Brian Henson Presents: Puppet Up!

A Fantastic Show at Knott's Scary Farm

Every year at Knott's Berry Farm in Anaheim California they transform the amusement park into a halloween themed adventure. They fill the park with mazes and monsters that jump out and basically scare the crap out of you. It is a blast!

We have gone for the past two years, and this year they had a special treat. Puppet Up! Presented by Jim Henson's son, Brian Henson. Here is the introduction video they posted on YouTube:

We walked by it several times as we walked around the park and didn't really have any intention to go in initially, but our feet started to get tired so we thought we'd go in and have a look. We were really in for a treat!

We happened to show up in front of the Schulz Theater about 10 minutes before the show and a line had not formed yet, so we quickly jumped in. As you can see, it was already pitch dark outside. We were exhausted from be startled by monsters jumping out of the bushes so we really needed a good break!

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any actual footage during the show, but I can explain a bit. At the beginning a curtain is raised and you are introduced to a group of puppeteers all dressed in black. There is a camera set up center stage with is raised slightly above their heads. On the left of a stage is a large rack, which was covered with a cloth. The cloth was removed to reveal this awesome selection of muppets:

The Audience Directs the Show

This is the part that I really loved. The host of the show is a man who walks around with a microphone telling jokes and asking the audience to come up with subject matter. Once he gets a few funny phases, he tells the puppeteers what they will be the subject of their improv.

Next, they run over to the rack and grab a selection of puppets. There are two large screens above the stage that only show what is captured by the camera center stage. This is the really cool part! The people holding the puppets get under the camera and hold the puppets above their heads and do the whole show in front of the camera. It is so funny they you're practically falling out of your seat.

At one point they pulled some random dude out of the audience and dragged him up on stage. They put a puppet on his hand and shoved him in front of the camera. It was so funny because he had no idea what to do with the puppet, so it looked completely stunned for the whole scene. It was the best thing I've seen in I don't know how long.

We happened to be sitting on the front row. We decided to stay seated while everyone else was leaving the show, mostly because we didn't want to get stuck in the crowd. It turned out to be a good choice, but for another reason. One of the main puppeteers just walked right up to us and started chatting. What a great, friendly guy!

These guys really made it seem like they were having a real blast doing this show. I also got really nostalgic for Jim Henson. There is something really special about the muppets that you just don't get with CG and other special effects. Their little expressions are so funny and subtle even with very small movements.

This little squirell thing was cracking me up big time. Something about it's face was making me lose it!

I must say, if you are in Southern California in the next month, you owe it to yourself to get a ticket to Knott's Scary Farm even if only to check out Puppet Up! It is well worth it.

Edit: Sorry for using the steem tag on this post. I accidentally hit publish before updating the tags.