The MuppetCast - Show #112 - Caroll Spinney

[stephenjlizard]

This is a big one! My special guest for this episode is none other than Caroll Spinney, the performer of Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. I was delighted to be able to talk with him, and although you can't fit a lifetime's worth of stories into a one-hour podcast, we covered a lot of ground and had a lot of fun.

One other note, if you're in or near the Atlanta area, this coming Saturday Heather Henson is presenting a sing-along version of Labyrinth! It's happening at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Only Center members are allowed to attend, but a membership is as cheap as $35 for MuppetCast listeners; just tell them you're a listener when you buy your membership. If you're interested call 404-881-5151. I don't know how much you can really sing along with Labyrinth - there are only a few songs - but Heather goes all out to prepare goody bags for attendees and it becomes a VERY audience-participatory experience watching the movie with her. Think Rocky Horror, if you've ever been to one of those screenings, but lots of fun for all ages.

That's all for this week! I don't know yet what the topic will be for the next show, but in two weeks I'll have to put out a "Best of" show, as I'll be on the road. Let me know if there's any past segment(s) you'd like to hear in particular on that episode!

Have a great week everyone!

 

[dwayne1115]

This was a great show! Carol Big Bird and Oscar where great. To bad Oscar could not talk more, it seemed he wanted to, or didn't want to as the case may be.
I find it so intersting that all the Sesame Muppeters or most of the Sesame Muppeters you've had on the show have done the voices of there Muppets. Fran Kevin and Carol all did, and I thought it was great. I would love to hear one time for a Muppetcast that Big bird was going to be a guest. The prefromers seem at least willing to do that. Something to think about.

 

[antsamthompson9]

I liked the show, Steve. But it would have been nice to hear what Caroll thinks about Abby Cadabby.

 

[minor muppetz]

It was good, though most of what was discussed was written in Spinney's autobiography (and also mentioned in Street Gang). it was great that Follow That Bird (or, more accurately, "the movie") was briefly mentioned, but a shame that it wasn't discussed more in-depth.

I was also hoping for some discussions on Bruno the Trashman and Shivers the Penguin (though I don't know if you've heard of that character... not much is known about him, outside of what's on the Muppet Wiki page), and maybe some of Spinney's early one-time Anything Muppet characters.

Some backstage stories on Wow! You're a Cartoonist! (one of the few Henson prodcutions with Spinney where he didn't perform Big Bird or Oscar), The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (I wonder if he would have told any stories besides the ones Kevin Clash seems to like to talk about), and A Muppet Family Christmas would also be nice.

It's also interesting that in the podcast, Spinney is asked about how coming to china and japan came about. He talked about his china trip, which he wrote about in his autobiography, but didn't talk about how Big Bird in Japan came to be, and didn't acknowledge that special in his autobiography.


Hmm, and it seems that he never talks about Matt Vogel. Not here, not in his autobiography, not in the A&E biography on Sesame Street...

 

[dwayne1115]

That is kind of strange that he would not mention Matt. It might be that Carol is really wanting to still be the main preformer but at the same time willing to give Matt the chance to learn Big Bird in case anything was to happen. (God Forbid)
This also leaves a lot for Carol to talk about at another time. I mean you really can't talk about everything that has happened to him in the last 40 years in an hour or so. The interview was a great start, and hopefully we will hear from Carol again.