Episode 46

A number of situations involving Ted push Penny TOO FAR.

Episode Break-Down:

Cast:
Avery Jones: Ted, Turtle, Hare, Sherlock Bones, Hermie, Rory, Suzi assist., Barry, Zeke
Alex Hubbard: Penny, Calliope, Dachshund, Trixie
Hannah Tarleton: Audrey 'O Malley
Nick Garcia: Sherlock Bones assist., Suzi assist., Rock, Penny assist.
Benjamin Johnston: Suzi

-"Ted Takes a Ride" CO-  A gag we borrowed from a "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip, Ted IS a teddy bear, after all!

-Penny & Ted Intro/Outro: Aren't they sweet? Aren't they cute... yeah, nice Penny is a strange Penny...

- Calliope's Advice of the Day: I actually got this advice once... more or less...

-Penny's Confessions: What?

-Sherlock and Dacshund: Squeaky Toy: Simple gag for simple minded dogs.


-Joke of the Day



-Hermie bugs Penny: Finally some classic Hermie and Penny banter, that's been missing from this season!

-Daily Dose of Cute

- Silent Film: Hula Hoop: A hula-hooping puppet?? Sweeeeeeeeeet!


- Let's Make a Date: There are two reasons for this sketch, the first being that we have a female lead who's not in a romantic relationship, and we need to REALLY tick Penny off... it's a simple as that.

- Hermie's Cute Petname of the Day


- How to be Hot

Penny mayhem is funny mayhem, and the more of it the better! 

Avery Jones, Creative Director of The Puppet Improv

Episode 45

Scooter visits the home of Country music, while The Puppet Improv players present "Jack and the Beanstalk"!

Episode Breakdown:

Cast:
Avery Jones: Sherlock Bones, Scooter, Hermie, Waldo W. Weasel, Rory, Turtle
Alex Hubbard: Dachshund, Penny, Trixie, Calliope, Jen the Hen
Lizzie Martin: Petunia, Turtle
Hannah Tarleton: Sherlock assist.
Nick Garcia: Sherlock assist.

-"Dacshund's Puppy Coaster" CO: More goofing around on set... goofing off seems to be our specialty!

-Scooter at Grand Ole Opry Intro/Outro: I visited Nashville, TN last summer, to attend a comedy conference and on my my trip home couldn't resist stopping off at the home of country music for a quick shoot! Not only is the Opry a staple in the country music scene, but also, I later learned, one of the locations Jim Henson and Frank Oz performed Rowlf the Dog for an episode of 'The Jimmy Dean Show' in 1965.

-Penny's Confessions: Think about it...

-Little Theater: Jack and the Beanstalk: Presented in the same style as our 'Cinderella', 'Oz', and 'Wonderland' shows, 'Jack and the Beanstalk' is the last in our line of  "dramas". Jack was originally to be played by Hermie, but changed last minute to Rory, because that just made more sense. In a parallel to our 'Wonderland' show, where Penny was surrounded largely by characters performed by myself, this episode features Rory surrounded by Alex Hubbard's characters.

-Calliope's Advice of the Day: I HAVE pondered that, Calliope, I have...

-Joke of the Day: A classic (horrible) Penny joke!





Season 4 is winding down, and a cool location and a silly story is just the way we like it to!
Avery Jones, Creative Director of The Puppet Improv

Episode 44

After a freak chicken accident, Calliope becomes almost "normal"!

Episode Breakdown:

Cast:
Avery Jones: Ed, Hermie, Hare, Scooter, Lexi, Zeke, Rory
Alex Hubbard: Penny, Trixie, Jen the Hen, Calliope, Trixie
Hannah Tarleton: Audrey 'O Malley
Benjamin Johnston: Office Assistant, Jen the Hen assist., Sherlock assist., Turtle
Nick Garcia: Bob, Henry, Jen the Hen assist.
Lizzie Martin: Petunia
Hadley Gilpatrick: Squishy, Pink Meep

"Business Meeting" CO- An idea that's I've had for over a year, glad to finally be rid of it!

Hermie & Trixie Intro/Outro: We haven't had too many "normal" character pairs this season. Odd... Yes we are.

Penny's Confessions: I believe this is the only gag I wrote for "Confessions" this season.

 "Flying Jen"/"Normal Calliope" plot: Calliope hasn't been featured in her own plot line in the history of the series, so this story was long overdue.

The Young and the Stupid: More girls. More stupid.

The Sherlock Bones Show: Fetch: Silly dog.

Joke of the Day

How to be Hot: We have a rule when working with Zeke and Trixie, if we can't find a way out... They'll just start making out.

