ToughPigs - Muppet Fans Who Grew Up » Muppet performers

Brian Henson Talks Puppetry in NYC

Joe Hennes — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:44:23 +0000

On Sunday, December 4 at 7:00pm, Brian Henson will be at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, where he will host “The Evolution of Puppetry“, a presentation all about the unique “Henson-style” form of puppetry, including techniques from The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, as well as more recent productions like Sid the Science Kid and Farscape.

The show will feature some live demonstrations, as well as a Q&A with Brian. Hopefully he’ll be answering a lot of questions about Hoggle.

But that’s not the best part! The best part is, because you all are so awesome for reading this website, the Museum of the Moving Image is offering you a $5 discount! (Price for the “normals”: $25.) Just call the museum at (718) 777-6800 and mention “ToughPigs” while pre-ordering your tickets to save a few bucks! Easy as that.

You can also receive the discount by entering the code “momievofpup” at the checkout on the museum’s website. But it’s way more fun to say “ToughPigs” out loud, don’t you think?

Click here to get more information about the Museum of the Moving Image and about the upcoming event with Brian Henson!

Click here to ask about the Storyteller’s dog on the ToughPigs forum!

by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com

ToughPigs Live at NY Comic Con 2011: The New Muppet Movie

Joe Hennes — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:36:30 +0000

There were certain stars that had to align to bring you today’s ToughPigs post. First, we had to be big enough comic book fans to attend the New York Comic Con. Next, we had to rely on the accommodating and friendly nature of our celebrity friends. And finally, we had to be lazy enough to sit on these videos until three days before the new Muppet movie comes out. (Yeah, sorry about that, folks.)

Last year, we asked everyone we met the ever-popular question, “Who is your favorite Muppet?” But this year, we decided to make things much more topical by asking, “What are you most looking forward to from the new Muppet movie?“ We were able to ask a bunch of our friends from the world of Muppet and Fraggle Rock comic books, a couple superheroes, and even a few honest-to-Frog Muppeteers!

Watch the video here, and let it get you all excited for the new movie in just a few more days!

Many thanks to everyone who participated in our video, including David Petersen, Eric Jacobson, Amy Mebberson, Jeff Stokely, Superman (Alex Rae), Katie Cook, Dave Hulteen, Joe LeFavi, Grace Randolph, Tim Beedle, Kevin Clash, Nichol Ashworth, James Silvani, Batman (Bruce Wayne), and Peter Linz!

Click here to look forward to Animal ripping apart the villains of the city on the ToughPigs forum!

by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com

A Recap of a Conversation with Frank Oz

Ryan Roe — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:34:40 +0000

Frank Oz almost never makes public appearances — not for Muppet stuff, not for Star Wars stuff, not for nothin’. So it was no surprise that, an hour before “A Conversation with Frank Oz” was scheduled to start at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York on October 23, there was already a long line of fans waiting to get into the auditorium and see the man in person. The live event sold out in no time, so the museum even ended up adding an overflow room with closed-circuit TVs.

But as soon as he took the stage to applause and cheers, Oz made a point that he would repeat throughout the event. He was there not as Frank Oz, the awesome, talented star; but as Frank Oz, the guy who got lucky enough to be part of a team, led by Jim Henson and including writers, performers, puppet builders, and others, that produced some really good stuff as a group.

Craig Shemin played the James Lipton role for the afternoon, skillfully talking Frank through the highlights of his career with the Muppets and beyond. After showing a montage of Frank’s acting cameos in John Landis movies (which Frank deemed “completely unnecessary”), Shemin asked Frank about meeting Jim Henson for the first time. Frank recalled encountering a beardless Jim at a puppetry event when Frank was just 17 years old, and not knowing who Jim was other than the fact that he was the guy who did the Calco Water commercials starring Wilkins and Wontkins. When he was 19 years old, Frank moved to New York City to work for the Muppets.

A clip montage of some of Frank’s early work included some right hand work with Rowlf on The Jimmy Dean Show, a very funny excerpt from a Wilson’s Meats meeting film, a Munchos commercial, and the classic “Java” bit from The Ed Sullivan Show. I was surprised to hear that the voice of the Munchos monster was Frank, in one of his first puppetry-and-voice performances… It sounds so unlike any of his later characters I always thought it was Jerry Juhl.

And then there was the “Java” story. We Muppet geeks go to events like this hoping to hear a few stories we’ve never heard before, and this time Frank had a doozy. Here’s the deal: The Ed Sullivan Show was aired live. For the “Java” bit, Jim and Frank performed the two puppets, and the explosion that provides the punchline was achieved by Jerry Juhl shooting off a fire extinguisher. As the three of them prepared to go onstage that night, Jerry suddenly realized he had forgotten the fire extinguisher. It was in their dressing room… which was up on the second floor… and Ed Sullivan was about to introduce them.

Jerry raced to the elevator, which was operated by an old-timer who was not in a hurry. As he rode up, Jerry could hear the “Java” music through the speakers in the elevator, so he knew exactly how much time he had left until it was too late. Meanwhile, Jim and Frank were doing the bit and looking at each other going, “What are we gonna do?!” Somehow, Jerry managed to grab the fire extinguisher, run back to the elevator, and make the trip back down to the stage just in time for the climax. Whew!

For several years, Frank said, working for the Muppets meant going back and forth between New York and Washington, D.C. to shoot commercials in a D.C. studio Jim had a deal with (and, for a while, working on Timepiece). Then they got Sesame Street, which Frank described as “just another gig” that turned out to last a very long time. This led into another clip montage, which featured excerpts of Ernie’s disguise kit, Grover as a singing waiter, the Sesame Street Newsflash starring Rapunzel, the “Cookiegate” sketch, and “Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco.” Frank recalled everyone on the set cracking up during the Rapunzel sketch, and asking Jon Stone, “What are we teaching here?” To which Stone replied, “Who cares?” I love hearing about stuff like that. (The sketch teaches the meaning of “loud” and “louder,” right?)

