PUPPET UP!

I have rarely seen such an upbeat audience as the one on opening night of Puppet Up! at the Montalban theatre in Hollywood last weekend! This one was actually more than appreciative—their collective spirit was on stage with the performers.

The show itself is a tad hard to explain fully. But creator Brian Henson, (yes, son of the legendary puppeteer-extraordinaire, Jim Henson,) told us in his very informative pre-curtain speech that the concept is “improv for adults, with puppets,” which just about sums it up. (And, as “improv” often secretly means, do not bring the kids, as many of the audience suggestions can get more than a tad risqué. Actually, no one under sixteen is allowed in.)

Puppet Up! has actually been going on for over two decades! How am I just hearing of it now??? So, to make sure all of you are in the know, I’m here to catch you up. There’s a cast of about seven, (from the list of performers on their site, it appears that they switch around from time to time,) who create the short scenes based on suggestions from the audience. We get to watch them actually work the puppets right out in the open on the stage, (which is rare,) and at the same time see only the puppets on two giant screens at the top of the stage. It’s all pretty fascinating.

These artists are all uber-talented! They come up with so much clever and witty repartee, and do all the acting/singing/dancing on their own, all the while holding their puppets up high above their heads, to fit on the screen. That just blew my mind. It’s hard enough to be a puppeteer, and it’s hard enough to do improv. But to do both arts together is just bonkers. I still cannot wrap my head around how they make these inanimate objects have all the wonderful facial expressions that they do. It’s truly amazing.

And they change puppets for each brief segment. Everyone I saw it with went the most crazy over the skinny hot dog puppets, which I also fell in love with. (And the lobby concession stand sells them! I kind-of regret not bringing a couple home for myself.) As adorbs as they are as puppets, seeing them made me crave real hot dogs, with ketchup and onions, for the rest of the weekend! (I realized afterwards that they sell them upstairs, as well.)

I was in awe of the entire cast, (how could anyone not be?,) but the standouts for me were Peggy Etra and Sarah Oh. I think I noticed them because they not only seemed to be involved in most of the action, but they are very good singers, to boot.

As a founding member of the Laugh Factory Players improv troupe back in the day, I can testify to just how hard it is to do improv all the time, and make it different from show to show for the enthusiastic audience members who show-up every week. And I cannot even begin to imagine doing what we did while holding a puppet above my head, and looking at a screen to make the spacing right for the interactions with the other characters! These Puppet Up! performers possess genuinely outrageous abilities. (And their arms must really hurt. My friend Marc said he hopes that they have a physical therapist backstage.)

The cast has some on-stage assistance along the way. The proceedings are hosted by the co-creator and director of Puppet Up!, Patrick Bristow, who is very entertaining and keeps it all running smoothly. And there is a lone musician, Willie Etra, (with the same last name as Peggy, so perhaps they are related,) who is off to the side and unobtrusive; since the cast sings every now and then, he’s quite helpful.

My two favorite parts of the show were, very surprisingly to me, the bits they did with audience members, (which can always be iffy.) Patrick invited one couple, Sarah and Jason, to the stage, and had the puppets act out their first date. The couple had to ring a bell for the parts the puppeteers got right, and hit a buzzer for the parts they got wrong. It was really hilarious. And quite by coincidence, the girl puppet had on the same outfit as Sarah! I got a kick out of that.

I also enjoyed an audience member named Carrie, who was quickly taught to operate a puppet herself, and then featured in the next sketch. She really did a good, understated job, which gave the puppeteers a lot to work off. And she looked adorable doing it—she was rocking a very cute dress and attractive flat shoes. (I wish that every audience member in the world would look like that even when it’s a casual event, such as this one is. But trust me on this—you can wear anything to this show. I’ve never seen so many people in shorts and T-shirts and caps in my life! But keep in mind that you may be one of the people brought up to the stage, so you may want to look a tad better than that.) I love that all the chosen participants received puppets for being good sports!

The troupe also recreated a few of Jim Henson’s classic routines from the ‘50s and ‘60s, so we got to see some of his early brilliance. One bit, to the song I’ve Grown Accustomed to Your Face, and another to Windy, seem so simple at first, but then take us by such astonishing surprise. The guffaws for those two were some of the deepest laughs of the whole night when I saw the show.

And in a fun coincidence for me, they did a spoof of the old classic TV series, The Dating Game, a segment of which Mr. X and I had watched on-line, for the first time ever, just the night before! (In our defense, it had come up on the side of a video we were looking at, and I noticed that Sally Field was on it, so I just had to check it out! Of course.) So I especially enjoyed that Puppet Up! bit.

One note about the Montalban. Even though it’s far from the most attractive or easiest theater out there, I have a soft spot in my heart for it for a couple of reasons. One is that, because Mr. X did a show with him way back in the day, I had the great pleasure of meeting the lovely Ricardo Montalban, and I can tell you that he was one of the nicest gentlemen I have ever met in my entire life, in or out of show business. The other is that I’ve been going to this theater since way back when it was the Doolittle, and it’s where I met my first theater PR person, who started inviting me to many of the important productions around town. He was just inviting me as a fan of my nutty TV show, without even asking me to review them, but since I don’t believe in being just a taker, I started reviewing them, and that’s how my whole career as a theatre critic began. So I love that place. I have so many fun memories there.

But I had not been there in a couple of years, except for parties on the rooftop, so I have to tell you that they totally updated that space on the level right above the lobby. There’s now a pretty beverage bar right in the center of it, and then a snack bar on one side. It’s all very hip and happening now. But I do have to warn you away from the popcorn. It was literally the worst popcorn I’ve ever had. They have one of those big popping machines right there, so I don’t understand how they wound-up with that tasteless, cardboard-textured product! (The last time I had been in this theater, which was a little over two years ago, I ended my review of that event with, “I just can’t wait to get back to The Montalban for that popcorn!” So obviously someone forgot how to make it between then and now.) I suggest that you all should instead get just a hotdog and a soda and a bag of candy, or just enjoy the presentation without snacks. You really don’t need any refreshments for this one. You might choke on them while laughing so hard!

You have only this coming weekend left to see Puppet Up! in Los Angeles, so don’t miss it. If you can wrest tickets from the gazillion ardent fans of the show, that is.

Puppet Up! running through August 9, 2026
The Montalban Theatre
1615 Vine Street, Hollywood
www.puppetup.com