Calliope's Normal-ness of the Day: Almost weirder than her regular sketch....

Daily Dose of Cute: Oh, the great mysteries of life.... Now that I think about it, this line is almost worthy of Calliope.

Weird episode, weird show. One of my favorites!

Avery Jones, Creative Director of The Puppet Improv

Episode 43

An angry Penny puts Hare in charge of running the show!

Episode Break-Down:
Cast:
Avery Jones: Ed, Hare, Petunia, Hermie, Rory, Henry, Sherlock Bones, Zeke, Turtle
Alex Hubbard: Penny, Rory assist., Dachshund, Trixie, Calliope
Meg Miller: Suzi
Hannah Tarleton: Audrey 'O Malley
Benjamin Johnston: Sherlock Bones assist.
Nick Garcia: Penny assist., Sherlock Bones assist.

Cold Open: Hare has not been very prominent this season... too busy shooting holiday specials, perhaps? But this episode, another take on our "Channel Flip" episode, where segments can abruptly end, and short purposeless segments run wild, seemed like a great vehicle to showcase Hare and his ADD!

Suzi & Petunia Intro/Outro: Suzi has also been absent since Episode 38, and will make only a few more appearances in the series, due to a lack of availability of her performer. Petunia, however, will be around until the end of our show, we have a love/hate relationship with that feline!

Penny's Confessions: She's sick AND twisted!

Daily Dose of Cute

Poetry Time with Henry Monster: If anything good came of Hare being in charge of things was that he finally canned Henry's segment! I've already shared my opinions of Henry, in a previous post... I, ya know, can't stand 'em!


Sherlock and Dachshund: The Bad Doggy: As mentioned in a previous post, the realization of bringing Sherlock and Dachshund into the realm of being "real dogs" was a great asset to our series, and opened up a world of new possibilities with this doggy duo! This segment is a great example of how to treat them like real dogs, and keep their buddy-buddy head games intact, and in character!

How to be Hot

Joke of the Day: I have no memory of where the joke came from... I think someone Googled it on set.

The Young and the Stupid: Extra emphasis on the "Stupid" today!

Calliope's Advice of the Day: Darn you, Hare! Darn you to heck!

Hermie's Cute Petname of the Day


Any show with Hare is a good show, and this is one of my favorites of the season!

Avery Jones, Creative Director of The Puppet Improv

Episode 42

A determined Rory Monster sets out to find a cupcake for his Birthday party, but may have bitten off more than he can chew!

Episode Breakdown:
Cast:
-Avery Jones: Hare, Zeke, Rock, Hermie, Sherlock Bones, Scooter
-Alex Hubbard: Dachshund, Calliope, Penny, Trixie
-Hannah Tarleton: Audrey 'O Malley
-Hadley Gilpatrick: Happy the Cupcake, Sherlock Bones assist.
-Connor Gilpatrick: Rock

Cold Open: Just goofing off on set can really pay off when the camera is rolling!

Zeke & Rock Intro/Outro: If you thought Zora and Calliope were a weird pairing, wait to you see these guys!

Calliope's Advice of the Day: Originally an outtake from our "Advice" shoot, but funny enough to make it into an episode!

The Young and the Stupid: We do enjoy breaking our own 4th wall, and a hysterical Trixie is comedy gold!

Daily Dose of Cute: The Cupcake: Happy the Cupcake is a character that Hadley Gilpatrick designed herself, and we co-built together as part of a Springer Opera House puppetry workshop. The character appeared in the background of last season's Cinderella, and was so great I could not resist putting him/her in an episode! And who better to pair with a Cupcake but the sickeningly sweet Rory! These two are great together and were paired again at a Season 5 shoot a few weeks later, so you haven't seen the last of The Puppet Improv's cutest characters eva'!

Penny's Confessions: A bit of a call back to an old bit with Penny and Lily as dueling girlscouts!

The Sherlock Bones Show: The Laser Pointer: A different, yet effective, set-up for this segment, reminiscent of Sesame Street sketches which feature characters behind a wall, mainly used to hide puppeteers. The very enthusiastic performance from Alex Hubbard in this bit inspired us to continue in the Sherlock and Dachshund bits with the guys performing gags that real dogs are known to do, like chasing tails, etc. But more on that later!

How to be Hot: More on-set clowning around... see bloopers for further reference.

Joke of the Day: ...idiots...

Inspector, Detective: Private Eye: This bit was shot on Hannah Tarleton's last full shoot day with us before moving out of state unexpectedly. We shot a bulk of the the remaining material for this season that day, and even some stuff for Season 5, ensuring that Audrey will be present in the cast even though she's not readily available to us anymore.

