In 1995, Houston artist Jim Pirtle asked future Bobbindoctrin founder and artistic director Joel Orr to produce a puppet show for the Self Indulgent Crapfest at Zocalo Theatre. Orr (having done his last puppet show in 1991) reluctantly agreed, and began writing the five-minute play Punchface. As the deadline approached, Orr enlisted the help of Heidi MacDonald and future BPT core members Larry Olivarez, Dennis Clay, Joel Reed Parker, and Doug Spearman. The production was well received (despite being a self-indulgent piece of crap) and the seed of Bobbindoctrin was planted.

In the summer of 1996, BPT produced The Punchface Trilogy, based on the short piece written the year before. By now Orr and the core members had named the company Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre, and set forth to produce some ambitious shows, make a lot of mistakes and come away with a better understanding of the technical needs of puppetry. The three parts were produced on June, July and August at Instant Karma, Brasil and The Orange Show. The few Houstonians who saw all three parts saw a rapid evolution of a puppet troupe; the first two installments were had their share of technical fiascoes—all of which had been surpassed by part three.

At the end of the Punchface series, BPT had their portable puppet stage equipped with mini can lights and a decent sound system, and were ready to enter their Garage Years.