Schedule
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Standard Shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11AM, 1PM, 3PM Special Shows Saturday and Sunday |
Show Prices General Admission: $5.00 Also: $7.00/$5.00 $10.00/$7.00 |
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School Group Prices: |
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Performances2026 |
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Dolly's Birthday Party!
March 13-15
Dolly Esper was born on Friday the 13th! Unlucky for some, but for her, it's when she gets to meet new people, see old friends, and grow up just a tiny bit!
Maulina the singing snake has promised to conduct the audience to sing the most amazing rendition of 'Happy Birthday' ever. Vicki and Jamie, the Dino Brothers, are coming to play games, and the host is her best friend, Petrix the Clown, who hopes her surprise gift this year will be a hit.
Come a little early so you can make Dolly a birthday card! She loves them more than anything!
And look out on the Calendar, as Dolly celebrates her birthday EVERY Friday the 13th!
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Steve Taylor Magical Ventriloquist
March 21 & 22
11am and 2pm ONLY!
Magic Castle Performer Steve Taylor Brings His Family Comedy Act To The Balboa Park Puppet Theater
Marie Hitchcock's apprentice and frequent Magic Castle performer Steve Taylor returns to The Marie Hitchcock Balboa Park Puppet Theater with his "Magical Ventriloquist Show" for a fourth straight year to celebrate family-friendly comedy! Tickets are now available for this special event being performed Saturday and Sunday March 21 and 22, 2026 at 11am and 2pm each day.
Perfect for the whole family, audiences will once again be enchanted by the antics of Steve and his puppets performing eye-popping magic, including ventriloquist dummies Rudy O'Riley, Pokey O'Possum and Alli the Crooning Crocodile. Additionally, Steve will invite several unsuspecting audience members to join him on stage and to their surprise, they will wow and amaze the attendees with funny feats of legerdermain. Plus, one of Steve's popular "Magical Marionettes" will make a guest appearance.
Milt Larsen, cofounder of The Magic Castle in Hollywood, comedically said, "Ventriloquism is an illusion to the ear, and magic is an illusion to eye, so when a performer like Steve does both, one's head could explode!" Although Steve is ensuring no "heads will
explode," he will be bringing a family-friendly comedy show that combines both magic and ventriloquism, where the ventriloquist dummies actually perform the magic themselves.
Magical Ventriloquist Steve Taylor has been delighting and enchanting audiences for over 55 years nationwide and has been a featured performer at Disneyland, on Comedy Central, on America's Got Talent, and at The Magic Castle in Hollywood. His
"Magical Ventriloquism" features the same clever and comical shenanigans that his San Diego audiences have come to love from his comedy "Magical Marionettes." Remember, you can trust a "Taylor" to keep you in "Stitches!"
Tickets for this captivating comedy cavalcade March 21 and 22 are $10/per person, ($7 for military and seniors, plus discounts for large groups) and are available at the door or in advance at the theater's website, BalboaParkPuppets.com.
Appropriate for ages 3 to 103. Each performance will last approximately 40 minutes. Box office and doors open 10 minutes prior to each performance.
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Workshop!
"Beginning Ventriloquism: Voicing Your Dummy!" with professional ventriloquist Steve Taylor
March 21 @ 3:30 PM
Have you ever wanted to "play with dolls and talk to yourself"? Here's your chance to learn the fun basics of beginning ventriloquism in a 90 minute class with professional ventriloquist Steve Taylor. Based on Steve's internationally best-selling instructional video, "Voicing Your Dummy," you'll "laugh while you learn" the Eight Building Blocks of Beginning Ventriloquism. You'll leave knowing what to practice so that you can successfully begin performing this entertaining art-form while having fun, fun, fun.
This comedic class will be presented one time, Saturday March 21 at 3:30pm in the Marie Hitchcock Balboa Park Puppet Theater and last approximately 90 minutes. Students aged 6 to 106 are welcome and cost is only $20/per student (children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian, and parent/guardians will only need to pay an additional $10 to attend with them). If you own any puppets or vent figures with a moving mouth, please bring them with you to the class. Space is limited, so reserve your seat(s) today!
More 2026 Shows! |
Workshop!
March 25
6-9PM
Ticket Price for Workshop is $30.00
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Special Touring Show!
San Diego's Balboa Park Puppet Guild Presents
Happy Accident
with
Everything is Nothing
Adult Puppet Show
March 26
7PM Only!
Tickets are $10 General Admission, $7.00 Senior/Military w/ID
Ages 16 and Up!
Miracle cures. Rejuvenation. Youthful glow. Neutral tones.
