Max & Moti

Dr. Max, a puppet psychologist, has been Moti’s therapist for many years throughout his career as a performance artist. It all started when Moti often felt a bit down after shows and felt he wanted to talk about it with someone. So, he built a man-sized wearable puppet, to be his shrink. Soon, the audience was invited to stay for these sessions after shows. Little by little, these therapy sessions became a running show (“Max and Moti - A Comic Journey to the Subconscious” @ Klipa theater) and improvisational performances in which Dr. Max treats either Moti or volunteers from the audience. In these shows personal stories and feelings are presented on stage and treated with (often dark) humor. The performances of Max & Moti visually unite the patient and the therapist, turning them into one two-headed entity. During these “therapeutic” interactive shows, when Max "treats" Moti and volunteering spectators, a public-intimate oxymoronic experience is created. Max & Moti performed in various venues such as the Zirat Mahol Dance Festival, Jerusalem, 2012, Vitrina Festival in Hahanut Theater, Tel Aviv, 2013-2014, and more. Additionally, the performance of the puppet-therapist has been part of other interdisciplinary and educational projects such as the "Bat Yam in Treatment" community project at Festfactory Bat Yam, 2016. In this project videos were created of Dr. Max interviewing residents of the Nitzana neighborhood in Bat Yam helping them to understand and state their needs in order to improve the residential experience in the neighborhood. Dr. Max also gave a TedX talk (Seminar Hakibutzim College, 2013) in which he explained his unique therapy technique entitled P.A.T.H - Puppet Assisted Therapy.