Jim Henson’s puppets are coming to Boston, but leave the kids at home

Details

Boch Center Shubert Theatre
270 Tremont Street, Boston
Sunday, September 27 @ 7 p.m
Tickets

Puppets are taking over a Boston stage this fall, but this is absolutely not a show for children. Brian Henson’s Puppet Up! is coming to the Boch Center Shubert Theatre on Sunday, September 27, at 7 p.m. The adults-only production combines unscripted comedy, live music and more than 80 Henson puppets in a show shaped by suggestions from the audience.

Boston marks the beginning of the show’s first tour in 15 years. It is a rare chance to see some of The Jim Henson Company’s world-class puppeteers perform without a script, a second take or the safety of an editing room.

An adults-only puppet show with no script

Created by Brian Henson and director and host Patrick Bristow, Puppet Up! has been performing for more than 20 years. Henson’s directing credits include The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island. Bristow is a veteran of The Groundlings whose television credits include Ellen, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Every performance begins with ideas from the audience. The cast turns those suggestions into improvised scenes, characters and musical numbers, meaning no 2 shows are alike. The comedy is uncensored, unpredictable and likely to go places traditionally associated with neither puppets nor polite conversation.

The performers do far more than operate the puppets. They improvise dialogue, create characters, sing, dance and respond to the audience while keeping the puppet action camera-ready.

You get to watch the puppeteers at work

The production lets the audience see exactly how the illusion is created. Cameras capture the puppet action and project it live onto screens above the stage while the performers remain visible below.

Viewers can watch the completed scene on the screens and, at the same time, see the puppeteers racing across the stage, changing positions and working together to bring each character to life.

The result is essentially 2 shows at once. One looks like a polished puppet production. The other reveals the coordination, improvisational skill and technical work required to create it in real time.

Rare Henson material returns to the stage

Alongside its improvised sketches, Puppet Up! recreates classic pieces originally developed by Jim Henson, Jane Henson and Frank Oz that have not been presented to live audiences in decades.

The vintage material connects the show’s very adult comedy with the experimental work that helped shape the Henson legacy.

Puppet Up! has appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, SF Sketchfest and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, as well as in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Toronto.

Entertainment Weekly named it one of its 10 best stage shows and gave it an A, writing that it is “nearly impossible to spend the show’s two hours doing anything but laugh.” The San Francisco Chronicle praised its combination of “first-rate Henson-style puppetry” and adult comedy.

When is Puppet Up! in Boston?

Brian Henson’s Puppet Up! plays the Boch Center Shubert Theatre, 270 Tremont Street in Boston, on Sunday, September 27, 2026, at 7 p.m.

The performance is recommended for audiences 16 and older. Children under 16 will not be admitted.