From there, Craig and Frank briefly touched on Saturday Night Live and the Muppet Show pilots, before moving on to the subject of The Muppet Show itself. Frank was witty and modest throughout the whole discussion, and he got several laughs simply because he kept inadvertently providing Shemin with a perfectly appropriate segue to the next selection of clips. Speaking of which, the next selection of clips was Muppet Show stuff, with Fozzie’s ventriloquist act, Animal backing up Rita Moreno’s “Fever,” “The Rhyming Song,” Kermit mocking Piggy’s heritage, and Rowlf and Sam singing “Tit Willow.” Craig mentioned that Frank wrote “The Rhyming Song,” and Frank revealed that the song just “came up” in his head one day in his dressing room during the taping of the Danny Kaye episode.

It’s always fascinating to hear Muppeteers talk about the characters they’ve spent so much time with, and of course you can’t talk to Frank Oz about The Muppet Show without discussing Miss Piggy, so there was plenty of pig talk. When Shemin brought up the differences between Oz and his most famous character, Oz said, “Weird, isn’t it? …I’m a 6-foot-2 guy who looks like a professor.” Summing up Piggy’s characterization, he said, “She’s coy and feminine, but she’s a truck driver underneath… She can’t sing, she can’t dance, but she has this extraordinary bravado.” Frank recalled the height of Piggy’s fame when she was constantly getting offers to do guest appearances, and revealed that his response was always, “Would Barbra Streisand do it?” because Miss Piggy sees herself exactly the same way Streisand does.

The next clips we saw were from the movies, beginning with a never-before-seen moment from James Frawley’s camera tests for The Muppet Movie. In the clip, Kermit and Fozzie were looking out a window… I honestly don’t remember what they were talking about, but I’m not surprised that bit hasn’t made it to a DVD extra, as they seemed to be grasping for comedy. We also saw “Never Before, Never Again” from The Muppet Movie, Piggy karate-chopping Kermit/Phillip Phil in The Muppets Take Manhattan, and the water ballet fantasy from The Great Muppet Caper. Frank talked about shooting that last scene over ten days in a studio, which largely involved sticking his hand above the water line to perform Piggy while a brick was tied to his foot to keep him from surface, and a stagehand stood by with an oxygen tank so he could breathe between takes. Piggy’s tiara had wires in it to keep it on her head, and when the puppet was placed on his hand the wires dug into his hand, but nobody knew it was happening because he couldn’t be heard underwater. Puppeteering is dangerous!

The following montage featured unrehearsed Muppet moments, including a funny Bert & Ernie appearance on The Dick Cavett Show I’d never seen before, Miss Piggy on Parkinson, Kermit and Animal talking to Bernadette Peters on The Tonight Show, and a few of the hilarious, mostly-improvised promos made for each episode of The Muppet Show. Oz revealed that Jim Henson tended to get nervous before talk show appearances, because he wasn’t as comfortable working off-the-cuff as Oz.

As if all the Muppet stuff wasn’t impressive enough, Frank Oz has also directed some pretty good movies. He explained that Jim asked him to co-direct The Dark Crystal because he thought “it would be better,” which paved the way for Frank’s re-writing and eventual directing of The Muppets Take Manhattan.* That movie caught the eye of David Geffen, who asked him to direct Little Shop of Horrors. And the rest is history, as seen in clips from Bowfinger, The Score, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Death at a Funeral. Frank said he’s been happy to work in different genres, and he’s satisfied with all his movies except for The Stepford Wives. Gotta respect the guy for being honest.

(*Speaking of The Muppets Take Manhattan, Frank also shared a sad story from that film. In the scene with the Muppets living in bus station lockers, there was originally a gag involving two little people in neighboring lockers. One of the two actors brought his family to the premiere of the film… but nobody had told him his part had been cut, so he found out by watching the film. For every film since then, Frank has told actors personally when their scenes are cut. What are the chances that that footage still exists somewhere?)

Did you know Frank Oz is a newlywed? Well, he is, and his wife of four months was at the event, sitting right up front! Congratulations, Ozes!

The final portion of the event was an audience Q&A. When asked which of his characters he most relates to, Frank named Grover. Regarding his choice to start stepping away from the Muppet franchise in the 1990s, Frank explained that it actually started in the 80s, and said Jim always knew that once Frank started directing, he would never spend as much time being a Muppeteer as he used to. One audience member with some genuine geek cred asked about Leo & Grump from the Muppet Meeting Films, and Frank recalled his chemistry with Jim, no matter what project they were working on: “With Jim it was always easy,” he said. “It was always there.”

After a brief interlude to screen the Leprechaun Brothers bit from The Muppet Show so everyone could laugh themselves silly, the questions continued. The next query: Did Frank have anything to do with recasting his characters? No, and in fact Sesame Street doesn’t ask him to do projects much anymore because he costs more than the other guys. Then a young boy in the audience asked if Frank could sign his Fozzie doll, and of course in front of hundreds of people he couldn’t say no. He even took the opportunity to use the Fozzie doll for a demonstration of how live-hand puppets work.

Next, a fan politely asked if it would be okay to ask a Yoda question, then proceeded to do so with Frank’s consent: Did he have less time to develop Yoda’s character than he did with his best-known Muppets? Frank said he had about two weeks to rehearse for The Empire Strikes Back, and he wrote a bio for Yoda to flesh out the character. He also noted that Yoda was more difficult to perform than any puppet he had performed up to that point, due to the sheer number of people involved to get the whole performance onscreen.

And that was pretty much it. Everyone present had a terrific time hearing Frank Oz reminisce and elaborate on his career, from folks who saw The Muppet Show in its original airings to kids who have just discovered the Muppets for the first time on YouTube. With any luck, Frank had a good time too, so maybe he’ll do these things a little more often.

To close things out, Craig Shemin presented Frank with a few gifts: A pack of Little Shop of Horrors trading cards from the film’s original release, and a rubber Miss Piggy mask from 1979. I hope Frank wore it for Halloween.

Click here to hang out underwater for ten days on the Tough Pigs forum!

by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com

A Video Interview with Kevin Clash

Ryan Roe — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:52:16 +0000

Kevin Clash is one of the most talented puppeteers working today, and probably one of the busiest. As followers of this website know, there’s a swell new documentary about him called Being Elmo that’s making its way across the nation’s movie theaters, and he’s been even busier than usual, appearing on seemingly every talk show in the world. For the film’s opening weekend at the IFC Center in New York City, he showed up in person to answer audience questions, and brought Elmo along to pose for photos for delighted fans of all ages. Between screenings, we managed to take a few minutes of Mr. Clash’s time for a video interview, which we now proudly present here in two parts.

