Walking into Everything is Terrible! and their live show, Kidz Klub, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I was going in blind and in a sense it added a layer of excitement. Experiencing Everything is Terrible for the first time, was its own unique adventure of wait what the hell is going on but in a good way. The show opens with a giant bear stepping onto the stage, who introduces us to our main character, a newborn baby who we will watch grow up and suffer through the stages of life in a dark humorous way.  One of those stages being him trying to get away from his evil father who tells him what to do and is a giant floating head that is shown on the screen behind the puppets. 

In between each act are videos of Kidz Klub, which is a giant movie compilation of various funny clips from VHS tapes aimed at kids but with some adult humor mixed in plays.

Seeing the clips reminded me of my early childhood and if you were born before the 2000s, this is definitely the show for you to entertain your inner child.  It’s also an excellent show to see if you’re a big fan of the Muppets or even just puppets in general.  The puppets on stage were designed so well that to me while they were on stage, they felt as if they were alive.  In one of the other acts, the main character meets an alien and hopes to go on a space adventure and escape everyday life. It doesn’t work out but he keeps on trying to find other ways. One of those being a wizard, who brings more dark humor to the story.

There’s also this relatable moment where the protagonist gets excited to have his own place, only to realize he has to work a 9 to 5 job for the rest of his life to afford it. After that, this thing that has been mentioned multiple times throughout the show finally comes into play. Since there was so much suspense around the thing they kept mentioning, I was honestly hoping for things to be more dramatic with more depth to it than they were but it was still a fun show to watch.  I loved how they switched from him being a puppet on stage to having him show up on the screen in a psychedelic trippy way before he appears riding on a dragon up on stage. Which in my opinion was the coolest-looking puppet out of everything. The stage lights made the dragon look as if they were glowing and in that moment fans came up on stage to give Everything is Terrible VHS tapes and the show just in a way comes to an ending that doesn’t really feel like an ending.

I realize the stage performances are really just meant to advertise the film, but I feel like if they wanted to, the story could have been a stand-alone piece with more depth to it than what it was.  Although overall most of the audience was made up of long-time fans who seemed to really enjoy the show. So if that’s you, I’m positive you will enjoy the show.  The show was shorter than I expected and may have felt like it came to an abrupt end but I’m still glad I got the chance to see it.  I can tell a lot of work went into making it possible and I’m looking forward to what Everything is Terrible! does next.