Show: 28
Category: Comedy / Improv / Musical Theater / Original Music / Puppetry / Storytelling / Audience participation / LGBTQIA+ Content / Religious content
By: Sockpop
Directed by: Phoebe Bottoms and Matt Olson
Location: Southern Theater
Summary: A puppet named Pal has one hour left to live tells his life story to a priest in the form of improvised scenes.
Highlights: I don't think I've ever seen puppet improv before, and it's pretty adorable. But also weird and funny. The furry pale blue puppet Pal is puppeteered by Jim Hensen Co. trained Pheobe Bottoms, and expresses an amazing array of emotions, making him very human-like and endearing. On his deathbed, Pal tells his life story to a priest (Victor Gonzalez), which we see play out in improvised scenes based on a few audience prompts, telling us about his childhood and failed relationships (performed by improvisors Eric Heiberg, James Moore, Philip Simondet, Meg Trowbridge, Zelia Gonzales, Chris Rodriguez, Steph Callaghan, and Patrick McIntyre). There's also a stand-up set, I'm not sure why, but the guest stand-up at the performance I attended, Jamie Carbone, was very funny. Finally, after Pal breathes his last puppet breath, the audience votes on where he goes next, and the sadistic audience voted for hell. So then we got to follow Pal into hell, with more improvised scenes and some of the characters from his life coming back. It's a unique premise for an improv show, and a fun twist. Last show Saturday at 7, and That Felt Good also performs Friday nights at Bryant Lake Bowl.