Part 1: Kevin discusses the documentary, dealing with talk show hosts, and his thoughts on Clifford.

And Part 2: We ask Kevin about Dog City, playing Splinter in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, and his response to the Elmo backlash.

Big thanks to Mr. Clash for taking the time to talk to us, and to the Being Elmo folks for making it happen!

Click here to be Elmo on the Tough Pigs forum!

by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com

REMINDER: Being Elmo Comes to Theaters

Ryan Roe — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:30:56 +0000

For those of you in the New York area who missed the news the first time, or have very short memories: Being Elmo, the swell documentary about Kevin Clash that’s won various awards at film festivals all over the place is getting its first theatrical release. It’s at the IFC Center in Manhattan beginning today (Friday, October 21st).

If you want to see it in New York, you should go this weekend, because Kevin Clash and “his special guest” will be there at Saturday and Sunday’s screenings. And you should buy tickets online in advance, because they’re guaranteed to sell like hotcakes. Adorable, red, furry hotcakes.

And then the movie will be in a whole bunch of other places… Check out the “Where to See the Film” page on the official site to see if it’s coming to your neighborhood. And if it is, go see it!

Click here to be a two-year-old monster on the Tough Pigs forum!

by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com

Kermit and Steve Whitmire Go to School

Ryan Roe — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:29:15 +0000

David Hoberman is a film producer whose body of work contains some big hit movies, including such Academy Award-nominated pictures as The Fighter and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. I had not seen his name attached to the new Muppet movie before today, but apparently he’s producing that too.

Hoberman spoke at Boston’s Suffolk University last week as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar, and when talk turned to The Muppets he brought out Steve Whitmire, who then brought out Kermit, “to thunderous applause,” as the university website reports.

According to this Boston.com article, they showed a montage of clips from the upcoming film, which I would be willing to bet ten Fruit Roll-Ups and a nickel is the same montage that Jason Segel and Amy Adams introduced at CinemaCon recently. Then they did a Q&A, in which it sounds like Kermit was asked the usual mix of obvious Piggy-related questions and queries about the new movie.

With any luck, some video will surface soon somewhere on the world wide internet, but in the meantime you can read some quotes on the aforementioned Suffolk University website. And maybe someday soon the rest of us will get to see this clip montage.

Click here to get put in a box and shoved in a closet on the Tough Pigs forum!

by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com

A Chat with Noel MacNeal, Part 3

Ryan Roe — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:00:51 +0000

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

Stay tuned to the end of this post for a video bonus clip of some extra Qs and As with Mr. MacNeal. And now, how about we kick off the third and final installment with some questions about Breakfast with Bear? And while we’re at it, here’s a spiffy photo from MacNeal’s personal collection, taken on the set of Bear in the Big Blue Houseon a day when Sesame and Bear were both taping episodes at Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York!

Tough Pigs: Speaking of your live appearances, how did the series Breakfast with Bear work?

NM: We were actually in children?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s homes, in the real world, and of course every child has a different home. There was a kid whose kitchen was so small ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú How small was it? ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú It was so small that the camera was literally outside the window, shooting in, because there was no room between Bear and the kitchen table. There was a kid who lived in this pre-fab mansion in California. There was the kid who lived on the army base in Fort Irwin, California, where it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s 110 in the shade. And Bear explains that, introducing this segment: ?¢‚Ç¨?ìI?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m going to visit my friend So-and-so, and he and his family live here on this army base in the middle of the desert.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù And then I ad-libbed it so Bear turns back and says, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìIt?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s hot, but it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s a dry heat!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

Every kid?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s home was different, and every kid was different, so Bear would always do an activity with the kid before the kid would go to school. One kid?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s favorite activity was shopping with her mom, so it was like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìOkay, let?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s think of what else we can do?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ Hey, you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve got swings outside!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù Another kid played basketball. The best one was one who lived here in New York, and he and bear did this superhero play adventure. He had a cape, and Bear had this blanket/cape, and it was one take because the kid just went with it. Bear was, like, Bat-bear, and they were going off and catching the villains.

TP: So you were pretty much making that stuff up as you went along? How much preparation was there?

NM: There was a foundation. Like Bear greets the kid and they do the cha-cha-cha, or Bear and the kid sit at the breakfast table and talk about breakfast. There was definitely structure. And beyond that, it was like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWhat do you like to eat for breakfast??¢‚Ç¨¬ù Like the kid in New York, he and Bear were eating oatmeal, and Bear said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWhat is oatmeal??¢‚Ç¨¬ù The kid said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWell, it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s kind of like porridge.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù And Bear said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìPorridge?! Now you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re talking my language!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù There were some kids where you could keep rolling and just talk, and some kids you had to help along, because it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s not only a bear in their home, it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s several people they?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve never seen before, and a guy with a camera, and some lights, and a boom microphone.

Then you would ask things like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWhat?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s your favorite food??¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìI don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t know.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìUm?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ well, let?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s see. What are we having for breakfast? Pancakes? Do you like pancakes??¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìYes.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìDo you really like pancakes??¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìYes.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìCan you say, ?¢‚Ç¨ÀúI love pancakes??¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢?¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìI love pancakes.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìOkay, do you see my friend over there (Wayne Bricken, who?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s the producer)? Can you yell to him, ?¢‚Ç¨ÀúI love pancakes??¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢?¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìI LOVE PANCAKES!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìGreat!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

So there were two cameras: One doing a two-shot, and one doing a single. So then they would splice in certain answers, and any other pickups that they needed.

TP: Did you have to do any training to learn how to talk to kids, or how to get responses out of them?

NM: The first scene we did was always the breakfast scene, because we figured once the kid had something good in their tummy, they?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢d be good to go. That was just sitting at the table, and just having Bear talk to the kid. The camera would start rolling, and they would let me know, but not make a big deal out of it. So we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢d keep talking, and then Bear would tell the kid there?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s this song we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re going to sing, and they would play the song. And we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢d do it again, and this time the kid would sing along. And some kids were just more gregarious than others, so there was no need to drag it out.

