Review: Puppets Behaving Badly

“Puppet Up! – Uncensored,” Kirk Douglas Theatre, Culver City, July 16 – 27, 2025

July 20, 2025 | By Bruce R. Feldman

In Brief: Puppet Up! – Uncensored is hilarious. Drop everything and run to the Kirk Douglas Theatre box office before tickets to this clever, bawdy laughfest sell out.

Brian Henson (right) and the company of Puppet Up! – Uncensored

You’re not sure what to expect when you attend Puppet Up! – Uncensored for the first time.

You’ll see expert puppetry, for sure, as the production is the work of The Jim Henson Company. But you also will enjoy first-rate comedy from a troupe of talented improvisers, plus raunchy hijinks, music, and a great deal of other inspired silliness.

In a witty, generous introduction, co-creator Brian Henson explains that the performance will show how puppeteers create a TV show. We will see the puppeteers working on stage, and we also will see what the televised product looks like on two giant screens on either side of the theater.

Most of us have watched The Muppet Show for years, so it’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into the artistry and technical skill that goes into it.

However, it’s much more than that. The puppeteers aren’t working from a script. They’re inventing as they go, taking suggestions from the host and other co-creator, Patrick Bristow, as well as from the audience.

The results were always hysterically funny.

In the first bit, Bristow had the audience name a restaurant – someone shouted, “the cafeteria at Ikea!” – and describe two sets of patrons  which turned out to be a couple that were over eager to please and another that couldn’t make up their minds.

The next thing you know, one of the Muppet characters, informs the first couple that Ikea is now offering table service and asks if they want to start with the large order of meatballs or the small one.

And we were off to the races!

A series of off-the-cuff skits and song parodies followed. The show is different every night, thanks to the varied situations that Bristow might choose and, of course, to the intentionally goofy suggestions that the audience enthusiastically provides.

The show also features recreations of classic pieces originally created by Jim and Jane Henson that haven’t been seen by live audiences in decades. Again, these vary from night to night.

All of which is to say that Puppet Up! – Uncensored isn’t exactly a puppet show. Nor is it an evening of improvised comedy. It’s both.

If you want to forget about your troubles and have a good time for two hours, Puppet Up! – Uncensored is for you. Leave the kiddies at home and be prepared to laugh until your sides hurt.

"Puppet Up! – Uncensored," Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City, (213) 628-2772, www.centertheatregroup.org