted with a run over a few summer months. Adapted once again, a Mexican version opened in 2022 being the first version to be performed in Latin America.
Production Photos
Production History of Puffs
Peoples Improv Theater (The PIT) Premiered December 2015
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Director - Kristin McCarthy Parker
Producer - Stephen Stout, Colin Waitt
Scenic and Prop Designer - Liz Blessing, Madeleine Bundy
Costume Designer - Madeleine Bundy
Lighting Designer - Michelle Kelleher
Sound Designer - Matt Cox
Production Stage Manager - Michelle Kelleher
Cast - Langston Belton, Madeleine Bundy, Jessie Cannizzaro, Nick Carrillo, A.J. Ditty, Julie Ann Earls, Evan Maltby, Andy Miller, Zac Moon, Eleanor Philips, Stephen Stout
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The University of Florida, School of Theatre and Dance - Special arrangement alongside Tilted Windmills Theatricals
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School Director - Jerry Dickey
Production Manager - Jenny Goelz
Director - Kristin McCarthy Parker
Production Designer - Madeleine Bundy, Liz Blessing
Scenic Designer - Mihai Ciupe
Props Designer - John Schluter
Lighting Designer - Joseph Hodge
Costume Designer - Amanda Moore
Sound Designer - Matt Cox
Original Music - Brian Hoes
Violence/ Movement Consultant - Tiza Garland
Production Stage Manager - Logan Vonada
The Elektra Theater - Tilted WIndmills Theatricals
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Director - Kristin McCarthy Parker
Scenic and Props Designer - Madeleine Bundy, Liz Blessing
Lighting Designer - Michelle Kelleher
Costume Designer -Madeleine Bundy
Sound Designer - Matt Cox
Original Music - Brian Hoes
Production Stage Manager - Jo Goforth
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Other Theater's Influential Impact with Puffs Through the Years
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New World Stages
Entertainment Quarter Moor Park - Sydney, Australia
Brisbane Powerhouse - Brisbane, Australia
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