Here in New York and in L.A., we had to have kids audition. Parents filled out this form, and the finalists got asked to come in, and them from those they got picked. The kids would come in, and amazingly, there would be Bear in the room, and this would be the first time they?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve ever seen Bear, who?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s usually like six inches tall on their TV set. So Bear would be there for about a half hour with the kids, and teach the kids how to dance, and seeing which ones responded and which ones didn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t.

TP: Didn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t Bear jump on a trampoline in one of those?

NM: Yes, that was the very first one. In the spirit of Snuffy and Big Bird, jumping on a trampoline. Of course I did it as me first, and let me tell you, it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s not easy jumping on a trampoline! There?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s a certain finesse. So then we tried to do it, which is why you have a great shot of Bear falling over, and then the insert shots of just his head coming up and down.

TP: When was the last time you performed Bear?

NM: On the Jerry Lewis telethon in 2006.

TP: So you have a new book out, 10-Minute Puppets. How did you come up with the idea?

NM: The idea was my wife?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s. I credit her every single time: This was my wife?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s idea. She said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìYou know two things really well. You know how to be a puppeteer, and you know how to be a dad. Why don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t you put something together where people can make puppets really simply??¢‚Ç¨¬ù I was making stuff for my son all the time. But she said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìDon?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t make it crafty. Make it for people like me. You are not married to Martha Stewart.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù So this is a book where it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s very, very simple. Not simple in a patronizing way, but simple in execution. It?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s really not this huge mystery to make a puppet.

I also wanted to reintroduce the whole artistry and the concept of puppets to people, with a little bit of history, which is why I make references to Se?É¬±or Wences, and Burr Tillstrom, and of course Jim. I asked people to contribute to the book, so I got quotes and anecdotes from Frank Oz, and Jerry Nelson, who wrote the forward, and Fran. And even other puppet people like John Tartaglia and Victor Yerrid from Sid the Science Kid. Pam Arciero, who?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s Grundgetta but also the director of the O?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢Neil Puppetry Conferencel. And my buddy Paul McGinnis, who?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s the best tabletop puppeteer around. I asked all these people to give their anecdotes about what puppetry means to them, and why it’s so magical, and to give us tips about telling a story, and character, and manipulation, and so that?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s what they do throughout the book. Just to help people along, and to de-mystify it. It?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s really not this hard.

In fact, one of the highlights of this past trip — I did three cities in three days, which was crazy! ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú I was in L.A. literally for eight hours, landed, did the gig, flew to Seattle. For that L.A. appearance at this bookstore, I showed kids how you can make a puppet. I literally took an old glove and eyes and a piece of fur, and suddenly it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s a spider. The kids said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìIt?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s magic!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù I said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìYes, it is! But the cool part is, it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s magic that you know how to do now, so you can do this magic yourself.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù It?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s moments like that that make me think, Oh good, this is working.

I have people do the technique that I do when I have people that I train: Lift your hand, bend your forefingers down so they?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re nice and straight, put your thumb underneath. And I say, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìThere. This is Elmo naked.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù There?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s usually one or two kids that go, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìEwwww!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù Then I tell them you just want to move your thumb, ?¢‚Ç¨Àúcause that?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s your jaw. You don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t want to move the top part, ?¢‚Ç¨Àúcause that?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s where the eyes are, because in real life ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú and everyone laughs ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú we don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t TAAALK-LIIIKE-THIIIS. People suddenly start trying to adjust their thumb, and just adding to it, putting Mr. Potato Head eyes on, and things like that. Then we have templates in the back that people can just cut out, and if they run out, they can go to my website and download more. We just want to make it as easy as possible for people to do this, to reintroduce this to a whole generation and not just take it for granted. In these interviews I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve been calling puppetry ?¢‚Ç¨?ìthe original 3-D animation.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

TP: So it sounds like it would be a good book even for people who don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t have kids, who are interest in puppetry or just getting started.

NM: Yeah, exactly. And one thing I wanted is to have kids throughout the book. Because so many puppet books just have the projects, and then maybe you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ll have a kid at the very end, holding up the puppet — that they didn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t make — and not even performing it! Just holding it up for the picture: ?¢‚Ç¨?ìTA-DA! Okay, great.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù So in my book, you actually see that kids are actually doing stuff. I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m proud to say my son is on the cover. He?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s the one in the middle. And he?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s come with me for a couple of appearances and assisted me, showing people how to do puppetry. That was one of the main things, that it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s made for kids and their grown-ups, so with these pictures of the kids you can see that it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s really easy.

I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve done bookstore appearances, I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve done kid museums, I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve done a couple of schools here in New York. I actually found out that I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m going to go to my old school in Central Harlem this spring and teach kids how to make puppets in order to give back. Especially since my last day of school, there was this great puppet book in the school library, so when we got dismissed, I went to the library, found the book, put it in my bag, and just walked out.

TP: Whoa. Do you still have it?

NM: Yes, I do.

TP: Are you going to give it back?

NM: No. (laughs) But they are donating a copy of my book to the library! So it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s giving back now. Who knows, maybe someday some kid will steal my book!

TP: It sounds like the response has been good so far.

NM: Yeah, it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s been really good. In fact, this chain of stores called Michael?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s, which is a craft store, ordered this huge order of books, and it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ll be available as of April 1st. So hopefully I can do some appearances at Michael?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s. So if you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re reading, call your local Michael?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s, and say you want me to come!

TP: If we can talk about some of your non-Muppet credits?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ You worked on the third Ninja Turtles movie, as Raphael?

NM: Yes. I got recommended for it by Jim Martin, who worked on it. It was me, Jim Martin, Rick Lyon, and Gordy Robertson. We were the four. So I got recommended for the part, it was like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìDo you want to work on this,?¢‚Ç¨¬ù and it was like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìSure! Why not??¢‚Ç¨¬ù So that was like three months in Oregon, 1992, and it was great. And it takes five people to do one turtle.

TP: What was your specific role?

NM: I did the face. And Matt Hill, who is a voiceover artist now on a lot of cartoons, he was inside, so he wore the face and we would choreograph and work out things for Raph to do and for Raph to say, and so?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ it was fun.

TP: So how did that work ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú did you have a track that you were lip-synching to, or did the voice come later?

