Pip: Get My Mascot — where the question “but what does the mascot actually do all day?” finally gets a serious answer.

Mara: Carl Prior takes that question seriously, and today’s episode covers the full architecture of mascot training: how to build a camp, what to teach, and how to structure the time so performers actually leave ready.

Pip: Let’s start with what a mascot camp looks like when it’s built to work.

Building a Mascot Camp That Actually Prepares Performers

Mara: The core tension here is that most new performers learn by putting on a suit and figuring it out — but that skips a lot. The post lays out what a real training program needs to cover before anyone steps in front of a crowd.

Pip: And the post is direct about where most programs fall short. The line is: “Nobody becomes a great mascot from a four-hour PowerPoint.”

Mara: Right — so the argument is that instruction has to be paired with performance. Short sessions, then doing the thing. The curriculum the post outlines runs from character development and movement through crowd interaction, props, skits, costume care, safety, and handler work.

Pip: Character development comes first, and that framing matters. Before anyone learns a skit, they’re asked who their mascot actually is — not the name, not the animal, but the personality. Mischievous? Goofy? Competitive? That identity is supposed to stay consistent regardless of who’s inside the suit.

Mara: The movement work builds from there. One exercise has performers develop a character walk — starting normal, then exaggerating it. The post puts it plainly: “A mascot’s walk should tell you something about their personality before they interact with anyone.”

Pip: Which is a useful design principle. The costume can’t show a face, so the whole body has to do that work.

Mara: Posing follows the same logic. Performers freeze in emotions — happy, confused, scared, proud — and photograph the results, because what feels exaggerated inside the suit often looks completely normal from the outside. The rule the post gives new performers: “When you think you’re being big enough, go a little bigger.”

Pip: The crowd interaction section is where the training gets granular. Performers practice approaching children, adults, nervous fans, opposing fans, referees — because not every person wants the same thing from a mascot encounter.

Mara: There’s also a “three-second interaction” drill — high five, dramatic celebration, point at the fan, move on. The point is that a memorable moment doesn’t require a full skit, especially at crowded events where a performer might see hundreds of people.

Pip: Improv rounds out the performance side. Scenarios like a fan challenging you to a dance battle, or your prop breaking mid-appearance, with five seconds to decide what the character would do. The goal is thinking as the mascot, not as yourself.

Mara: Props, skits, costume care, safety, and handler training all get dedicated blocks. The sample four-hour schedule the post provides runs from introductions through in-suit field practice, with a break in the middle and final feedback at the end. Handler training gets its own twenty-minute slot — including a role-reversal exercise where performers act as handlers so they understand what they need from one.

Pip: The post closes by recommending that camps end in a real performance environment — an empty stadium, a campus event, a school gym. Because the gap between practicing in a classroom and performing inside an actual suit is, as the post puts it, enormous.

Mara: And if you want outside help building a program, the post points to Get My Mascot Coaching, which connects performers and programs with experienced current and former mascots for exactly this kind of development work.

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Pip: The through-line here is that mascot performing is a craft — and craft requires deliberate practice, not just enthusiasm and a costume.

Mara: Next time, we’ll see what else is coming from the site. More to build on.