Al's Alphabet Garage Puppetry Query?

[Skekayuk]

I remember in about 1998 watching this skit, about Al who runs an Alphabet garage, getting letters ready for the road. A lady (female Anything Muppet) comes in with a J that won't jump. It will jog, jiggle and play jazz, but it won't jump. So Al gives it a "jump start". Which makes it jump all over the workshop.

I saw this in 1998, according to Boober's DB the sketch dates the 1991. DW McKim on the Muppet newsgroup once kindly identified Al as being puppeteered by Jerry Nelson.

But what I would like to know, is who puppeteered the lady owner of the J?

There is a reason I'd like to know. As soon as I saw the skit, I couldn't help noticing that the female AM, was only really using it's Right arm rod, whereas most Muppet characters, if only using one arm use their left. Thus whoever is surely puppeteering left-handed. And I'd like to know who this mystery puppeteer is, because it seems might another left-handed, one we don't know about?

Emma
E.Shane@qsulis.demon.co.uk

 

[minor muppetz]

I don't ever remember seeing or hearing baout the skit, but it's probably Louise Gold. She is the only known left-handed performer, and she did perform on Sesame Street from 1991-1995. I've read that Terry Angus also performs with his left hand, though he's a right hander, but he never performed on Sesame Street.

 

[minor muppetz]

I have seen some sketches where Muppet characters seem to use their right hand as opposed to their left hand, even though their performers are right-handed. For example, in the original version of Being Green, Kermit moved his right hand quite a bit, but his left hand didn't move at all. The John Cleese epsiode of The Muppet Show also has two examples of characters moving their right hand more: during Gonzo's act, he moves his right hand while his left hand is attached to his waiste, and in the UK spot, Kermit moves his right hand while his left hand seems to be unable to move on its own. Of course, in that episode, it's possible that Louise Gold performed Gonzo and Kermit while their performers recorded the voices seperately (but don't take this speculation as fact), but I'm not sure.

But Louise Gold definately didn't perform Kermit in the original version of Being Green. She wasn't even a puppeteer back then, and her interview at Muppet Central says that she was hired as a performer without prior performing experience (I think she would have mentioned performing Kermit in the first season of Sesame Street if she actually did). I don't know if there were any left-handed performers on Sesame Street during the first season.

During the first season, Caroll Spinney had to perform Oscar with his left hand at first, because he was unable to fit his right hand into Oscar's trash can (I guess that's why in the first episode only Oscar's head is seen). This was especially hard for Caroll because a right-handed glove was sewn into the inside of the head.

 

[Skekayuk]

Obviously when a puppet is operated by two or three people as opposed to just one, then it's likely that a second puppeteer will operate the character's right hand. Which I would guess is what might have happened in the original Bein' Green. Well it's one possibility. The other, as you rightly highlight with Carroll Spinney performing Oscar The Grouch is those occassions when for some reason to do with fitting the puppet and performer into a given set, the performer has to use their left hand for the head. And it's clear that sometimes happend. Then of course there's also occassions when a puppeteer is doing two puppets at the same time with a head on each arm, such as Frank Oz performing Animal wrestling with an octopus (or some such - as detailed in the book OM&M).

Besides Louise Gold and Terry Angus, there are of course Mike Quinn and Richard Coombs who also puppeteer left-handed. Mike Quinn because he is (he was the mystery generic penguin at Jim Henson's funeral), and Richard Coombs because like Terry Angus he started as a puppet builder. But that still leaves the puzzle that out of those four Louise Gold is the only one we know of that worked on Sesame Street. Yet some of the other Muppet fans seem certain she did not do this particular skit. I must admit I had always thought it was her. Not just because of the lady J owner switching her J on with the right arm rod, but also because of the rather classy (verging between British and mid atlantic accent) of the character. However the concensus among those Muppet fans who know more about who did what, is that it isn't one of her's. Hence why I am wondering who on earth it can be?

 

[minor muppetz]

Besides Louise Gold and Terry Angus, there are of course Mike Quinn and Richard Coombs who also puppeteer left-handed. Mike Quinn because he is (he was the mystery generic penguin at Jim Henson's funeral), and Richard Coombs because like Terry Angus he started as a puppet builder.

I didn't know that Terry Angus started out as a puppet builder, but I thought I'd read that the reason that Terry Angus performs with his left hand is because he has celebral palsy.

 

[LittleJerry92]

I remember in about 1998 watching this skit, about Al who runs an Alphabet garage, getting letters ready for the road. A lady (female Anything Muppet) comes in with a J that won't jump. It will jog, jiggle and play jazz, but it won't jump. So Al gives it a "jump start". Which makes it jump all over the workshop.

I saw this in 1998, according to Boober's DB the sketch dates the 1991. DW McKim on the Muppet newsgroup once kindly identified Al as being puppeteered by Jerry Nelson.

But what I would like to know, is who puppeteered the lady owner of the J?

There is a reason I'd like to know. As soon as I saw the skit, I couldn't help noticing that the female AM, was only really using it's Right arm rod, whereas most Muppet characters, if only using one arm use their left. Thus whoever is surely puppeteering left-handed. And I'd like to know who this mystery puppeteer is, because it seems might another left-handed, one we don't know about?

Emma
E.Shane@qsulis.demon.co.uk

Oh gosh I haven't seen that sketch in years.

 

[minor muppetz]

It's possible that extra performers operated the right hand sin those examples that I gave, only the characters don't move their left hands at all. If only one performer is operating a character, then the performers should use the hands they normally do. I mentioned that in Bein' Green Kermit looked like his left hand was attached to his body. Of course, it's possible that the prop builders made the hole in the log too small for Jim Henson to stick his right arm through (though I think Kermit could have easily sat on the wall for this song).

Gonzo's cannonball-catching act makes a bit of since. His right arm gets longer at the end, and it might have been better for a second performer to operate the longer arm. Oddly enough, for most of the sketch, his left arm is attached to his waist, and his left arm doesn't move at all until after he catches the cannonball.