NM: No, the voice came later. They were going by what we did, which was nice. So pretty much, I had a microphone, Matt could hear me, and he could do all the body movements that he wanted to, and then I would do all the facial movements, with what I call the ?¢‚Ç¨?ìglorified oven mitt.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

TP: So you were technically the voice of Raphael until post-production.

NM: Yeah, exactly.

TP: Do you try to do a character voice in a case like that?

NM: No, I just sort of do a characteristic voice, like an older brother kind of voice.

TP: You were on 30 Rock recently.

NM: Yes, me and Peter Linz. We were a peacock. Jack inherits a peacock, and so there was this peacock puppet from this company in L.A. that actually makes realistic animal puppets. We actually had to slow our actions down, because they had a real peacock there, and this peacock was so old and so docile, it just stood there. It barely moved at all. So there really wasn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t a lot we could do. So that?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s why we just had to really make it simple. But it was fun being there.

TP: I think we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢d be remiss not to talk about Eureeka?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s Castle. What were the differences between working on a show like Eureeka?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s Castle and Sesame Street?

NM: With Eureeka, it was all puppets, no humans, kind of like Bear. So Magellan was poised on a platform, so that was my first experience with a body puppet of my own ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú walking around on a platform, with these slats on the side, making sure you don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t fall over. And it was my first experience being the performer of my own character like that, and that was really cool. Jim Kroupa, Cheryl Blalock, Brian Meehl, Pam Arciero, and Lynn Hippen?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ and the characters were great. The design of those puppets was brilliant, beautiful.

TP: How big was the Magellan puppet?

NM: It was kind of like Big Bird size, but without the legs, because you never saw Magellan?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s bottom. So about the size of Big Bird.

TP: Did that make it easier, not having a lower half?

NM: I always wished he had, because I wanted to walk around, but he never did. But basically you could take the neck and the head off, and just wear the shirt, so you could rehearse with just the shirt on, this clown kind of shirt. And then the head and neck just kind of tucked in and stayed in. But again, it was the same kind of technology, where it was the monitor and the microphone, and Magellan had his hand pinned or he had a right hand. And then his tail was wild. And that was almost my first time of writing, so I got to write a lot of episodes. And that episode was like, bits, because it was all made up of bits, so I got to write a lot of stuff, so that was fun.

So, yeah. When I have appearances I tell people now, my resume is now most people?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s childhood memories.

And now, as promised, a video bonus, in which Mr. MacNeal answers a few more questions, about working with Henson and Oz, his first Muppet role, and more:

Don’t forget to check out Noel MacNeal’s website for info on 10-Minute Puppets! And click here to inherit a peacock on the Tough Pigs forum!

by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com

A Chat with Noel MacNeal, Part 2

Ryan Roe — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 10:00:18 +0000

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

Tough Pigs: How did you end up with the role of Bear? How did you first hear about that project?

Noel MacNeal: I actually auditioned for another show that they were trying to develop. It was a pilot for a Double Dare kind of game show, hosted by this big huge alien. I go in, and I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m inside this alien prototype with this huge mouth worked with two hands, and the whole time I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m in there thinking, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWhy don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t you just get Marty Robinson to do this? It?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s pretty much just Audrey II.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù I did it, and had fun, and that was first thing in the morning, and I left and went home… went grocery shopping, did laundry.

Then I got a phone call later in the afternoon saying, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìNoel, there?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s actually one more character we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re wondering if you could come back to audition for.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù They faxed me the sketch of this bear, with this little mouse and all that. So I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m in the cab, and I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m reading it through, Bear does this, says that. I looked this over for about 20 minutes in the cab, and I got there around 5:30, and I was the last one to walk in.

I walked in, and the Muppet exec at the time immediately came up to me and said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìDo your own voice.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù I said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWhat? That?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s not what we do.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù And I found out it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s because Bear was designed to be the anti-Barney. He was designed to be a voice that a grown person could actually sit through, while still being a show for kids. It was designed to be a show for kids and adults, because Bear shares his day with his little friends the way a grown-up would share their day, so families could actually watch together. I kind of did what, at the time, I called my ?¢‚Ç¨?ìUncle Noel voice.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù Just a little gentler, up, and high: ?¢‚Ç¨?ìCome on, let?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s play!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù And I got inside, and it had this sort of helix and a foam head — it was a prototype. I thought, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìOh, it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s going to be a walk-around. This is so cool!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

And then it dawned on me: Wait a minute. This is just a courtesy call. I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m the last one here, they?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve obviously got somebody else. So I just said, “I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m just going to have fun.” And so whenever it said Bear sniffs the camera, I just jammed the nose in. Or Bear holds up a glass to viewer — I held it right up and used the reflection to look through it, and just kept running around, and all that. Sometimes I would try to slip into a character voice, and it was like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìAh-ah-ah! No no no! Keep your voice!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

Then the following Monday about 6:00, that?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s when I got the call saying, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWe?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢d like you to be Bear.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

TP: Do you know how many other puppeteers auditioned?

NM: I don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t know. I had heard that they picked somebody else, and then I came in and did it. So thank you, Mitchell Kriegman, for picking me! And in between that, during the weekend, I met this girl, who I ended up dating later that week, and we fell in love and got married and she?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s my wife now.

TP: Good week!

NM: Yeah, those 36 hours were the most life-changing of my life.

TP: Every time we watch Bear, I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m amazed at how lifelike he is.

NM: Thank you!

TP: You really forget that he?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s a puppet. Is there a secret to making him so lifelike?

NM: Bear was great because we had this relationship where I could try something and the suit would say to me, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìNo, don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t do that. That feeling you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re feeling right now? Don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t do that again.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù With the fact that he loved to dance so much, I just kept in mind that he?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s light on his feet. He?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s very graceful. He has this huge girth, but he?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s never clumsy. So it was just playing with the angles and the lines you could make with the way he would stand, and pose, and just have as much fun with it as possible.

One thing I did learn very early on… There was one episode in the first season where Bear kneeled down and got on his knees to talk to Tutter, and suddenly [the illusion] was broken. You suddenly realized it was a guy in a bear suit. That?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s why from then on, Bear only squatted down. We shot it where Bear would go down on all fours, and Jim Kroupa would do the right hand. That?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s why, when I was training the guys at Disney World, I told them, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìDon?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t ever go down on your knees. It looks bad.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

TP: The puppet looks like it was pretty light. Was it?

