HENSON ALTERNATIVE - The Jim Henson Company

For Immediate Release
SHN press contact: Anne Abrams/Erin Garcia/Shannon Barbara
(415) 551-2075 or pr@shnsf.com
SF Sketchfest press contact: Cindy Lang
(415) 789-9090 or cal@cidlang.com
HENSON ALTERNATIVE
80 HENSON PUPPETS. 6 COMEDIANS. 100% UNCENSORED.
LIMITED ENGAGEMENT-10 Performances Only
Curran Theatre
August 18 – 27
SHN and SF Sketchfest present a limited engagement of STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG, a night of
hilarious uncensored mayhem with The Miskreant Puppets and their fearless puppeteers set loose live
onstage to explore the art of improvisational comedy. Created by award-winning director, producer,
writer and performer Brian Henson and actor and improvisational guru Patrick Bristow and featuring
The Jim Henson Company’s renowned puppeteers, STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG will play a limited
engagement of 10 performances August 18 through 27 at the Curran Theatre (445 Geary Street).
Tickets go on sale July 15 at 10 am.
STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG is a madcap multimedia romp in which the skilled art of puppetry and
comedic intelligent nonsense collide. Unpredictable, irreverent and rebellious, it’s never the same
show twice as a team of expert puppeteers set off on a trail of twisted sketches and songs at

eakneck pace while interaction with the audience prompts the spontaneous storylines unfolding on
stage.
With live musical accompaniment and Patrick Bristow as host, STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG features a
cast of six puppeteers in an uninhibited and unscripted live puppet performance. The show,
described by Entertainment Weekly as “one giant Mad Lib,” is actually “two shows in one” as the
hilarious puppet action is projected on large screens flanking the stage, while the puppeteers display
their skillful talents below all in full view of the audience.
SF Sketchfest co-directors Janet Varney, David Owen and Cole Stratton elaborate on how this special
engagement came about: “Brian Henson appeared earlier this year at SF Sketchfest for a lively,
funny, and fascinating conversation-- as well as an incredible live puppet demonstration-- with Neil
Patrick Harris. When Brian described the STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG puppets improvising adultsonly
sketches and songs, the crowd went wild and we knew we had to team up with SHN to bring
this amazing show to San Francisco.”
STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG evolved from Henson’s previous production Puppet Up! – Uncensored,
which made its debut at the 2006 HBO Comedy Festival (Aspen, CO) and later toured the 2006
Edinburgh Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland), The 2007 Comedy Festival (Las Vegas, NV) and Australia’s
Sydney Big Laugh Comedy Festival and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (both 2007).
Puppet Up continued to be workshopped in monthly performances at Avalon Hollywood and
eventually a completely revamped production, featuring all new technical wizardry and original
music and staging, opened in New York City as STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG.
Henson Alternative is The Jim Henson Company’s label for content created specifically and
exclusively for adult audiences. Previous credits include “Tinseltown” for Logo, “Puppet Up! –
Uncensored” for TBS and the upcoming feature film Happytime Murders currently in development.
The San Francisco production of STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG is presented by SHN and SF Sketchfest
in association with the original producer of the New York engagement WestBeth Entertainment.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets for STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG range in price from $30 - $65 and go on sale July
15 at 10 AM at http://shnsf.com/shows/stuffedandunstrung or by calling 888 SHN 1799
(888 746 1799).
For current box office hours please visit http://shnsf.com/tickets/boxoffice.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE (August 18– 27)
Thursday Aug 18 and 25 at 8 pm
Friday Aug 19 and 26 at 7pm and 10:30 pm
Saturday Aug 20 and 27 at 7pm and 10:30 pm
Additional information about STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG available at
www.stuffedandunstrung.com/
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BIOS
Brian Henson (Creator, Producer, Performer) is Chairman of The Jim Henson Company and an
award-winning director, producer, writer and puppeteer. Henson served as Executive Producer on
the television projects "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars" (which he also directed) and "Jim Henson's
Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story" (which he also co-wrote and directed). He directed
“Battleground,” an Emmy Award-winning episode of the “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” anthology
for TBS. Previous television projects that Henson produced include "Farscape," "Gulliver's Travels,"
"Muppets Tonight" and "Dinosaurs." Henson's film directing credits include The Muppet Christmas
Carol and Muppet Treasure Island. Most recently, Henson has served as an executive producer of
the Emmy-nominated science-readiness pre-school series “Sid the Science Kid,” airing daily on PBS
KIDS®. The series features his groundbreaking work at Jim Henson's Creature Shop, one of
Hollywood's pre-eminent character building, digital and physical visual effects facilities. Henson was
part of the team that first created and utilized the Henson Performance Control System, a powerful
custom-based interface for puppeteers, which won an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science
Scientific and Engineering Award in 1992. He also led the Shop's work with its revolutionary digital
puppeteering technology, the 2009 Emmy® Award-winning Henson Digital Puppetry Studio that is
featured in STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG as well as “Sid the Science Kid” and “Wilson & Ditch:
Digging America.”
STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG Director and Host Patrick Bristow is best known for his numerous
television appearances most notably as "Peter" on the groundbreaking ABC series “Ellen.” Other
television credits include “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Seinfeld,” “Friends,” “Mad About You,” “Whose
Line Is It Anyway” and others. Film credits include The Longest Yard, as well as the first Austin
Powers, So I Married An Axe Murderer, Twilight of the Golds, and the accidental comedy Showgirls.
He is an alum of The Groundlings (Main Company) where he continues to teach and direct improv
and sketch comedy. His direction credits include Groundlings: City of the Future, Beyond the Valley
of the Deviants, Deviant Shores, Battle of the Deviants, the weekly Groundlings Theatre all improv
show Cooking With Gas, and the 2004 L.A. Weekly Theatre Awards Show. Bristow is currently
writing a pilot for FOX with Heather Morgan (“The Comeback”) and most recently appeared in the
hit musical The Break-up Notebook at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Hollywood.
SHN, the pre-eminent theatrical entertainment company in San Francisco, fosters new works and
spearheads world-class productions—honoring the past, leading the present, and envisioning the
future. SHN, a joint venture between commercial producers Carole Shorenstein Hays and Robert
Nederlander, owns and operates the Curran, Orpheum and Golden Gate Theatres—San Francisco’s
premier theatrical venues. In keeping with her vision as Artistic Director for SHN, Carole Shorenstein
Hays’ passion is nurturing the voices of playwrights, in both classical and new plays. Of the many
playwrights whose work Carole has cultivated, four of them have won their first Pulitzer Prize for
plays she produced. Carole Shorenstein Hays, winner of six Tony Awards, leads SHN in its
commitment to present Bay Area audiences with pre-Broadway world premieres, original Broadway
cast productions, the launch of national tours, award-winning plays and current hits fresh from
Broadway. For more information on SHN, please visit www.shnsf.com.

