Knott's Scary Farm 2019: Entertainment
Knott’s Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA
With our new approach of prioritizing major haunt overviews and staying timely on the remaining haunts—at the cost of the major haunt deep dives—we’re a little later with our coverage of Knott’s Scary Farm’s show options compared to past years. But this afternoon, we’re wrapping up our in-depth coverage of the original Halloween Haunt by taking a look at the four entertainment features that are a part of this year’s Scary Farm. This year is headlined by a smash hit at the Charles M. Schulz Theater, and is, overall, the strongest entertainment line-up that Scary Farm has offered in many years.
Lets explore the options guests have at Knott’s after they’re done being terrified!
Puppet Up! Uncensored
When Puppet Up! was unveiled at the Knott’s Scary Farm Announcement Event a couple of months ago, there were some who scoffed at the idea of a puppet improv show at Haunt, especially since it “wasn’t even scary.” Oh, how naive they were… I knew what they did not at the time—that Henson Alternative’s Puppet Up was an incredible and raucous comedy show that was both brilliant, unpredictable, and delightfully enthralling in the most inappropriate ways. The variety that each show brings and its unique nature from the improvisational games conducted mean that this is a different experience each and every night, and even among each and every one of the three shows per night!
The results have spoken for themselves this season. Crowds continue to grow as word of mouth gets out about what a fantastic show this is, and even Thursday evening viewings have a pretty solid audience in the Charles Schulz Theater. The mix of scripted sketches and audience-derived improv fuel an addictive performance that has become deservingly popular—and is very much uncensored and for mature audiences as advertised.
Brian Henson does a Puppet Up! skit with a lucky guest puppeteer on Puppet Up! Uncensored.
Each show follows a generally consistent format. After a silly pre-show video introducing the history of puppetry and Jim Henson puppetry, the six puppeteers of the evening perform the Puppet Up! theme song—a catchy and immediately swear-filled musical number that sets the tone for the evening. Co-creator and host, Patrick Bristow is introduced, along with the cast, and the rules of the show are explained (audience participation very much encouraged), before everyone launches into the first game, “New Choice,” typically involving two of the Henson Alternative members, where the puppeteers need to provide a revised line upon Bristow’s bidding. Another similar improv game involving all six puppeteers occurs that’s either a classic PSA style video or a satire of a YouTube video log, and then it’s onto the first classic Henson sketch of the evening—either “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Your Face” for the first and last shows or “Java” for the middle show.
Next comes a sketch using the amazing hot dog puppets that are so absurdly charming. This often involves a film noir caricature or a silly activity the hot dogs are involved with. The musical number game comes next—either a James Bond-style theme song or a folksy song inspired by information gleaned from an unwitting audience member and sung by woodland critters. A semi-scripted bit comes in the form of the Usher Brothers, who use blue screen video superimposition and looping to create an impressive and fun musical dance number based off the typically ridiculous song name shouted out by an audience member.
The final improvisational portion of the evening features guest involvement. A guest puppeteer is brought in from the audience to do a scene with two of the professional puppeteers (Brian Henson even participated on opening Thursday and Saturday, several weeks ago), or (in a change of pace starting just this past weekend) a couple is brought up to describe their first date and then guide the puppeteers as they re-enacted the scene to varying degrees of authenticity.
The format may be the same, but the results are different every time—and often hysterical! This is a can’t-miss show. Unless you’re easily offended. If you are, skip it. And also, skip Knott’s Scary Farm, because what are you doing at a place like Haunt that thrives on fear and tense emotions?
Conjurers: Magic and Mirth
Back for a second year in the Bird Cage Theatre is the magic show, Conjurers. This was a fun and entertaining show last year featuring a varying cast of magicians depending on the weekend, and the same applies this season. Eric Buss performed the first weekend, while Dana Daniels took care of the second. For this month into the final two nights in November, Haunt veteran Chipper Lowell takes the reigns.
There are four shows a night—8:15 pm, 9:30 pm, 11:15 pm, and 12:30 am—and the house often fills quickly before those actual start times. The intimate space of the Bird Cage equates to a lower capacity, but it also gives a nice forum for close-up magic.
Eric Buss performs at Conjurers: Magic and Mirth.
Our opening weekend visit featured Eric Buss—i.e. what would happen if a walking dad joke decided to also practice magic—and he performed to an unfortunately tough crowd that didn’t much react to most of his opening quips and illusions. Candidly, I personally thought that a lot of the acts involved relatively rudimentary illusions that many other magicians perform, without too much of a personal twist. That left him battling from behind, so that even when he did perform unique and impressive moments, the audience failed to react much.
It all led to a below par show that did not match up to my experiences last year, but that is the risk of the nature of this type of venue and performance. If the other performances are more on the level of last year, however, this is definitely a show worth visiting.
Awaken the Dead
Over in Fiesta Village, the lack of any actual scare zone has yielded to an outdoor, nighttime dance party for another year. This isn’t actually a show, just a place to soak in DJ beats and electronic dance music and party out one’s energy. And effectively, that means it’s a place where mostly school-aged kids congregate. Most haunt fans here for the scares have little reason to really stop by.
It’s a dance party for youths at Awaken the Dead.
The Hanging
Finally, we have The Hanging—Knott’s Scary Farm’s seminal pop culture satire show across multiple decades. As with any comedy and balancing the desire to be edgy with the potential offense audience members may take, The Hanging has seen ups and downs over the years, with inconsistent results. Any old-school Haunt guest will inevitably say that The Hanging “hasn’t been funny in years,” but I honestly have enjoyed a lot of the Hangings that I’ve witnessed since I started going to Haunt back in 2003. One pattern that seems to have emerged over the past half decade, however, is that even-numbered years seem to have produced duds, while odd-numbered years have had much more entertaining, focused, and risk-taking shows.