NM: About 45 pounds… but it was all in the hips, a harness on the hips. It was very easy to move around in, and it was actually very comfortable.

TP: Was there a monitor? How did you see what you were doing?

NM: There was a monitor. It was what I call Big Bird technology. There was a microphone strapped to my chest, and the string from the left hand to the right hand. But then when I did appearances on other shows like Hollywood Squares or Donny & Marie, and I had to walk out, I couldn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t really count on cameramen knowing how to shoot a puppet. So the Henson Company developed the camera-in-the-eye, so for those shots, I had a camera in the left eye, and a matching glint in the other one. Basically it was like if you put your right hand over your right eye, and make a tube with your left hand and put it over your left eye like half a binocular, that was the vision I had. So for those shows I would have two monitors. I would have the monitor giving me the feed of what you see at home, and then I would have the monitor showing me my actual vision.

Bear got to walk out and move around naturally, because I could actually see where I was going. Normally on Hollywood Squares, they introduce the celebrities to the audience, and the celebrities go and sit down in their squares, and other Muppets ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú Elmo, Big Bird, Kermit ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú have this screen in front of the square. They introduce them and they pull the screen back, and up pops Kermit. Bear is the only Muppet that actually walked out with the other celebrities, went into the square and sat down.

TP: Are there any other TV appearances that stand out? We recently saw the one from Donny & Marie, where Bear got a kiss on the nose from Marie Osmond?¢‚Ç¨¬¶

NM: Oh yeah, and the wrangler was just freaking out: “What kind of lipstick is this?! Can I get it off?”

TP: So that was not planned?

NM: No. When you go on television like that, it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s never planned. It?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s been fun going on shows like that?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ One time for a promotion on Hollywood Squares, Susan Lucci sat on Bear?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s lap, and Bear looked into the camera and said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìTutter, press the record button!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

Wayne Brady was a fan of Bear, and he was a really nice guy?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ He was doing these promos for his show, before the end of the show, and I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m dressed as Bear waiting to come on and end the show?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m just waiting. Wayne?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s going through these things, and he?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s kind of flubbing the lines, and he says, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìGuys, can we do this afterwards? ‘Cause it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s getting a little hot in this suit.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

And Bear comes over and says, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìReally? Are you getting hot? Really, Wayne??¢‚Ç¨¬ù Wayne gets embarrassed, and Bear puts his arm around him and looks at the camera: ?¢‚Ç¨?ìHi, I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m Bear, and this is my pal Wayne Brady. Want a good time? Watch The Wayne Brady Show. Check your local listings.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù Then Bear pats him on the back, and says, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìOkay!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù and walks off. So a lot of celebrities ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú and a lot of them were parents too ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú had a great time with Bear.

TP: What are some of your favorite episodes of the Bear in the Big Blue House series? You directed a few?¢‚Ç¨¬¶

NM: I directed the volunteer episode, and that?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s the one where they had to deliberately write it so that Bear wasn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t in 95% of it, which is why he hurts his foot and the other characters go out. I was kind of unofficially directing in other episodes?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ It got to the point where Bear would always have his monologue song, and directors would come to me and say, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWhat would you like to do??¢‚Ç¨¬ù They?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢d set up the cameras, and I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢d go with it. That?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s one of the nice things about being a puppeteer for television, is you kind of self-direct yourself. You kind of play with the frame, and you know what to do within the frame.

Some of the other episodes?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ The Harvest Festival, which had so many characters, and Ursa the bear. You get to learn that Bear actually has a special grownup friend, which is actually a good, subtle thing to introduce to kids. And at the end, instead of the usual credit crawl, they have Bear and Ursa sitting with their backs to camera looking up at the stars talking to each other, and just before it fades Bear puts his arm around Ursa. So that was a nice episode.

The fourth season had some nice episodes?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ It was expanding the community. Especially the last episode, because we realized it was the last season, so we wanted to do a last episode. I suggested, “Wouldn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t it be funny if everybody thought Bear was leaving?” and they worked with that concept. Bear wins a contest for a vacation, and the characters overhear that he?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s leaving, and he?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s getting ready to pack and all that, and they?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re trying to make him feel more appreciated. They come up with this huge extravaganza at the end, and it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s all the characters from the series singing this song, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìThank You, Bear.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù And it turns out that Bear can take his friends with him, and so they go to this wilderness lodge kind of resort in Sequoia City.

They redressed the attic to look like this hotel room, and of course the hotel room has a balcony. Bear wonders: ?¢‚Ç¨?ìDo you think she?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s here??¢‚Ç¨¬ù He steps out, and sure enough, Luna?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s there. She?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìBear, what are you doing here?”

That was the scene with Luna and Bear that was used for Lynne Thigpen?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s memorial service. I was the last speaker, and that was the last scene they used, and it was Luna saying, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìIsn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t it nice how we can all touch each other’s lives in such positive ways all the time??¢‚Ç¨¬ù And Bear says, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWould you mind singing the Goodbye Song one more time??¢‚Ç¨¬ù and she says sure.

TP: About the Goodbye Song, we were wondering: Did you record that song for every episode?

NM: No, that was the original Goodbye Song. There were different versions of it, like at the end of the first season when Bear and his friends went camping, and Luna rose. That was when we realized: Okay, Bear?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s not having these delusions talking to the moon. Everyone else can see this too. That?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s when they added in Tutter and Treelo and Pip and Pop singing the song too. Then for season two, they had the Harvest Moon Festival, and that?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s when everybody sang, so they added in Ursa?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s voice, which was Carmen Osbahr, and all these other voices, like Doc Hogg. There were so many characters that they expanded the Goodbye Song, so Peter Lurye wrote one more little part of the Goodbye Song as well. And when I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve done appearances, I get the track with just Bear singing it, so I get to sing it.

