"Adult" Puppet Comedy Reflects Jim Henson's Roots | Big Think

"Adult" Puppet Comedy Reflects Jim Henson's Roots

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Brian Henson’s latest show is derived from early memories of watching his dad off-set with the Muppets.

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Brian Henson:

Brian Henson is Chairman of The Jim Henson Company and an award-winning director, producer, writer and performer. Most recently, he created "Stuffed and Unstrung," an off-Broadway puppet-based variety show geared towards adults.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Question:rnWhere did the idea for "Stuffed and Unstrung" come from?

Brian Henson: “Stuffed and Unstrung” started as a workshop, rnactually—classes within our company. Wernfound that our puppeteers were not ad libbing as well as traditionally, rnJimrnHenson Company puppeteers have. rnWe’re sort of famous for going off script a little bit and adrnlibbing. And we kind of lost a lotrnof that and puppeteers were sticking to the script and we thought rneverythingrnneeded to get a lot funnier, so we thought we would go to a good improv rncomedyrninstructor. Patrick Bristrow is who we decided to invite over to talk rnaboutrntraining our puppeteers in improv comedy, to get them off of script and rngetrnthem thinking about character development and sharpening up their rncomedy.

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Andrn thatrnstarted about four years ago now and it was just a workshop. The puppeteers really responded tornit. Patrick Bristrow really respondedrnto it. It’s great fun to do improve comedy with puppets. rn And Patrick thought we should try tornput an audience in front of one of the workshops, basically in front of rnthernclass and see how the performers rose to having an audience there, rnbecause he said,rn“You know, it’s a really interesting test, because sometimes it gets rnevenrnfunnier.” And, so, I thought, well,rnif we’re inviting an audience, let’s do it right. Sorn I put in a proper studio audience at our studios in LosrnAngeles and it was just a little showcase and it was just for fun. But there was a producer from the AspenrnComedy Festival who happened to be there, as a friend of a friend, and rnshernsaid, “I’d like to book you into the Aspen Comedy Festival,” and we rnsaid,rn“Well, there isn’t really a show to book in, this is just a little rnshowcase andrnit’s really our workshop.” And shernsaid, “No, it’s great, I love it, just do exactly what you did.”

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Sorn we took arnshow to the Aspen Comedy Festival, called “Puppet Up” at that point, andrn inrnAspen we just did three shows, and in Aspen, there was a producer from rnthernEdinborough Fringe Festival, who said, “Please come to Edinborough,” so rnwe sentrna troupe to Edinborough, and then in Edinborough there was a producer rnfrom thernMelbourne Comedy Festival, so we went to Melbourne. Sorn it’s one of these shows that kind of organicallyrndeveloped and it started developing momentum way before I even thought rntherernwas a show here.

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Andrn then, afterrnthe success at Melbourne Comedy Festival, then we regrouped back in LA rnand wernwent back into workshopping and decided to develop a proper show and rnthat’srnwhen we started working on “Stuffed and Unstrung,” which is a much rnbigger andrnsharper version of “Puppet Up.” rnAnd we wanted to premiere it in New York, because New York is rnsort ofrnthe home of the Jim Henson Company and it’s sort of the tone and flavor,rnalways, of the puppet work that we’ve done traditionally. rn And that’s what brought us here and nowrnwe’re here.

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Question:rnWhat’s the biggest challenge when it comes to puppet improvisation?

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Brian Henson: Well, it’s kindrnof fun. It’s, I think it’s a lotrnricher than what we call fleshy improv—I think it’s very funny, puppet rnimprovrnand fleshy improv. First of all, you’re improvising through a puppet, sorn you’rernnot always yourself: you’re a cow or you’re a pig or you’re an old rnwoman, yournknow, whatever puppet you pick, or you’re a demon, you know, whatever rnyou pickrnup, that’s what you get to be in the scene. And rnthat adds a whole liberating energy to the show and tornthe comedy. You can get a lot morernoutrageous and a little crazier.

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Inrn many ways... Irnthink it’s easier in some ways, or it’s more entertaining or more rnguaranteed tornbe entertaining than traditional improvising.

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