The Pun

Jim Henson Company’s Puppet Up! Uncensored

By Bels Hillard ⋅ April 23, 2007 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

If you’re after a tale about two New Zealand brothers with leprosy looking for love, or you want to see a Flemish weasel commentate World Weasel Bashing Championships live from Belgium, Puppet Up! is the show for you.

The ingenious puppeteers show off their remarkable talent for not only performing, but also keeping a straight face when they’re trying to understand the audience suggestions or when everything goes completely pear-shaped.

Watching skits of two girls looking for sausages in a gay bar in Kazakhstan, three evil optometrist rabbits giving laser eye surgery to an unsuspecting patient, and scenes from the latest Hollywood action movie Stuff Blows Up, the audience never knew what was going to happen next. At some points, I’m not sure the cast did either, which only made the performances even more hilarious.

Undoubtedly, the evening’s highlight was MC Possum and his cautionary rap fairytale ‘The Princess and the Hedonist’Ôø?Ôø?complete with backup cavemen. Worthy of an encore and thoroughly deserving of the raucous cheers from the audience, MC Possum was responsible for the biggest laughs I’ve had this festival.

The Jim Henson Company delivers a slick show of inspired performances and unexpected outcomes. Taking improv comedy to a new level, Puppet Up! is comedy gold. Here’s hoping they’re back next year.