Well, that pattern seems to have held this year, even though the Hanging itself has taken on a very different look and feel this season. For one, the show is actually tied into the Ghost Town mythology anchored by the amazing Origins: The Curse of Calico maze and traced through the Ghost Town Streets scare zone. The saga of Sarah Marshall and her alter ego as the fearsome Green Witch is explored through this year’s show, which takes place in fictional Calico, 1889—also the year of this past summer’s Ghost Town Alive!
Calico, 1889. The setting for the entirety of this year’s Hanging.
The Hanging also features some female empowerment by casting a female lead this year (not the first time it’s happened, but it hasn’t happened often). Opposite the returning Lawman and the Hangman is the leader of witches identifying themselves as sisters of the condemned Sarah Marshall. They seek vengeance for what they feel is her unjust trial and hanging in Calico, and they won’t stop until the Lawman pays for his crimes!
Given that past Hangings effectively take place in modern times, this creates a bit of an anachronistic time warp when the pop culture references start kicking in. But then again, the Avengers played with time travel, didn’t quite obey their own set rules about time manipulation, and they seemed to have no trouble maintaining a smash hit, so who really needs to be picky here?
Satan makes a show-stopping appearance in a Main Street Electrical Parade / Aladdin’s Never Had a Friend LIke Me spoof, featuring Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, Genghis Kahn, and Joseph Stalin. And this symbolizes how much the writers care this year about people being offended.
After a dialogue-filled introduction detailing the timeline of Sarah Marshall’s hanging, revelation of her Green Witch identity, and motivation for vengeance upon the Lawman and Hangtman, the conflict between the Lawman and Hangman and the avenging Sister is interrupted, however, by an unexpected guest: Satan! Yes, it appears that even though Lucifer may bring pain and suffering, he really cares about maintaining balance in the world. So after a witty Main Street Electrical satire that brings out history’s greatest villains, the smooth-talking, charismatic Prince of Darkness sets about trying to reconcile the Lawman and the lead Sister into resolving their blood feud with each other.
At one point Satan rips out the Hangman’s heart and offers it to the Sister.
This Hanging show carries a more serious and dramatic premise than its predecessors, thanks to the historical setting and immediate positioning of the protagonists on the defensive. But it mixes in its usual medley of pop culture references via Satan’s manipulations, and Satan himself wise-cracks his way through a plethora of surprisingly edgy punchlines that seem to laugh in the face of past guest complaints over offensive content.
Unlike some years, where the fight scenes and senseless celebrity violence can drag long, this year’s Hanging follows the odd year trend of keeping things focused and relatively controlled. To be fair, a lot of news-making people are mocked. Spiderman, Thor and Miley Cyrus, the rest of the Avengers, Sony vs Disney, Lil Nas X, Game of Thrones, the Lion King, Stranger Things, Mr. Rogers, Bob Ross, and even the Area 51 stormers make appearances, among many others, and for the most part, are pretty amusing and generally brief in their time.
This Mr. Rogers is definitely not playing make believe with this low blow attack!
Eventually, Satan does appear to succeed in making the Lawman and the lead Sister work together, and they even turn on him and lead him to the gallows—a moment that includes the false ending of having Jeffrey Epstein be labeled as the celebrity to hang this year (a deserving choice, no doubt, given his heinous crimes, but not the actual person to be hanged.
And that’s when things get interesting… and if you don’t want to be spoiled (if you haven’t been to Knott’s at this point but still intend on seeing The Hanging), read no further.
Satan, as Jeffrey Epstein (I think?) gives an expository about not being offended by every little thing, lest humor be eliminated in the future and no one can take a joke in the future (it’s supposed to be 1889 still, after all), and even ends with an “I’ll be back,” only to have his throat slashed. Solidarity seems to have succeeded, until the lead Sister turns on the Lawman, and he ends up being the one hanged.
The Lawman and the Sister drag Satan / Jeffrey Epstein away to be hanged.
The show ends with an ominous message displayed on the screen: R.I.P. The Hanging. And paired with Satan’s earlier line, “Everything comes to an end,” this leaves the obvious question: Is this the last year for The Hanging? Because Knott’s hasn’t advertised this at all, and it would seem to be something to publicize if it’s actually the case in order to drive more visitors who don’t want to miss this monumental change of events.
I guess we’ll have to wait till next year to find out… But in the meantime, this year’s Hanging is a solid, concise (less than half an hour), well-written show with some bold quips, a good and not completely meandering lampoon of various pop culture references, and an intriguing plot that deepens the mythology built up within the Knott’s Scary Farm event itself!
In the end the Green Witch gets her way. She always gets her way.
In addition to these scheduled shows, the unscheduled mini-shows in The Hollow and Forsaken Lake still take place. The Funeral Procession to the crypt centerpiece in Forsaken Lake takes place three times a night. Meanwhile, The Hollow retains its story about the Witch Hunter’s quest to rid The Hollow of the Three Sisters, culminating in the burning of the Wicker Man at midnight. Those are great touches left to guests to discover as they make their way through the event, and they provide attractions for returning guests and Scary Farm season passholders to enjoy!
So there you have it! The end of our entertainment update for this year’s Knott’s Scary Farm and the end of our Halloween Haunt coverage for this year. It caps off what has been a fantastic season for Knott’s this year (some talent attrition aside), with mazes, scare zones, and shows showing the highest quality we’ve seen in years and maybe ever. Knott’s continues to up its own bar, and its commitment to original storylines and mythology and advancement in maze sophistication and technology have left minimal weaknesses in the event.
Knott’s Scary Farm resumes its run this Thursday and continues Thursdays through Sundays into Saturday, November 2. We’ve got a longer season than usual this year. Take advantage and visit Knott’s before it ends!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
