Big Think Interview With Brian Henson | Big Think

Big Think Interview With Brian Henson

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A conversation with the chairman of the Jim Henson Company

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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:

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

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Brian Henson: “Stuffed and Unstrung” started as a workshop, actually,rnclasses within our company. Wernfound that our puppeteers were not ad libbing as well as traditionally, JimrnHenson 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 everythingrnneeded to get a lot funnier, so we thought we would go to a good improv comedyrninstructor. Patrick Bistrow is who we decided to invite over to talk aboutrntraining out puppeteers in improv comedy, to get them off of script and getrnthem thinking about character development and sharpening up their comedy.

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And thatrnstarted about four years ago now and it was just a workshop. The puppeteers really responded tornit. Patrick Bistrow really respondedrnto it, it’s great fun to do improve comedy with puppets. And Patrick thought we should try tornput an audience in front of one of the workshops, basically in front of thernclass and see how the performers rose to having an audience there, because he said,rn“You know, it’s a really interesting test, because sometimes it gets evenrnfunnier.” And so I thought, well,rnif we’re inviting an audience, let’s do it right. So 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 shernsaid, “I’d like to book you into the Aspen Comedy Festival,” and we said,rn“Well, there isn’t really a show to book in, this is just a little showcase andrnit’s really our workshop.” And shernsaid, “No, it’s great, I love it, just do exactly what you did.”

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

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And then afterrnthe success at Melbourne Comedy Festival, then we regrouped back in LA and wernwent back into workshopping and decided to develop a proper show and that’srnwhen we started working on “Stuffed and Unstrung,” which is a much bigger andrnsharper version of “Puppet Up.” rnAnd we wanted to premiere it in New York, because New York is sort 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. 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 improvrnand fleshy improv. First of all, you’re improvising through a puppet, so you’rernnot always yourself: you’re a cow or you’re a pig or you’re an old woman, yournknow, whatever puppet you pick, or you’re a demon, you know, whatever you pickrnup, that’s what you get to be in the scene. And that 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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In many ways, Irnthink it’s easier in some ways, or it’s more entertaining or more guaranteed tornbe entertaining than traditional improvising. Again, because you’re not just you in your body. A puppet that starts to improvise badlyrnis almost funnier than the puppet that’s improvising well. So the show gets better when thernimprovising is really good, but also the show can also sometimes get betterrnwhen the improvising sort of goes a little wrong and that’s sort of a blessingrnto improvising with puppets.

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