Mike Geier
Michael Geier (born March 12, 1964), known as Big Mike Geier, is a singer, entertainer, and leader of the band "Kingsized", which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Geier's most critically acclaimed act is his alter ego: a Pagliacci-type clown named Puddles Pity Party. As Puddles, Geier has appeared in YouTube videos since 2013, including some with Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox. Geier now performs almost exclusively as Puddles, but he also refers to Puddles as a completely separate entity from himself. Likewise, "Puddles" also won't acknowledge himself as Geier. Biography. Geier was born in  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, the fifth of seven children of "Big Oz" and Peg Geier. He says that he "grew up in a houseful of giants", with his two brothers and four sisters all growing to at least in height. Geier is tall. He grew up in Richmond, Virginia. Living in, and based in Atlanta, Georgia since 1995, Geier is married to his business partner, Shannon Newton. In the early 1990s, Geier led a touring "Swing Noir" band, The Useless Playboys, before settling in Atlanta in 1995. Around this time, Geier started up an Elvis tribute band, Kingsized. Several years  into Kingsized, Geier began experimenting with a clown-themed side project called Greasepaint, which laid the foundation for his later alter ego, Puddles. Puddles Pity Party. Originally, Puddles was a Shriner clown, but eventually developed into Puddles Pity Party, wearing a whiteface clown costume. Geier considers himself and Puddles to be separate people, and he refuses to break character. Like Geier himself, Puddles has a baritone singing voice, and sings mostly covers of songs. Puddles has a depressed persona and refrains from speaking on stage or giving interviews. His shows include a mix of silent prop comedy, mime, and audience  participation with songs interplayed throughout creating a narrative structure. Puddles Pity Party performed in Aqua Teen Hunger Force's 2010 tour. In 2011, Geier appeared regularly at the Manderley Bar in New York's immersive theater show "Sleep No More". In 2012, he moved to Seattle to appear in a European-style vaudevillian cabaret, Teatro ZinZanni. In 2013, he opened for Eels during their U.S. and European tour. In October 2013, Geier recorded a cover of Lorde's "Royals" with Postmodern Jukebox on YouTube. , the video has been viewed over 29.4 million times. Lorde declared his cover to be her  favorite cover of "Royals". Two more versions of Royals, in a "punk" style and in a "new-wave" style appeared in the later part of 2020. Geier, in the persona of Puddles, has collaborated with Bradlee on YouTube several times since. Since 2014, Geier has toured the world, playing concerts in the United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, and Australia. On September 27, 2014, his live performance of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, was filmed by director Gary Yost and was later described by HuffPost as "A Strange Kind Of Beautiful". the video on YouTube  had received over 8.7 million views. In 2017 Geier, as Puddles, participated in season 12 of the reality series "America's Got Talent". He advanced to the quarterfinals at the Dolby Theatre, where he performed his version of "Royals" and received an "X" from Simon Cowell. He was ultimately eliminated the following night. In October 2017 Geier, as Puddles, made an appearance in a Cartoon Network ad promoting new episodes of "Teen Titans Go!" and "OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes". Geier previously collaborated with Cartoon Network's Sunday Pants series writing music for the show as well as playing  the Slacks' band leader in the live action segments. In January 2019 Geier, as Puddles, began a headline act residency at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada. Discography. As Mike Geier. Music composed and performed by Geier has appeared in television shows including iCarly and Victorious.