From the moment that the lights illuminated the stage of the Los Medanos College Little Theater and Jason (Jason Miller) and his vulgar puppet Tyrone enter the stage, you can tell that this is not going to be just a typical comedy show.

With a group of rag-tag teenagers in a church puppet club, Jason’s widowed mother Margery (Ariel Dunn), and an overly optimistic pastor Greg (William Thompson), “Hand to God” is packed with laughs, emotion and sometimes, even visits from the devil himself in the form of Tyrone. 

This play begins with Jessica (Clarissa Barton), Timmy (Teryn Macallan) and Jason in their church puppet club that is ran by Margery. Pastor Greg has requested that the club perform a puppet show for the church in a few days but the puppet group struggles with their preparations.

Aside from her failing puppet club, Margery is also struggling due to her husband’s recent passing, as well as unwanted advances from Greg. The show begins to take a turn when an odd relationship buds between Timmy and Margery, creating some very uncomfortable, yet entirely hilarious scenes between the two of them for the rest of the show which kept the audience squirming in their seats.

In the meantime, Jason is struggling with his feelings towards Jessica and his troubles with his mother, but Tyrone keeps influencing — and at times even dictating — the way Jason acts towards them. As the play progresses, it becomes very obvious that Tyrone has started to take more control over Jason’s life, as right before the end of the first act, Tyrone greatly harms Timmy after an emotional argument between him and Jason — resulting in a large pool of blood left on the floor.

The show continues with a fair amount of heated conversations, a sexual puppet scene, and more blood as Jason has a melt down with Tyrone. “Hand to God finishes on a high note and keeps the audience craving to know, “what happens next?”

The acting in the show was really powerful, and the lighting and music between scenes captured the mood of each scene perfectly. The crowd’s reaction to some of the hilarious and shocking scenes also made the show even more enjoyable, due to the intimate atmosphere in the Little Theater. Overall, “Hand to God” displayed multiple dimensions and effortlessly took the audience through a whirlwind of emotions; one moment you’ll be cracking up and the next, you’ll be shifting uncomfortably in your seat.

If you are interested in catching “Hand to God” before it is over, shows will run through March 16,17,19. General admission will be $15, $12 with a student or military ID and $10 with a school ID.