Muppets go adult

[MUPPETMONKEY]

Of course we all know what this is all about, but I laugh at the way journalist drag the reader's attention.
This is from Yahoo news:



EDINBURGH (Reuters) - The creators of The Muppets and Sesame Street are staging a rude and lewd puppet show that is strictly for adults only.

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Even Miss Piggy would blush over the antics of "Jim Henson's Puppet Improv" that is spearheading a renaissance of puppet shows for grown-ups.

At this year's Edinburgh Fringe arts festival, there are more puppet shows listed for adults than for children.

"That really pleases me," said the late Jim Henson's son Brian, director of the Muppet Christmas and Treasure Island movies now revelling in the freedom of performing for adults only.

Every afternoon at the Fringe, his anarchic troupe of puppeteers do an improvisational show for kids. Every evening the air turns blue for the show that takes off into surreal flights of fancy dictated by the audience.

"It is lovely to do a show where you can go wherever your brain takes you," said Henson, winding down after a show in which the audience asked the puppeteers to play half a dozen hot dog puppets auditioning to be Ricky Martin's backup singers.

But would father have approved?

"I think he would have loved it because of how outrageous I get. My Dad really believed in community and sweetness but the other side of him was incredibly naughty.

"He always said the only reason we did this was those moments where it is like laughing in church. It becomes so infectious you cannot stop laughing."

Henson, who first performed the improvisation show in Aspen and Hollywood, would like to develop it into a TV show. Two other projects he is working on are also just for adults.

"There is something really therapeutic for us about this adult improv," he said.

Henson hailed the renaissance of puppets for grown-ups, applauding the success on stage in New York and London of "Avenue Q" and the hit movie "Team America:World Police" which satirises

President George W. Bush's "war on terror."

"Avenue Q was very, very clever. They are specifically parodying Sesame Street with an adult twist. Team America is a more unique choice as they decided to do it with marionettes."

Hyundai Puppet Theatre,

South Korea's answer to Henson, has also won acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe with its production of "Puppet City."

So does Henson feel puppeteers around the world are trying to redress the balance so adults get a look in?

"Yes, absolutely," he said.

"The Americans are more action-oriented. They want to see the puppets beating each other up. British audiences are more intellectual. They like to see it sick and twisted but in an intellectual way."

 

[zeldazipple]

What's up with the dp lately. I been seeing it a lot.

 

[Infinity Sirius]

I've wondered what the Henson family thought of Avenue Q. I'm glad that Brian approves it and finds it humorous.

I'm curious if this will find approval with mass audiences though. An improv show is one thing, but a whole TV show? It worked with the Muppets, but that was geared at kids and adults. Then there are other adult puppet shows seen on VH1 and MTV, but those are shown late at night and more along the lines of South Park and Family Guy.

Anyone have a recording or know where to get a recording of the Aspen improv?

 

[AndyWan Kenobi]

I like the publicity that this is getting, but a lot of the headlines for this article (which I've seen at a number of different sources online) present it as negative before you even read it. One I saw was

Bad Business: Muppets Go Adult

I don't like the bias there...

 

[Teheheman]

I wonder if this show was for adults? lol. But seriously, I don't see the big deal in this, if the Henson's don't mind it, I don't think that's a big deal. I would love to see this though.

Daniel

 

[dawningoftime]

I mean if you think about it, though, Jim Henson really didn't think of the muppets as kids stuff. He tended to have adult humour in his program. I find myself watching the Muppet Show now and think to myself..."My parent's let me watch this?"

 

[travellingpat]

Many of the Muppeteers think Avenue Q is funny

 

[Vic Romano]

Oh man... when I saw the title of this thread, I thought you had done another comic strip... an adult one!

 

[Fragglemuppet]

Lol, that would have been funny, but I bet the thread would have been very short-lived.
More to the point though, I agree that many of the journalists are biassed, and I think it's because they are not willing to see the muppets and the Henson company do anything that they feel is different. It is my theory, and I think these articles back it up, that many people do not even try to consider the possibility that there is anything adult about the muppets. They see kids watching TMS and other shows, and immediately disregard them.

 

[BEAR]

Many of the Muppeteers think Avenue Q is funny

Remember that all the original Avenue Q performers are Muppeteers.