For immediate release
Press Contacts:
Victoria Westbrook, v.westbrook@dcpublicity.com
“Top 10 Best Stage Shows 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
It’s Time to Puppet Up!
Brian Henson’s Hilarious Stage Show
Is Going on Tour!
Outrageous Live Comedy and Iconic Henson Puppetry Take Center Stage
Boston at Boch Center Shubert Theatre
September 27, 2026
Philadelphia at Miller Theater
September 29, 2026
Washington, DC at Lincoln Theatre
September 30, 2026
New York City at Tribeca PAC
October 2 & 3, 2026
Tickets and Information for all dates
available at puppetup.com
LOS ANGELES, CA — Brian Henson’s Puppet Up!, the world-renowned stage show is going on tour for the first time in 15 years! Puppet Up! features hilarious improv and sketch comedy performed by dozens of Henson puppets brought to life by a cast of world-class puppeteers and comedians from The Jim Henson Company.
Audiences can see the show in Boston at Boch Center Shubert Theatre on September 27, 2026, Philadelphia at Miller Theater on September 29, 2026, Washington, DC at Lincoln Theatre on September 30, 2026, and New York City at Tribeca PAC on October 2 & 3, 2026. Tickets and information for all engagements are available at puppetup.com.
Puppet Up! is a night of outrageous, off-the-cuff comedy for adults created by legendary puppeteer and award-winning director Brian Henson (Muppet Christmas Carol, Labyrinth) and director-host Patrick Bristow (The Groundlings, Ellen, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Whose Line Is It Anyway?).
Puppet Up! is never the same show twice, effortlessly blending increasingly unhinged feats of improv comedy with the unparalleled skill and originality of Henson puppeteers.
The show is recommended for age 16 and up (under 16 are not admitted).
In addition to the “puppet anarchy” of the improvised sketches using audience suggestions, the show also features musical numbers and lovingly recreates classic pieces originally created by Jim and Jane Henson, and Frank Oz, that haven’t been seen by live audiences in decades.
Puppet Up! has been embraced by fans of comedy, fans of the enduring Jim Henson legacy, and anyone looking for a fun night of high-energy laugh-out-loud entertainment.
Puppet Up! which has found large audiences with frequent performances in Los Angeles – is now going on tour for the first time in 15 years, bringing the show to audiences across North America. Puppet Up! Is produced and presented by Westbeth Entertainment.
This is no ordinary puppet show.
In its new theatrical form, Puppet Up! incorporates not only the masterful puppeteering that the company is best known for but all of the elements that make theatre great — as all of it is performed live in front of the audience.
The puppet mayhem is all part of this elaborate, over-the-top theatrical production – in which the audience watches the magic as it happens. Host Patrick Bristow and his team of world-class puppeteers 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 bringing it all to life. In full view of the audience, video cameras capture all the zany fun that makes up this Henson spectacle – complete with lights, special effects, sound, and music.
Puppet Up! is a truly unique stage event, that not only shows off the talent and stage craft of its cast of consummate puppeteers/comedians, but of the incredible technical achievements of projections, lighting, sound and innovative technical usage – all learned from decades of producing television.
The cast does not only show off their puppeteering skills but present themselves as supreme talents as they sing, dance, improvise and perform their way through this truly unique live experience.
For over twenty years, Puppet Up! has spun 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.
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 … [and] 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!”\
It was suggested to Brian Henson that he see The Groundlings, and suddenly everything clicked. And director Patrick Bristow said that as soon a live audience was added, it upped the stress level of the performers – sharping up the comedy and sharpening 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.”
CALENDAR LISTING for Puppet Up!
BOSTON
Date: September 27, 2026
Venue: Boch Center Shubert Theatre, 270 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116
Tickets: Tickets are available at puppetup.com
PHILADELPHIA
Date: September 29, 2026
Venue: Miller Theater, 250 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Tickets: Tickets are available at puppetup.com
WASHINGTON, DC
Date: September 30, 2026
Venue: Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St NW, Washington, DC 20009
Tickets: Tickets are available at puppetup.com
NEW YORK CITY
Dates: October 2 & 3, 2026
Venue: Tribeca PAC, 199 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007
Tickets: Tickets are available at puppetup.com
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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 he’s 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 Austin Powers, So I Married An Axe Murderer, Pain And Gain, and Transformers 4. Look for him later this year in Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar.
He is an alumni 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.
Between acting, writing, directing and his various duties for Puppet Up, he feels lucky to be able to make a living through creative pursuits. In his spare time he attempts to play the harp. Initially, he chose the instrument for its relaxing qualities. But, hearing his practice broken by grunts and cussing shows that he was misguided in this notion. He persists anyhow. When asked if he plays the harp, he corrects you with, “I play WITH the harp.”
He’s a native Angeleno and grew up primarily in Burbank. His parents, Frank and Patricia met doing theatre in Los Angeles in the late 1940’s and though they didn’t continue with their theatrical careers, they could not have been more encouraging to their son who wanted to pursue acting. His older brothers have been equally supportive. He has been with his loving husband, Andrew Nicastro, for 26 years and the two were married in 2010. They credit the length of their relationship to a “benevolent stubbornness” on both sides.