Puppet Up! Uncensored: The Monthly TV-Stage Hybrid From Brian Henson

Out-of-control freaks

Comments (0) By Steven Leigh Morris Wednesday, Jan 7 2009

That meant moving to England to work on Animatronics puppet movies, quite apart from his father.

Referring to his company’s puppet training today, Henson says that a camera is always used, “to bring a puppet to life on a TV screen.”

Courtesy of Jim Henson Company

Chaos theory in play

Courtesy of Jim Henson Company

The eyes have it.

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Bristow was brought on board early in the development of Puppet Up! because of his track record in improv with the Groundlings. He says the puppeteers took to the improv work “like ducks to water. I was amazed at how well they were able to do improv without looking at each other, because eye contact in traditional improv is core.”

Henson speculates that the improv has reached such a high standard because the actors are so distracted by the technical challenges of puppeteering that they channel a level of subconscious wit. Call it the chaos theory of professional acting.

“I know the structures going in,” Bristow says of the show’s skits, often inspired by audience suggestions. “But the cast doesn’t know what they’re going to get.” He adds that Henson, on the rare occasions he performs with the troupe, brings in the energy of a “loony daredevil,” which keeps the other actors on their toes.

When he worked in England, Henson recalls, Animatronics was “precious” in style, compared to the sassy and sometimes ribald take fostered by his father. “I’m British-trained,” he says, “but in terms of my puppetry, I’m all Henson.”?

PUPPET UP! UNCENSORED | Created by BRIAN HENSON and hosted by PATRICK BRISTOW | AVALON, 1735 N. Vine St., Hollywood | Saturdays, Jan. 10 and Feb. 28, doors open 7 p.m., show 8 p.m.; continues monthly | (323) 462-8900 or www.avalonhollywood.com