Summer 2004
Hipsters and Squares
Part 1: Imagine On, Baby!
Now, dig this: Henson didn't just discover hipsters in the late 60's.
Henson and hipsters are solid, Jackson, all the way back to the beginning
of his career.
Back on Henson's first show, Sam and Friends, there was Harry, the grand-dad of all the swinging hipsters to follow. Harry always had his shades on, like Mahna Mahna and Floyd Pepper after him. One of the best-known surviving clips of Sam and Friends is a sketch called "Visual Thinking," where Harry teaches Kermit how to imagine shapes that appear above their heads. By the end, Harry and Kermit are be-bopping so much that they get buried under their own riffs.
A decade later, we see a similar sketch used on Sesame Street...
Voice cast: Northern Calloway (Hipster), Frank Oz (Square).
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(Frank plays a man in a suit and tie, with a huge orange nose. His voice is deep and self-important, like Sam the Eagle. Northern plays a free-spirited hipster. Northern enters, scatting.)
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Northern |
Zap -- zoo da -- zow!
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Frank |
All right, uh, we're going to imagine shapes today.
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Northern |
We gon' what?
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Frank |
We're going to imagine four different shapes, and the first one is a circle.
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Northern |
AAOW! Circles! I like circles, yeah.
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Frank |
DON'T -- DO that.
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Northern |
Oh.
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Frank |
Now, do you know what a circle looks like?
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Northern |
Yeah, well, I know, yeah -- a circle, a circle, it looks, uh... looks round! Circles look round.
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Frank |
Yes. Watch closely, I'm about to imagine a circle.
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Northern |
Imagine on, baby.
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Frank |
Here we go.
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(As Frank imagines the circle, it appears on the screen. He strains, it's an effort for him to imagine.)
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Frank |
We start over here, you see, and then -- if I can imagine it -- it's kind of hard, it goes -- around like this, and it goes up again -- like that -- and it meets that, there.
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Northern |
Woo!
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Frank |
Ah, there. A circle. Now let's see you imagine a circle.
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Northern |
Aw, I can imagine a circle. Erase yours.
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Frank |
All right, there.
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Northern |
Ready! (Funky guitar chords play as he imagines.) Zap-zap! Zip, zow! Looka that, ha ha! This is, this is fun!
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Frank |
All right, stop it. Get this off me!
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Northern |
Zop, zap, zoooooo! Yeah! Yeah!
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Frank |
Stop that! All right, that will do! Get these out of here. Erase that right now!
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Northern |
All right, all right. (sigh)
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Frank |
Now, the next shape to imagine is a rectangle.
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Northern |
Oh-oo! AAOW! Rectangles!
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Frank |
Will you please stop that. Now, this here is a rectangle. Now, I'll show you. You start over here, you see... and you go all the way over here with this line... and then we go down... and then we go... over here with another long line... and then we go up and meet... there. Well. That is a rectangle.
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Northern |
Woo-ee! Hey, can I ask you a question?
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Frank |
Yes.
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Northern |
Can rectangles go up and down instead of sideways to sideways?
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Frank |
Of course.
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Northern |
All right, then erase yours.
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Frank |
All right. There!
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Northern |
Watch this! Zap! Zoo-dow! Zip-a-doo-OO!
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Frank |
Well, that's very good, uh, but --
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Northern |
La de doo-doo... da doo...
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Frank |
What's that? What is that?
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Northern |
Well, this is a design.
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Frank |
A design?
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Northern |
Decoratin' it! Ha ha!
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Frank |
We don't need that, just stop those dots. Get rid of that. Erase it! Erase it!
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Northern |
Ohh, all right. All right!
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Frank |
All right. Now. We are going to imagine triangles.
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Northern |
AAOW! Triangles! My favorite thing!
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Frank |
Please stop that!
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Northern |
Oh.
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Frank |
Now, here's a triangle... start over here... go up... and then we meet the other... there. All right. Now you try a triangle.
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Northern |
All right, here we go. (He starts playing the two triangles like a guitar.) Waaaa! Yeah, yeah! Hey! Y'know what this looks like?
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Frank |
What?
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Northern |
Yeah! Looks like... zap! Oo-oooo! Oo-weeee!
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Frank |
Stop that, stop that! That'll do! We don't need that! All right, stop it now!
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Northern |
All right, all right. (He plays a lick of Bach's Minuet in G Major on the guitar.) You like this?
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Frank |
What's that?... That's better.
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Northern |
It's a catchy tune.
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Frank |
Yes, well, let's, uh, throw it away. Erase it. The whole thing. Gone.
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Northern |
All right, all right.
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Frank |
Now, the last shape we're going to imagine is a square. Do you know what a square is?
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Northern |
I know who a square is! (He draws an arrow pointed at Frank, and busts out laughing.)
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Frank |
Uh, that's cute. Uh, now, let's see you imagine a square, then.
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Northern |
All right. Za - ba - daaaa - zeeba-deeba - zeeboooo... Imaginnne... (He draws a square around Frank's head, boxing him in.)
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Frank |
Uh. Uh, what's going on?
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Northern |
Hey, I need my guitar back. (He draws the guitar again, and starts playing.) Woo-oo-oo!
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Frank |
(trapped in the square) Hello there!
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Northern |
(strumming) Rectangles, circles, triangles and squares!
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Frank |
Hello out there! Hoo-ha!
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Northern |
Rectangles, circles, triangles and squares!
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Frank |
Let me out of here!
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