Come back soon for the third and final installment of the interview, in which we talk about Breakfast with Bear, 10-Minute Puppets, and the Ninja Turtles! And click here to sit on Susan Lucci’s lap on the Tough Pigs forum!

by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com

A Chat with Noel MacNeal, Part 1

Ryan Roe — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:06:31 +0000

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

Muppet performer Noel MacNeal is one of the most talented men ever to wear a bear suit. In addition to his best-known role as the titular ursine on Bear in the Big Blue House, he’s been part of the Sesame Street troupe for decades, and worked on many, many other Muppet productions. And he has a new book out called 10-Minute Puppets, in which he shares his expertise with aspiring puppet builders of all ages. We recently sat down for a Q&A with Mr. MacNeal, which will be presented here in three parts. In this first installment, MacNeal talks about playing large characters, the infamous Snuffle-divorce, and how Oscar the Grouch got him hooked on coffee.

Tough Pigs: How did you get involved with the Muppets? Was Sesame Street your first project?

Noel MacNeal: Yes, it was. I went to college here in New York at the Pratt Institute, and there was at that time a theater department, and in the theater department was a puppetry program that was taught by Kermit Love, who designed and built Big Bird and Snuffy. When I joined, they were pretty much phasing out the theater department, so I would have been literally in a class by myself, at graduation ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú it just would have been me. And thinking ahead, there are not a lot of great productions you can do with just one person. So instead of doing my last year in college, Kermit?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s assistant had quit, so he offered me the job to be his assistant wrangler on Sesame Street, taking care of Big Bird, and Caroll as well. So instead of going for my final year of college, I started on Sesame Street, which was an education in itself, learning television production. And at that time, this was pretty much like the puppet show on television, especially here in New York. So that was quite an education.

So from there, I worked on their specials, like the museum special, and the first Sesame movie, and then just started performing more from there. So that was my first experience, Sesame Street and wrangling.

TP: So you were pretty much around on the set every day working with the puppets?

NM: Yes, exactly. The first time I ever drank coffee was because of Sesame Street! I blame my addiction on Sesame Street, because?¢‚Ç¨‚Äùthis was back in the glory days of Sesame Street when the season ran from like September to mid-February, and you did like 110 shows. There was one afternoon where it was Oscar ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú it was just Oscar. Oscar popping out of his trash can, berating Gordon, harassing Maria. And it was really nothing else, and all I had to do was just give Caroll Oscar, all I had to do was just stand by. And I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m literally falling asleep standing up, and so I went to craft services, and said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWhat is this ?¢‚Ç¨Àúcoffee?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ I hear about??¢‚Ç¨¬ù So I pour myself a cup to keep me going, and ever since then?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ the caffeine addiction is because of Oscar the Grouch.

TP: According to Muppet Wiki, you played Mommy Snuffleupagus in the 80s and 90s.

NM: I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve played many Snufflerelatives. I played Mommy, I was Daddy for the famous divorce episode which never aired, I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve been his uncle, I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve been his grandmother, and I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve even been his personal trainer Arnold Schnuffleupanegger. And then there was some sort of cousin, which was the other Snuffy with pigtails popped out, and somebody else did the voice, but I manipulated her.

TP: So you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve been in the front and the back?

NM: I was in the back once, and said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìNever again.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m too tall, so it doesn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t work. Bryant couldn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t do it so Marty asked if I could do it, but never again.

TP: So when you played those characters, did you usually have the same puppeteer in the back?

NM: Yes, Peter MacKennan was in the back working with me.

TP: So that?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s kind of a teamwork thing.

NM: Yes, and that?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s why Bryant and Marty work so well together; they?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve been doing it so long. I was there the day Snuffy was on the trampoline, which is on YouTube. First Big Bird did it, and then Snuffy did it. It was the kind of thing where it was written in the script, and they said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìCould Snuffy actually do this??¢‚Ç¨¬ù I think Marty really accepted it as a challenge: ?¢‚Ç¨?ìSo you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re thinking Snuffy can?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t do this? We?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re gonna prove he can!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù So they did it themselves first, bouncing without Snuffy on, and then finally putting Snuffy on and doing it.

TP: Have there been any other times when you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve been playing a Snuffleupagus and you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve been faced with a challenge? Maybe not that level, but something where you had to stop and think about if it was possible?

NM: No, I usually leave those to Marty. Marty really loves those things. But I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve also filled in some when Marty?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s done Telly, and I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m in the background in Snuffy, which is great ?¢‚Ç¨Àúcause I love Snuffy. He?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s one of the best creatures ever created.

TP: Do you think there?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s a particular reason why you tend to play these large, full-body characters so often?

NM: I don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t know. I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve always gravitated towards it. I mean, I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve always liked the Muppets?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve always loved Grover, I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve always loved Oscar — Oscar?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s great, Oscar?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s one of those characters you could just never create again. But when I saw Big Bird and then Snuffy, it was amazing. These are characters who can actually walk around, they can actually walk up to you, and also walk away. And that?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s why I like Bear so much too, because he can actually walk out. You don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t have to hide behind anything or just have him on your hand.

TP: Do you think other performers tend to shy away from those characters because they?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re more difficult?

NM: I don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t know?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ Maybe if they were given the opportunity, maybe they would. It just depends on the performer, whether they adapt to it or want to do it. There are a select few of us now ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú Caroll was really the first one, and then Jerry and then Marty, and me, you know, Matt Vogel, Peter Linz?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ and Jen Barnhart now, she does Mommy Snuffy now whenever she appears.

TP: I want to go back a second, to the Snuffy divorce episode.

NM: Ah, yes.

TP: Did you know at the time that you were making something that maybe would be controversial or that wouldn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t air?

NM: Well, I started so far back with Sesame Street, I was there when we recorded the Mr. Hooper episode, and I was there the season before, so I met Will Lee. I remember that Thanksgiving, and I remember him not being able to come back the next season, and then doing that episode. And it was only done twice, that bit, and that was the quietest the studio has ever been. It was kind of like, everyone knew how important it was, and everyone just wanted to get it over with. “Let?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s focus, and concentrate, and get this over with.”

So after that, Sesame Street felt very proud and said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìOkay, what else can we tackle? Divorce! Let?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s go after divorce! We?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve handled death, let?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s go after divorce!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù So they did their research and they put together this episode. I think it was the construction of the episode that was kind of confusing, because it started with a flashback, and then within that flashback was another flashback. Ultimately they tested it — and some people didn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t want to test it because they felt so confident, but the research leader at the time said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìNo, we have to test this.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù They tested it with two separate groups, one in New York, one in New Jersey, and both groups ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú separately, and unanimously ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú reinforced everything they were trying to dispel. Like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìDivorce is your fault. When your parents get divorced, they don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t love you anymore.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù It was just awful.

