The MuppetCast & Sesame Street at 40

Thanks to Steve over at The MuppetCast for the mention on his 1/25/09 show. Steve has been providing a great service with his regular podcast on all things Muppet and is one of the entertaining resources that I regularly turn to.

I attended the Sesame Street at 40 lecture at William Patterson University in Wayne NJ on Friday [Jan. 30]. The whole team did a great job and it was wonderful to see Frank Oz, one of my first puppet heroes, involved with something Muppet-related. The event was moderated by author Michael Davis and included writer/composer Tony Geiss, Bob McGrath, Fran Brill, Marty Robinson, Kevin Clash, Sonia Monzano, Caroll Spinney and Frank Oz. It was cool to hear stories about how they came to Sesame Street in their careers. Who knew Bob had a huge fan following in Japan?? He was quite the famous singer in his earlier days. The best part of the evening was the improvisational conversations with the puppets themselves as they brought out Oscar, Zoe, Telly and Elmo. No matter how old you were in the audience, your inner child was in awe to see these well-known childhood heroes live. Even those of us who are not exactly Elmo's biggest fans, really appreciate how Kevin performs him for the adult set - there's a little more 'knowing' behind that soft, red exterior and Clash is a fantastic performer and puppeteer.

I'm working on my next new puppet. I'm really enjoying the process. You think something is going to go a certain way and when it doesn't, the work takes you in another, interesting direction.