SF Sketchfest, co-founded and directed by David Owen, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney, produces
the eclectic San Francisco Comedy Festival, an internationally-recognized and critically-acclaimed
event that mixes major comedy stars and the best up-and-coming comedians from around the world
for three weeks of sketch, improv, stand-up, alternative comedy, films, tributes and panel discussions.
In past years, SF Sketchfest has featured renowned comedy artists such as: Aziz Ansari, Fred Armisen,
Dan Aykroyd, Dana Carvey, Margaret Cho, Zach Galifianakis, Monty Python’s Terry Jones, Conan
O’Brien, Amy Poehler, Paul Reubens, Amy Sedaris, Garry Shandling, Robin Williams and “Weird Al”
Yankovic. The festival has also hosted film and television stars: Will Arnett, Candice Bergen, Dick
Cavett, Bud Cort, Danny DeVito, Jon Hamm, Neil Patrick Harris, Cloris Leachman, Jason Segel and
Gene Wilder; ensemble comedy groups Kids in the Hall, Mr. Show, Mystery Science Theater 3000,
The State and the Upright Citizens Brigade; and musical guests David Byrne, Gordon Gano, Aimee
Mann and Michael Penn. SF Sketchfest offers its audiences the rare opportunity to see their favorite
performers in intimate live performances and discussions. The upcoming eleventh annual SF
Sketchfest runs January-February, 2012. For more information on SF Sketchfest please visit
www.sfsketchfest.com.
WestBeth Entertainment, Arnold Engelman – President, is a producing/promoting organization that
has successfully and consistently produced critically acclaimed, financially successful, groundbreaking
entertainment for 30 years. From Eddie Izzard to Billy Connolly, Mike Myers to Lewis Black,
Wigfield to Hedwig, and The Family Guy to Tenacious D, WestBeth has been the creative catalyst,
partner and producer of some of the most innovative productions across the nation. WestBeth is
presently represented on Broadway with John Leguizamo’s GHETTO KLOWN at the Lyceum
Theatre. WestBeth will also be promoting Eddie Izzard’s STRIPPED TO THE SHORE at Shoreline in
San Jose and STRIPPED TO THE BOWL at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Recent productions
include Eddie Izzard’s January 2010 US Arena Tour – THE BIG INTIMACY TOUR, AN EVENING
WITHOUT MONTY PYTHON directed by Eric Idle and BT McNicholl, Eddie Izzard’s sold out 34
city 2008 American Tour STRIPPED, as well as Billy Connolly’s TOO OLD TO DIE YOUNG (North
American Tour); and Lewis Black’s NOTHING SACRED (Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall), and the four
month Off-Broadway run of STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG in New York City. For more information
on WestBeth Entertainment please visit www.westbethent.com.
Henson Alternative is The Jim Henson Company’s label for content created specifically and
exclusively for adult audiences. Previous credits include “Tinseltown” for Logo, “Puppet Up! –
Uncensored” for TBS and the upcoming feature film Happytime Murders currently in development.
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The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 50 years
and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best
known as creators of the world famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy Awards and nine
Grammy Awards. Recent credits include the Emmy® nominated “Sid the Science Kid,” “Dinosaur Train,”
“Wilson & Ditch: Digging America” and “Pajanimals.” Features include “The Dark Crystal,” “Labyrinth,”
“MirrorMask,” and “Unstable Fables” and television productions include “Fraggle Rock” and the sci-fi
cult series “Farscape.”
With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los
Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and postproduction facilities.
Independently owned and operated by the five adult children of founder Jim Henson, the Company is
also home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group
with international film, television and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of
the music industry’s top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of-the-art and vintage
equipment. The Company’s Henson Alternative brand has recently launched the national tour of “Stuffed
and Unstrung,” a live puppet improvisational show named one of the top 10 “Best Stage Shows of 2010”
by Entertainment Weekly.
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