Comedy

Puppet power

Childhood, Comedy, Icons, Television

Apologies for those of you landing here thinking it will be a note about puppies. Or a thesis on the current political climate across western democracies.

Instead it’s much more important. It’s a short ode to my love for the genius of Jim Henson and his puppets. He created The Muppets back in 1955.

themuppetshow

Muppets!

Little did Henson know that one of his creations would provide me with source material that gave my six year old self the ability to make adults (and parents) laugh. For a while anyway.

I found I had an inherent ability to impersonate Count Von Count, the vampire muppet with fangs too soft to scare, at the drop of a one beautiful hat, ah ah ah, two beautiful hats, ah ah ah, no three beautiful hats. You get the picture.

SesameStreettheCount

You can count on vampire myths including arithmomania

He popped up in Sesame Street, the educational programming vehicle that first showcased Henson’s puppet mastery.

I loved that muppet like a brother and had no hesitation in breaking out the impression whenever called upon to do so and sometimes even when not asked.

While the Count provided me with my first hit muppet impression, he wasn’t the last. I also enjoyed growling like Grover and also found I shared a love for biscuits not dissimilar to Cookie Monster. I also once got put in a dustbin (trashcan) by my school “friends” but any resemblance to Oscar the Grouch was merely an (un)happy coincidence.

Cookiemonster

A chip off the old block

 

An energetic and almost violent action impression of the drum playing Animal followed before a more vocally advanced mimic of the Swedish chef and Beaker became party pieces.

Special mentions should go to other Muppets from The Muppet Show including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Rowlf the Dog and the band Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem.

And of course any of my party pieces would always end with a contribution from Statler and Waldorf, the famous elderly gentlemen who liked a heckle and a moan.

MuppetsStadlerWaldorf

This blog is rubbish

“The most sophisticated people I know – inside they are all children,” Henson said.

Phew.

 

What you readin’ for?

Comedians, Comedy

A line from a Bill Hicks’ routine. Even though he died at just 32, the great American stand-up comedian had been performing for more than half his life.

The first few years he would sneak into licensed comedy venues underage to make the people laugh aloud, loudly. And think.

When I was creating the first Memory Pop, Hicks was one of the first pins. Twenty years plus on from his death in 1994 from cancer, Hicks still lives large in my memory for his brilliance.

MP_BillHicks_headsmoking

Bill Hicks, tab in hand

A reminder for everyone of how relevant Hicks remains with the bit about ‘readin’ from all those years ago:

“You know I’ve noticed a certain anti-intellectualism going around this country ever since around 1980, coincidentally enough. I was in Nashville, Tennessee last weekend and after the show I went to a waffle house and I’m sitting there and I’m eating and reading a book. I don’t know anybody, I’m alone, I’m eating and I’m reading a book. This waitress comes over to me (mocks chewing gum) ‘what you readin’ for?’…wow, I’ve never been asked that; not ‘What am I reading’, ‘What am I reading for?’ Well, goddamnit, you stumped me…I guess I read for a lot of reasons — the main one is so I don’t end up being a fuckin’ waffle waitress. Yeah, that would be pretty high on the list. Then this trucker in the booth next to me gets up, stands over me and says [mocks Southern drawl] ‘Well, looks like we got ourselves a readah’…aahh, what the fuck’s goin’ on? It’s like I walked into a Klan rally in a Boy George costume or something. Am I stepping out of some intellectual closet here? I read, there I said it. I feel better.”

I also created a badge from a ticket of a gig I went to.

MP_BillHicks_ticket

Less than a tenner

 

 

I had three pints of beer with a friend from Glasgow before going in and needed the toilet the minute Hicks took to the stage to the sound of heavy metal. It wasn’t just how funny he was that saw me risk wetting myself. I didn’t go to the loo because I didn’t want to miss a second. I didn’t wet myself. Honest. But I am now considering a job as a waffle waitress.

There are other special comedians on the Memory Pop to keep Hicks, a true original, company.

Forgive me!