Brian Henson’s Puppet Up!, the world-renowned stage show that features hilarious improv and sketch comedy – including classic Jim and Jane Henson pieces – performed by dozens of Henson puppets, will play for a limited eight performances only from July 31 to August 9, 2026, at the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in Los Angeles.
A photo opportunity with a blue, life-sized Henson puppet greets the audience in the lobby as they enter the theatre. Tickets are available now at puppetup.com.
This is no ordinary puppet show.
For over twenty years, Puppet Up! has toured around the world, spinning top-notch improv comedy and a motley crew of over 80 Jim Henson puppets into comedy gold. The show has been acclaimed by critics and beloved by sell-out crowds at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, San Francisco Sketch Fest Comedy Festival, and Melbourne International Comedy Festival, as well as audiences in New York City, Chicago, Toronto, and more.
Most recently, Los Angeles has been home to Brian Henson’s Puppet Up, which has been embraced by fans of comedy, fans of the enduring Henson legacy, and anyone looking for a fun night of high-energy laugh-out-loud entertainment that is never the same show twice. The show is recommended for age 16 and up (under 16 are not admitted).
Host Patrick Bristow (“Ellen,” “Seinfeld,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”) and his team of world-class puppeteers from The Jim Henson Company create a hilarious two-shows-in-one experience with all the puppet action projected live on screens above the stage, while the puppeteers are racing around below in full view of the audience.
In addition to the “puppet anarchy” of the improvised sketches, the show also features musical numbers and recreations of classic pieces originally created by Jim and Jane Henson, and Frank Oz, that haven’t been seen by live audiences in decades.
Puppet Up! – a night of outrageous, off-the-cuff comedy starring the Miskreant puppets – is created by legendary puppeteer and award-winning director Brian Henson (“Muppet Christmas Carol,” “Labyrinth”) and director-host Patrick Bristow.
Time Out said, “Puppet Up! combines top puppeteering talent with music, jokes and shenanigans. It’s not just about watching the puppets either—you’ll be mesmerized by the sheer skill of the puppeteers on full display, who are coming up with songs on the fly while manipulating puppets on stage. If you’re a Jim Henson buff, this show is not to be missed: you’ll see recreations of Henson classics with a twist. In case ‘uncensored’ wasn’t enough warning, make sure you leave the kids at home for this one.”
The Los Angeles Times said, “You cannot imagine the mayhem that erupts when an uninhibited house takes its cues from the gifted lunatics onstage. As uproariously uncensored an adult entertainment as you could hope for without lap dancers!”
Brian Henson said to the Times, “We were trying to find some other really funny tones for puppetry that sort of differentiated from the Muppet tone and sensibility [led us to try new things.] My dad was a great ad-libber; Frank Oz is a great ad-libber, and that always pluses up the comedy.”
Henson went to a Groundlings show, and suddenly everything clicked. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could teach the puppeteers to do the magic ad-libbing? And director Patrick Bristow was right that as soon as you added a live audience, it sort of upped the stress level of the performers and sharpened up the comedy and sharpened up the entertainment value.”
Bristow, who is an alumni of The Groundlings, said, “Because it’s puppets and it’s uncensored, the audience is definitely more uncensored themselves … and regarding a lot of the risqué or the edgier humor that happens, the puppets get away with much more. The puppets, by virtue of just being these rascals — and it being heightened and one or two degrees away from reality — they get away with murder – literally.”
San Francisco Chronicle said, “The magic of first-rate Henson-style puppetry and the ribald joy of comedy.”
Tickets and information are available at puppetup.com.
