Saturday's Puppet Up Show

[mummytomb]

Who was there?
I had a great time, especially since I found half price tix. I don't think I'd ever pay for the show full price. If you've seen it once or twice, You get the gist of it. It's a Groundlings short improv show with puppets. If you love the groundlings, You'll love this. I will admit that it seems to act like the stepchild of a Groundlings show. In the same way that we were all entertained by the original "Who's Line Is It Anyway," We were happy to see the American version, since more than half of the shows performers were from North America. But then something happened. Wane Brady "improvised" a song and the rest sat and watched. Then the Next week the same thing happened. You got a sense of the pattern very quickly, unlike the Spontanious feel of the original show.
I feel the same is upon us for Puppet Up! [Uncensored] It is time to change the formula. Several have rotated in and out of the cast, but the end product still feels too familiar to be truely called an improvised show.
Don't get me wrong; I loved the show. Allan Trautman was great as always, Colleen kept it fun and original, and Drew mastered the technique of a Tiki statue eating macaroni salad quite well. I'm just affraid that once it gets into this wedge, it will just sink into oblivion.
Perhapse that was a little too dark. Um, Let's just say it won't be anything new, even to a new audience.

 

[stephenjlizard]

In your opinion, mummytomb, since it seems like maybe you've kept an eye on this production, does it feel to you like these Puppet Up shows (and in general this period of "edgy puppetry" of the Henson Alternative brand) is all leading up to something? A "next big thing" for the Henson Company? Or do you feel like these live shows are just maybe a public way to keep the puppeteers in practice of thinking and performing on their feet?