Happy Accident returns with a new puppet dispatch from our beautiful cultural sewers. In their
new show, Everything is Nothing, your favorite Saturday morning super pals take you on
another trip through the dark alleys of modern life. Picking up where their last piece-the
acclaimed Vol. 1-left off, Everything takes us further into our fractured collective psyche and OH
MY it’s a BLAST. liz HOWLS and Drew Simpson pull inspiration from multi-level marketing,
health and wellness culture, Mad About You, relentless pharmaceutical commercials and
abhorrent technological “advancements” to create a surreal garbage world full of glitches, easy
listening and flat, functional lighting. It’s like a trip to the dentist without all of the annoying
paperwork and anesthesia.
Everything is fun. Everything is fabulous. Everything is what you want, when you want it.
If there was a pill that would make it all go away, why wouldn’t you take it?
Happy Accident is the collaborative absurdist performance work of puppeteer/visual artist liz
HOWLS and musician/lighting designer Drew Simpson. They have been building and
performing together since early 2024, so not that long. But long enough.
They find most of their inspiration digging through bins full of refuse, spending late nights
binge-watching horrible sitcoms, and trying to figure out how everything ended up this way.
While most of their performances are based around puppetry and sound, they also incorporate
mask work and elements of what is often referred to as “performance art”.
Their first full-length piece, Vol. 1, debuted at the 2025 New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival and
was toured nationally for 3 months in that same year. They have been guest performers at Outta
Hand Puppet Slam in Portland, OR; Fussy Cloud Puppet Slam in Seattle, WA; Full Moon
Puppet Show in Minneapolis, MN (which liz also runs & curates); Puppets in the House
Regional Festival in Verona, WI and are tickled pink returning to NOGPF in 2026 with a new
show.
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The Freddy Show!
March 28-29
Saturday and Sunday Only!
Get ready for Comedy, let’s go go go GO, it’s The Freddy Show!!
It’s Back! Better than Ever! (At least Freddy hopes,) in this show ANYTHING could happen Music, Lights, Hero’s, Eaten by a Lion! …wait wha!?
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May is San Diego International Fringe Festival!
We celebrate the Fringe Festival World Congress coming to San Diego! Like Marie Hitchcock, Fringe started in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947, and we both are celebrating 79 years of entertaining audiences!
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The Magic of Christmas Show!
November 28 - 29
11am and 2pm ONLY!
Kick Off the Holidays with the Perfect Family Comedy Event!
Celebrate the season at the Marie Hitchcock Balboa Park Puppet Theater with a magical premiere event the whole family will love.
Magical ventriloquist and master marionettist Steve Taylor brings his Christmas-themed comedy spectacular, The Magic of Christmas Show, to the Marie Hitchcock Balboa Park Puppet Theater on November 28 and 29, 2026, with performances at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM each day.
This festive 45-minute show blends live magic, ventriloquism, and delightful marionettes to spark the wonder and excitement of the yuletide season. Bring the entire family and laugh until your cheeks hurt as Steve and his lively cast of puppet characters stumble through holiday “misadventures” while ringing in the happiest time of the year.
Audiences will enjoy Rudy O’Riley, the quick-witted ventriloquist dummy, hilariously “fracturing” The Night Before Christmas, along with a comical Cast of Christmas Characters Parade featuring Steve’s magical marionettes — a juggling Santa, a water-squirting Rudolph, a floating Frosty, and three ballet-dancing Nutcrackers!
Throughout the show, Steve’s signature, eye-popping holiday magic weaves seamlessly into the fun, complete with playful audience participation. And if the crowd truly "believes", there just might be a little “White Christmas” floating in the air inside the theater.
Join us for this joyful Christmas carnival filled with pranks, puppets, and prestidigitation — and treat your family to a “wow-fully” entertaining holiday tradition!
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Looking for a Gift of Puppetry? Buy a Gift Ticket! Gift Tickets are for our General Admission or Senior/Military Admission! Ticket is good for our regular shows! Special Events and Adult Events are not included!
$7 General Admission, $5 Senior Military
Gift Certificates are also available at our Box Office!
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Workshops!
Want to know the difference between Hand, Marionette, Shadow and Full Body Puppetry?
Want to learn how to write a story?
Want to get away from the crazy world and do something creative?
Bring out the wild and crazy?
Then our workshops are for you!
San Diego’s Balboa Park Puppet Guild
is going to offer beginning workshops in
Puppetry!
If you are interested, please email us at
balboaparkpuppets@yahoo.com
for more information!
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