Marty Allen is a multi-disciplinary creator living and working in Brooklyn, New York. A writer, artist, musician, teacher, and creative producer, Marty invents adventures and experiences in art, on stage, in books, on screens, and more. He is arguably best known for creating and selling The Sock Puppet Portraits via his business, Sock Puppet City, and writing and illustrating the related book, Sock Puppet Madness. But he makes a lot of stuff, hence his over-arching brand and business, Martystuff.
Marty has had six books of non-fiction published internationally including the best-selling 50 Knots You Need To Know. Marty’s first play for children, A Perfect Party for Trees was commissioned by Trusty Sidekick Theater company in 2022 and had its premiere at New York’s Little Island featured in The New York Times ("...perhaps the greatest gift this new play offers its audience is intangible: the freedom to be themselves." -NY TIMES).
Marty’s most recent works include self-publishing his first novel, Theodore & the 7 Layers of Space, Book 1: Brick & Bird as as serialized digital book. Marty also recently shared a new work of puppetry Uncle Monsterface’s Legend of the S.C.U.B.A. Diver at Baltimore’s Crankie Fest, and is currently developing several new works including Adventure Pizza, a choose-your-own-adventure interactive puppet rock show.
Marty has worked as a creative consultant and collaborator for cool folks like Nickelodeon, Hasbro, Lemon Demon, Comedy Central, Google, Buzzfeed, The Henson Foundation, Michael Showwalter, Righteous Babe Records, Harry & The Potters, Trusty Sidekick, The All Stars Project, Leroy’s Place, Maker Faire, and many others, but mostly himself, running his own business of art sales and consultancy for over fifteen years.
Throughout his career, Marty has been invited to pitch concepts for intellectual properties to Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, Penguin Books, Comedy Central, and Buzzfeed and had major projects in development with a variety of fancy production studios.
As Uncle Monsterface, he has toured nationally, and as Martystuff and Sock Puppet City he has sold his work at venues both large and small across the country, notable amongst them The Union Square Holiday Market, Artists & Fleas, FAD Market, The Brooklyn Flea, The Makers Show, and countless others.
Marty’s work focuses on themes of the everyday and shared struggle, triumph, and all-too-real absurdity of being a human. He avidly chases a sense of wonder and moments of real and honest connection. Wonderful connection. To you, to himself, to the universe, to all of the stuff.
Within this rambling context, Marty is committed to bringing together diverse creatives in order to see these mad-cap schemes through via an endless array of collaborations, both to realize his own crazy notions and those of others.
Marty loves to collaborate, and frequent collaborators include director Leigh Walter, sound designer and producer Dan Brennan, musician/medium/creative Jocelyn Mackenzie, producer Jason Vandewalle, design studio infEhnite Design, small business/puppet world Leroy’s Place, and countless others.
In short and to reiterate: Marty loves to make stuff.
If you'd like to get very specific and check his stats, check out the CV here, have a look around this site, or drop Marty a note.