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Sam and Friends BookKevin the Frog
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I thought my experience this weekend would be something to add to the discussion...(I apologize in advance for the rambling and very lengthy background intro)
At least for me, I only really got into the Muppets when I was older was because I found out I could kind of sound like Kermit while in the shower...when I was around 16. Don't get me wrong...I LOVED Sesame Street, Mister Rogers and The Muppet Show. We watched the morning and afternoon airings of Sesame St and usually Mr Rogers everyday as kids, and always watched TMC. But as you get older your interests change.
I still had my FP Kermit puppet from when I was a little kid, but was never into puppetry. I would say a line or two like Kermit at parties or with friends and it would always get a laugh, plus it was fun to goof around practicing his voice. I think the main reason I got back into the muppets was because it took me back to my childhood and made me feel good. Like Mr Rogers says "I like the way you are"
Of course Kermit needed someone to talk to, so I practiced other voices. During college I had a lot of spare time, and all of my "spare" money was spent on the early version of ebay buying SS records (and Mr Rogers), Muppet puppets, VCR movies, etc. Soon I could do little skits with my toy puppets....Ernie waking up Bert because he can't get to sleep, all the good ones on the show. This was all by myself....or every once in a while when coaxed into by friends with beer.
Well that was about ten years ago and I'm still playing with these puppets, but also got interested in puppetry in general...a lot of it due to the puppetry board here on MC. Some of you may have seen the Halloween videos I posted and that's about the extent of my puppet show experience. (Didn't look very good for my resume at the Muppet auditions!)
So I've bought a few original characters and messed around with them, but always assumed that the kids would only like seeing Grover or someone they know.
Around 3:00 on Saturday my friend called me and said, "Hey I need you to come over and do a puppet show for my daughters birthday party. It's at 5 o' clock, I've got 10 girls coming over, and I NEED entertainment!" He's not rich and had nothing planned and remembered the times in my basement laughing at me and my silly muppets. (Don’t worry - I wasn’t paid anything to do the muppets / birthday puppet show)
I don't have a skit, never done a birthday party, only the "Trick or Treat" greetings on Halloween...and messing around with friends my age. So I grab all my muppet puppets and then remember the original puppet I just got from Nate here on the boards. I had messed with him for 30 minutes the past week and had only come up with a kinda tough guy character. As I was driving to the house I came up with the idea of him being a used car salesman, came up with a name, was somewhat happy with the voice, and that was about it.
When it came time to do the show I had decided that "Herbie" the original puppet would do the introduction and talk in between the different muppet characters. He came out talking to the little girls (age 5-8) and they loved him! I think some of them assumed he was a character from Sesame Street or something. He was energetic, but tough, talking about the party and then going into his company "Herbie Hood Used Auto Car Sales Corporation Incorporated LLC" to get laughs from the parents and some silly stuff to get laughs from the kids. He introduced Bert & Ernie, then spoke again and introduced Kermit and Fozzie (which Animal interrupted at the end saying "Women, women" at all the girls and said he was only 9, luckily the blankets used to hide me were located right in front of a drumset so Animal got distracted from the girls and started banging his head on the crash cymbal) After Fozzie’s dumb birthday jokes quickly found on the internet, Herbie then introduced Grover (who was the puppet that they all knew well) which ended the show with a journey to Timbuk-tu-tu.
To sum up my very long-winded story, it was the first time I realized that kids or even adults would appreciate an original character versus one of the muppets I've always hid behind. The kids loved Herbie, or Herb for short, I think more than really any of the muppets. Even a couple of adults said that they liked him better, that he had more of a personality....and I wasn't limited with a "smaller" personality of one of the muppets.
It really got me thinking, and as I had so much fun it got me even MORE interested in puppetry in general, original characters, etc. Sorry wifey.
I guess I had to try it once to realize it was just as good, if not BETTER, than doing someone else’s characters. Thanks for reading.
At least for me, I only really got into the Muppets when I was older was because I found out I could kind of sound like Kermit while in the shower...when I was around 16. Don't get me wrong...I LOVED Sesame Street, Mister Rogers and The Muppet Show. We watched the morning and afternoon airings of Sesame St and usually Mr Rogers everyday as kids, and always watched TMC. But as you get older your interests change.
I still had my FP Kermit puppet from when I was a little kid, but was never into puppetry. I would say a line or two like Kermit at parties or with friends and it would always get a laugh, plus it was fun to goof around practicing his voice. I think the main reason I got back into the muppets was because it took me back to my childhood and made me feel good. Like Mr Rogers says "I like the way you are"
Of course Kermit needed someone to talk to, so I practiced other voices. During college I had a lot of spare time, and all of my "spare" money was spent on the early version of ebay buying SS records (and Mr Rogers), Muppet puppets, VCR movies, etc. Soon I could do little skits with my toy puppets....Ernie waking up Bert because he can't get to sleep, all the good ones on the show. This was all by myself....or every once in a while when coaxed into by friends with beer.
Well that was about ten years ago and I'm still playing with these puppets, but also got interested in puppetry in general...a lot of it due to the puppetry board here on MC. Some of you may have seen the Halloween videos I posted and that's about the extent of my puppet show experience. (Didn't look very good for my resume at the Muppet auditions!)
So I've bought a few original characters and messed around with them, but always assumed that the kids would only like seeing Grover or someone they know.
Around 3:00 on Saturday my friend called me and said, "Hey I need you to come over and do a puppet show for my daughters birthday party. It's at 5 o' clock, I've got 10 girls coming over, and I NEED entertainment!" He's not rich and had nothing planned and remembered the times in my basement laughing at me and my silly muppets. (Don’t worry - I wasn’t paid anything to do the muppets / birthday puppet show)
I don't have a skit, never done a birthday party, only the "Trick or Treat" greetings on Halloween...and messing around with friends my age. So I grab all my muppet puppets and then remember the original puppet I just got from Nate here on the boards. I had messed with him for 30 minutes the past week and had only come up with a kinda tough guy character. As I was driving to the house I came up with the idea of him being a used car salesman, came up with a name, was somewhat happy with the voice, and that was about it.
When it came time to do the show I had decided that "Herbie" the original puppet would do the introduction and talk in between the different muppet characters. He came out talking to the little girls (age 5-8) and they loved him! I think some of them assumed he was a character from Sesame Street or something. He was energetic, but tough, talking about the party and then going into his company "Herbie Hood Used Auto Car Sales Corporation Incorporated LLC" to get laughs from the parents and some silly stuff to get laughs from the kids. He introduced Bert & Ernie, then spoke again and introduced Kermit and Fozzie (which Animal interrupted at the end saying "Women, women" at all the girls and said he was only 9, luckily the blankets used to hide me were located right in front of a drumset so Animal got distracted from the girls and started banging his head on the crash cymbal) After Fozzie’s dumb birthday jokes quickly found on the internet, Herbie then introduced Grover (who was the puppet that they all knew well) which ended the show with a journey to Timbuk-tu-tu.
To sum up my very long-winded story, it was the first time I realized that kids or even adults would appreciate an original character versus one of the muppets I've always hid behind. The kids loved Herbie, or Herb for short, I think more than really any of the muppets. Even a couple of adults said that they liked him better, that he had more of a personality....and I wasn't limited with a "smaller" personality of one of the muppets.
It really got me thinking, and as I had so much fun it got me even MORE interested in puppetry in general, original characters, etc. Sorry wifey.
I guess I had to try it once to realize it was just as good, if not BETTER, than doing someone else’s characters. Thanks for reading.
