Save the puppets first!

According to the New York Times, a puppet theater in California is tanking along with the rest of the economy.  That’s a shame, cuz I like puppets.  They’ve been around forever, and they are funny.  Not funny hahahaha, but funny morbid, funny “gotcha”.  These sly puppet masters always try to get one past the gullible audience, banking on those harmless looking wooden things. 

 

I still remember one show from a few years back, where muppets went through scene after scene of gruesome death.  It struck me just now that maybe the creators of this show watched The Chucky films too many times?  Anyway, here’s one scene described by an infinitely more articulate cultural review guy from the LA Times.

The show moves swiftly from one visual punch line to another. Two German puppets must choose between doors labeled “Ja” and “Nein” as part of a diabolical game show in “Das Bipsy und Mumu Puppenspiel by Freulicher Friedrich: Episode 43 ‘Bipsy’s Mistake.’ ” (The segment titles alone are priceless.) Later, an innocent street urchin turns the tables on his bloodthirsty mugger in “The Beast of Muggditch Lane by August Stainbrook: Act 1, Scene 1.”

There, there you have it.  No blood, no gore, but nonetheless, 22 violent puppet deaths.  I believe the group is now touring the rest of North America.  If you catch a glimpse of the show, let me know what you think.

source: NYT, LA Times

Tagged as: puppet