And so Sesame, who had the best spin doctors next to the White House, took that and just turned it around, saying, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWe [produced] this, and it didn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t work, and we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re proud to say it didn?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t work, and we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ll try again some other time.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù They ended up doing a bit with a bird, a Muppet insert spot with a bird that lives in two different nests. Maybe they?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ll tackle it again someday.

TP: Did you play both Mommy Snuffleupagus and Daddy Snuffleupagus in that episode?

NM: I played the dad, and I was inside Mommy while Lynn Hippen was the voice of Mommy. I think they wanted to have a clear female voice.

TP: Can you think of any other memorable one-off characters you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve played over the years?

NM: It was really nice that I got to be Madam Chairbird, whose character you see in Follow That Bird.

TP: How did that come about? It?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s a major motion picture?¢‚Ç¨¬¶

NM: I have no idea! Thank whoever did that. That day, it was like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìYou?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re going to do the Chairbird.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWhat? Okay!?¢‚Ç¨¬ù And I had the worst head cold ever, so I don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t think I could even do her voice now, because it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s based on post-nasal drip and NyQuil.

Or then just being able to be one of the background characters, like one of the penguins or the chickens in the Feist music video, which was great, with all of us there. I use that as an example when I go to train other people in other countries. I tell them, “This is possible.” Even directors, and writers, I go, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìI want you to count how many cuts are in this,?¢‚Ç¨¬ù and they realize it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s just one. So there are people rolling around, pushing themselves out of the way, and it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s chaos, but you don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t know!

TP: How much rehearsal goes into something like that?

NM: We rehearsed it a couple of times. We did that bit in about three hours. It was really mapped out, really planned out, and we kind of knew what had to be done: “How can I get my tush around this corner without blowing this take?”

TP: So there must have been?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ twelve puppeteers working on that?

NM: Yes. It was counting to four, so it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s the four monsters, the four penguins, the four chickens. There?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s twelve people. There was also great choreography with the camera person, because they have to know, this is the spot, and every time you have to do it like that.

TP: And who makes the decisions as far as ?¢‚Ç¨?ìYou?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re going to be a chicken, you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re going to be a monster?¢‚Ç¨¬¶?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

NM: That?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s Clash.

TP: Speaking of the celebrity appearances like Feist, do you have any favorite celebrities that have visited the show that you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve gotten to work with?

NM: John Candy was probably the nicest guy ever. He came on and did his Schmenge brother character for ?¢‚Ç¨?ìPut Down the Duckie,?¢‚Ç¨¬ù and then we broke for lunch. We?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re going out for lunch ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú me, Caroll, a couple other people ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú and we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re by the door, and we thanked him. And he said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWhere are you going??¢‚Ç¨¬ù We?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWe?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re going to lunch,?¢‚Ç¨¬ù and he says, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìCan I join you??¢‚Ç¨¬ù And he ended up treating all of us! He paid for all of us. And then afterward his car was waiting for him, and we said goodbye, and he hugged Caroll?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ and then he hugged me, which I thought was the nicest thing!

Whenever somebody comes on, they always have a good time. One other celebrity encounter was with Patrick Stewart. I was one of the numbers when Patrick Stewart did this thing with the Count, to try and have the Count count from zero to nine, and [Patrick Stewart says] ?¢‚Ç¨?ìMake it so, number one,?¢‚Ç¨¬ù which is the closest he ever wanted to come [to doing a Star Trek bit]. There was a whole parody of Star Trek that Sesame used to do, “Spaceship Surprise,” and there was “Spaceship Surprise: Next Generation,” and they had a whole bit written for him, and he was like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìNo,?¢‚Ç¨¬ù so this was the closest they could do.

TP: So he was originally supposed to be in a Spaceship Surprise episode?

NM: Yeah. So this was a compromise?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ ?¢‚Ç¨?ìCan you just do the line??¢‚Ç¨¬ù Which actually works better, because it?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s actually funnier. So in between takes, there?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s a riser, and he?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s standing up there and we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re down below doing the numbers. And we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re taking a break, and we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re coming around, and there were some visitors coming to the set. Caroll was there, and he put on Big Bird, and Kevin put on Elmo, and these kids were there, and they?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re laughing and running around. Me, Marty and Pam, we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re joking around, and Marty says, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìWhat are kids doing on Sesame Street? Don?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t you see we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re trying to work over here??¢‚Ç¨¬ù

And my usual response to that — just a knee-jerk response that I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve always done — I said, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìAre there no prisons? Are there no workhouses??¢‚Ç¨¬ù Then I suddenly realized that the guy behind me has done his one-man show in New York, of A Christmas Carol. I turned around and looked up, and he?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s just smiling this very contented smile, like, ?¢‚Ç¨?ìThankyou, thankyou, thank you very much.?¢‚Ç¨¬ù

TP: Outside of Sesame Street, you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve worked on various Muppet projects?¢‚Ç¨¬¶ You worked on The Jim Henson Hour?

NM: Yeah, I worked on the pilot. The pitch was done here in New York at the carriage house, and I got to be a part of that. One of the things I got to do on that was the door, one of the doors from Labyrinth. So that was pretty cool. Working on actual stuff with Jim, like the Muppet Meeting Films back in the 80s, that was cool.

Come back soon for Part 2, in which we talk about dancing bears! Click here to get your tush around this corner on the Tough Pigs forum!

by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com

Let Noel MacNeal Show You How to Make Puppets

Ryan Roe — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:53:52 +0000

Noel MacNeal knows a lot about puppets. He’s been a Muppet performer for years, working on productions like Sesame Street and Bear in the Big Blue House… and now he’s sharing his knowledge with kids, their parents, and aspiring puppeteers of all ages, with his new book 10-Minute Puppets. The book includes instructions on making 30 different puppets out of everyday objects, as well as quotes and anecdotes on puppetry from some people you may have heard of, like Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, and Fran Brill.

You can click here to check out MacNeal’s website for more info on the book, including how to order it on Amazon.

And click here to talk about puppets for ten minutes on the Tough Pigs forum! And watch this website for more Noel MacNeal-related fun!

by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com