It’s Time to Puppet Up! Brian Henson’s Hilarious Stage Show Celebrates Summer with Eight Must-See Performances

For immediate release

Press Contacts:

Victoria Westbrook, [email protected]

Tim Choy, [email protected]

It's Time to Puppet Up!

Brian Henson's Hilarious Stage Show

Celebrates Summer with Eight Must-See Performances

Outrageous Comedy and Iconic Henson Puppetry Live On Stage!

July 31 - August 9, 2026

Tickets and Information Available at puppetup.com

LOS ANGELES, CA - Brian Henson's Puppet Up!, the world-renowned stage show that features hilarious improv and sketch comedy 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. Tickets are available now at puppetup.com.

"It's nearly impossible to spend the show's two hours doing anything but laugh. Grade: A."

Entertainment Weekly

"You cannot imagine the mayhem that erupts when an uninhibited house takes its cues from the gifted lunatics onstage."

Los Angeles Times

For over twenty years, Puppet Up! has toured around the world, spinning top-notch improv and sketch comedy with 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 this adults-only show. With a nod to Jim Henson's well-established early work in late night and live television that featured irreverent, creative, joyful humor that spoke to adults, Puppet Up! 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.

This is no ordinary puppet show.

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. At the Montalbán Theatre, audiences also have the chance to see an enormous full body walkaround puppet, built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop and lovingly known as Blue, who will be greeting guests in the lower lobby.

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 and host Patrick Bristow. The show is recommended for ages 16 and up (under 16 are not admitted). Tickets and information are available at puppetup.com.

CALENDAR LISTING for Puppet Up!

Dates: July 31 to August 9, 2026

Friday, July 31 at 8:00pm

Saturday, August 1 at 3:00pm & 7:00pm

Sunday, August 2 at 5:00pm

Friday, August 7 at 8:00pm

Saturday, August 8 at 3:00pm & 7:00pm

Sunday, August 9 at 5:00pm

Venue: The Ricardo Montalbán Theatre, 1615 Vine St, Hollywood, CA 90028

Tickets: Tickets are available at puppetup.com; Prices begin at $49.00.

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About Brian Henson (Creator, Producer, Performer)

Brian Henson is Chairman of the Board of The Jim Henson Company and an award-winning director, producer, writer, and puppeteer for film and television. His many credits include The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Return to Oz, Labyrinth, The Witches, Little Shop of Horrors, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and Muppet Treasure Island as well as television projects like Dinosaurs, Muppets Tonight, Gulliver's Travels, Bear in the Big Blue House, Farscape, and Sid the Science Kid.

Henson most recently directed the wildly popular short film for Magic: The Gathering's Lorwyn Eclipsed. Highlighted producing credits for television include the Disney+ original series Earth to Ned,Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (which he also directed), Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge (for which he also served as lead judge), and Jim Henson's Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (which he co-wrote and directed). He also directed Battleground, an Emmy Award-winning episode of Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King for TNT and The Happytime Murders, starring Melissa McCarthy.

In 2005, he created Puppet Up! - Uncensored, which was named a top ten "Best Stage Show" by Entertainment Weekly.

About Patrick Bristow (Co-Creator, Director, Host)

The name may not be familiar, but the face may be as Patrick Bristow has appeared on numerous television shows and films over the past 30 years. Maybe you remember him as the "Wig Master" on Seinfeld or as the goody two shoes friend Peter on the groundbreaking sit com Ellen, as well as recurring roles on Mad About You, Curb Your Enthusiasm and more. In recent years, he has appeared on American Woman, Criminal Minds, Major Crimes, Shameless, The Middle, Last Man Standing, Pretty Little Liars, CSI, and in the films Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, Austin Powers, So I Married An Axe Murderer, Pain And Gain, and Transformers 4.

A native Angeleno, Bristow is an alumnus of The Groundlings Theatre where he performed, taught and directed for many years. He currently teaches improv classes of his own in Los Angeles. Sharing his experience and knowledge of improv comedy is an equal passion to his efforts as a performer. Depending on the day, it might be the greater passion.

About the Miskreant Puppets

The Miskreant Puppets are the motley troupe of puppets featured in many Henson Alternative productions like "The Happytime Murders," "Puppet Up! - Uncensored," and "No, You Shut Up!" as well as Coldplay's recent music video "Biutyful."

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