Little Theatre: Sha-Puppy

A nice, solid episode brings us to our half-way point of the season! Hang on for the ride, folks!

Avery Jones, Creative Director of The Puppet Improv

Episode 41

Trixie, Lexi, Audrey, and Zora appear on Survival, a reality show that dares them to spend the night in The Puppet Improv's Studio!

Episode Breakdown:
Cast:
-Avery Jones: Hermie, Zeke, Walter, Survival Announcer, Lexi, Rory, Scooter, Ted, Petunia, Hare
-Alex Hubbard: Penny, Calliope, Trixie, Jen the Hen
-Hannah Tarleton: Audrey 'O Malley
-Connor Gilpatrick: Zora
-Nick Garcia: Walter assist., Penny assist.

Hermie & Penny Intro/Outro: Our first real Hermie/Penny pairing this season, and they've still got it! ...whatever "it" is...

Calliope's Advice of the Day


How to be Hot

Survival: A back-handed parody of every reality show ever produced, until the girls show up! All of the material involving the 4 girls were shot in one take and then stretched over the episode... These 4 ladies are one of my favorite things this season!

Daily Dose of Cute

Penny's Confessions: Our first sketch featuring multiple Alex Hubbard characters... we need to do that more often! Noted.

The Young and the Stupid: Possibly our weakest YATS of the season, and only because we couldn't involve our regular female leads... Also noted.

Hermie's Cute Petname of the Day

Joke of the Day: One of the first times we've seen Ted this season!

Calliope: Gong Noises

Little Theatre: I don't get it either.

A different kind of episode than we're used to, but that's okay! In this medium no two shows are alike, and I enjoy mixing up the formats as much as possible! In the next show we'll establish a new character, so see you then? Great!

Avery Jones, Creative Director of The Puppet Improv

Episode 40

A jealous Penny steals a plant intended for Hermie that was delivered to the stage door, but she soon realizes that this is no ordinary plant!

Episode Breakdown:
-Cast:
Avery Jones: Narrator, Hermie, Hare, Zeke, Plant, Rory, Scooter, Turtle, Lexi
Alex Hubbard: Penny, Trixie, Jen the Hen, Calliope
Hannah Tarleton: Audrey 'O Malley
Hadley Gilpatrick: Squishy
Nick Garcia: Rock, Orange Cat, Bubba
Benjamin Johnston: Zora, Plant assist., Hermie assist., Bob the Rooster, Trixie
Becca Smith: Pink Meep

Calliope & Zora Intro/Outro: This is, by far, one of the strangest pairings of characters we've done to date. Originally, this episode had no Intro/Outro so we could focus on truly ripping off- ahem, spoofing "Little Shop of Horrors". But upon editing the show I discovered this episode was too short, and needed more material, so this wacky duo (who were already part of a Season 5 episode) found a new home.


How to be Hot: I'm starting to believe that these two can't give real advice on anything....

The Plant: In October of this year, I had the privilege of designing, building, and puppeteering Audrey II for Springer Opera House's production of "Little Shop of Horrors". The plant used in this episode was/is my prototype (protoplant?), used to convince myself, and Little Shop's producers, that I was capable of building this monster of a puppet. In fact, even the line drawing of the plant featured in this episode's credits was a piece of concept art used in developing the look for "Little Shop" I've always felt as though The Puppet Improv is, in a sense, my video journal. A lot of important moments, trips, and people have been featured in a way that's very special to me, and, hopefully entertaining to our audience. Even though we shot 95% of this episode before we even began production on "Little Shop", it still stands, in my mind, as a great reminder of the experience.


Calliope's Advice of the Day: We've heard Calliope reference "The Turtle of Wisdom" on several occasions, and we just thought it was some more of her delusional babbling. But, it turns out, that there is an actual turtle... whether he's wise or not is another issue entirely.

Joke of the Day: Yes, we stole Family Guy's joke, too.

Daily Dose of Cute: Okay, kid... we get it, you're cute.

Penny's Confessions: This segment doesn't have anything to do with Penny's story line in this episode, but this too was something used to extend the run-time of the episode

The Young and the Stupid: What's the worse thing Zeke could ever tell Trixie... or Angela... or Paige? This wasn't originally intended to be a YATS story line, but we were one plot short for this season's soap operas, so the idea was re-invented into what you see now.

So kids, what's the moral of this story?
Don't talk to the greenery, and that you don't always have to know how your show is going to end before you start. Where's the fun in that?

Avery Jones, Creative Director of The Puppet Improv