The puppeteer steps forward, watching the creatures he is creating with his hands, while we sit mesmerized by an illusion that is no less magical because we can see it being created. Puppets are as simple as a Styrofoam ball on an index finger or a glove on a hand.
Hands become bodies, and yet still remain hands.
Pope gets to use his clown's persona in the second half of the program, when he wages and loses a fight to the death with a prop chest.