Imagine a standing ovation following final exams. This may be the case for one theater major.

Lindsay Diakoumis, a senior theater major, has developed the puppet comedy show “Ultimate Puppet Destruction” as her senior project. The show will be held at 10:30 p.m. today through Friday in the Corner Theatre in the Stevens Building.

Diakoumis started writing the show seven months ago. So far she has invested more than $700 into this show.

“One reason I want to do a show like this is all of the stuff the department wants to do is all about symbolism,” Diakoumis said. “I just want to do something fun.”

She said a lot of the shows the department does are depressing and “really hardcore,” and many shows put on by the department do not attract the student body.

“I’ve loved puppets since I was little,” Diakoumis said. She said her parents could sit her in front of the TV and she could watch shows like ‘Fraggle Rock’ and ‘Sesame Street’ without worrying about her running off.

“Ultimate Puppet Destruction” is not “Sesame Street.” As advertised, UPD is R-rated.

“The puppets swear, there’s a sex scene, it’s not seen but it’s understood. You can’t really call the violence an issue. There are stereotypes,” Diakoumis said.

UPD is one of the biggest shows performed by the Third Onion, the group of theater department students who decide to put on their own show.

There are only three weekends available for students to perform their own shows, so UPD had to fight against seven other groups for the spot.

“Students in the department are required to be involved with at least one show a semester,” Diakoumis said. “I was fighting with the dance show for people because they need a larger crew.”

The puppets themselves are made of foam, felt and hot glue. A couple of them are stick operated, others are partially worn. One of them, Jim Beam the bartender, a distant cousin to Big Bird, is worn as a costume.

Matt Glaz, a senior acting major, provides the hands and voices of two of the show’s characters.

Glaz said the first one, Skrunk the bar owner, was originally designed as a jazz guy but somehow turned into an impersonation of Samuel L. Jackson. There is still some jazz in the dialogue as it’s occasionally broken up by some scat improvisation.

He describes the second puppet, Sam, as an awkward foreigner trying to be cool. Throughout the show Sam makes slightly misquoted references to American pop music.

“I was just goofing off when I made these characters,” Glaz joked. “It’s just puppets in a bar.”

The show deals with situations college students may come across when going to a bar. Situations like not remembering a girl’s name, getting turned down, and getting crabs; described by one puppet as crab-like mechanical creatures.

After the show the cast will perform some improvisational comedy. Diakoumis said during rehearsals the cast did “Whose Line is it Anyway” style exercises to get ready.

“It was too good to leave out,” Diakoumis said.