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Sesame Family Robinson – From making Muppets to Raising Moppets

Entries with tag tagmay2011 .

Leslie and a Broccoli

By Martin P Robinson, 5/1/11 8:18 AM
Leslie Carrara mainly performs Abby Cadabby on our show, but put anything in her hands and you are going to get something unusual. In this case, it’s a dolled up broccoli puppet.

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What's Really On The Shelves In Hooper's Store?

By Annie Evans, 5/8/11 4:31 AM
 Word of the Day: Surprise!
 
Whenever we have a guest on the set, we always take time to show them the inside of Hooper’s Store. Not everyone gets to see what’s on those shelves. From a distance, they appear to be familiar name-brand items; but take a closer look . . .

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Tyler The Piano Player

By Martin P Robinson, 5/14/11 9:43 PM
Tyler Bunch is one of those guys who can do anything, and really well. (He has pretty much the best Robert Goulet impression you have ever heard.) He's one of the main go-to puppeteers for new, interesting, one-time characters. Recently, during a big Cookie Monster song, "Me Gotta Be Me,” Tyler was performing a piano player, and I asked him to describe what exactly he was doing.

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Favorite Performances and Working with Jim Henson

By Martin P Robinson, 5/29/11 8:18 AM
 


Dear Marty,

I've been a fan of Sesame Street for a long time. I have two questions. First, what is your favorite performance on the show as either Snuffy or Telly? Second, you are one the few performers who worked with Jim Henson. What is the best advice he has given you? Thank you and all the puppeteers who work with the Muppets. You bring the world joy.


Sherri


 
Dear Sherri,
 
My favorite performance on a show? Geez, that's a lot of shows to choose from! Snuffy is such a sweetheart, and I love playing him, but his character has a limited range of reactions. Telly, on the other hand, is much more complicated and can respond to any input with a great emotional outpouring. He can also change mental directions on a dime without denying his depth of feeling. This makes him lots of fun to play, and the writers say, lots of fun to write for. That all being said, to kind of answer your question, I really love all the scripts with Telly and Baby Bear because they’re real buddies, the kind of friendships we all had when we were 10 years old—sweet, free, and uncomplicated.
 
And to answer your second question: What advice did Jim Henson give me? He wasn't the type of person to hand out advice. I would characterize him as a man of great character and presence, but few words—each of them carefully chosen. He led our merry Sesame band by example, working hard, always bringing more to a scene than expected, laughing, and having a ball. Often, after a take he would either say, "Hmmmm,” which meant, "Let's try that again," or "Lovely,” which meant we had gotten it right.


--Marty
 
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Leslie, Shaun and the Jib Camera

By Martin P Robinson, 5/21/11 9:37 PM
 Shaun Harkins is one of those very cool and creative people that you will never hear about on Sesame Street. He designed, built, and operates our jib, or as some call it, a boom camera. Sesame always shoots with multiple cameras when in the studio, with the cuts made live from camera to camera as we perform each scene. Usually there are two to three standard pedestal cameras, and the jib cam, which sweeps in from the studio ceiling across the entire set and ends up at floor level all in one shot. Following is a little film with Leslie, Abby, and Shaun showing you how it is done.

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Like your family we have twins, boy/girl, that turned three last month. I saw your blog entry for January and it looks like we have something in common, potty training twins. Like one of your girls, my son WILL NOT pee in the potty but his sister was doing well until she caught on to "Bubbie" not trying. I was just letting things run their course but our local pre-schools/mommy day out programs require the children to be potty trained and this mommy needs a day out. Bribery isn't working. Have you had any success?

Sommer

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How often is the telly puppet renewed or replaced?

Katherine Sydney, Australia

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I read in 40 Years of Life on the Street about an incident involving Snuffy's puppet where a sombrero caused the wood frame to collapse on you and Bryant Young. Did they rebuild the puppet after that or did they just make a new one?

Edward

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I just wanted to say thanks for the blog. My daughter Kylie (who just turned two yesterday) loves to ask if we are going to see "the babies." Thank you so much to you and Marty for bringing the joy of Sesame Street into our lives every day.

Kendal and Kylie Montreal, Canada

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I've noticed that there are fewer Muppets and people in an episode now than there were twenty years ago. Does everyone show up on the set for filming days or only certain ones? Who decides who gets to play the Anything Muppets? There are some voices I hear more than others.

Glenda

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