Best Of Tucson®

The End-of-Days Exit Interview: Matt Cotten

Matt Cotten is the director of Puppets Amongus, a troupe that delivers both ancient fables and modern tales with a cosmopolitan flair by bringing unique hand-made characters to life. Their original tales can be as clever as Aesop's; they're also as meaningful for adults as for children. The troupe's most-recent original work, El Sueño de Frida, explores the subconscious of Frida Kahlo. This month, the production was slated to be performed in Tucson's sister city, Almaty, Kazakhstan, for an international puppetry festival. Back home, a new warehouse space near St. Mary's Road and Interstate 10 is being outfitted as a venue for large-scale puppet-theater productions. "We have a full season of puppet-theater shows from November through May," he says. Look for the complete schedule at their website.

A meteor is going to hit the planet tomorrow. Where in Tucson would you go for your final meal?

The Little Poca Cosa, because it's the best food in the world, and I expect they'd have the music turned up all the way to drown out either the screaming or the silence.

Our new robot overlords want to ban alcohol. Where would you want to have your final drink?

I don't normally drink, but I think if the overlords were telling us not to drink, I'd want to. I'd fight the angry mob down at The District Tavern and order a Guinness and a whiskey from my favorite bartender, Jess Daniels.

Global warming has increased outside temps to 130 degrees in the summer. Where do you go to cool off?

The produce section of the 17th Street Market. The coldest place in Tucson. They used to have hoodies you could wear.

Aliens have landed in your backyard and say: "Take us to your leader." Where in Tucson would you send them?

I would send them to Ned (Schaper) at the Mat Bevel Institute. If the aliens had long tentacles, I'd be concerned for their safety.

The mole people are invading the surface world through a tunnel that opens in your backyard. What local business would you turn to for help?

I'll have to go with Wig-O-Rama. I think if the mole people all had fantastic hair, they wouldn't be so grumpy.

If a zombie apocalypse were to happen in Tucson, what shopping center would you like to hole up in?

I avoid shopping centers, because the zombies have already invaded them all—except El Con. El Con is full of ghosts, but they're the real dead, not the undead. I'd rather hang with the real ghosts.

What Tucson band or musician would you want to write the soundtrack to the end of the world as we know it?

James Jordan of Caliche Con Carne, because he's a fantastic narrative songwriter. But I think it should be sung by the Silver Thread Trio. Their sound is just heavenly.

If you had only one sunset left in Tucson, from where would you watch it?

My mom's front porch on Copper Street. It's kind of quiet there.