Interview with Legendary Muppeteer Jerry Nelson, Part 4

Ryan Dosier - It is always more than an honor to me when I get the chance to correspond with Muppeteers and ask them questions I've been wanting to ask ever since I found out who the talented men and women were that bring to life my favorite characters. Arguably, Jerry Nelson, whose fourth and final interview segment we're thrilled to post today, is the one who I've had the most questions for. Someone who has been a part of Muppet history almost since the beginning and who has brought life to countless wonderful, memorable, and delightful characters... Jerry is the epitome of Muppeteer and I, personally, and all of us here at The Muppet Mindset are beyond thrilled to welcome you to Part 4 of our interview with Mr. Nelson as we discuss his work on Sesame Street and provide some closing thoughts.


Be sure to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of our interview with Jerry Nelson.

Interview with Jerry Nelson

Part 4

RYAN:   We’re back once again with Jerry Nelson for the fourth and final part of our interview. Today’s subject is Sesame Street. Jerry, what was the first Sesame Street sketch you worked on?

JERRY:   You don’t really expect me to remember this do you? This happened over forty years ago, my friend. Can you remember every little detail of anything that happened that long ago? Call me up when you are forty-one and tell me what you remember. I may have that in the files, but the colored wheel is spinning and spinning. If it ever pulls the file up I’ll let you know but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. I do remember that we had just finished shooting The Great Santa Claus Switch in Toronto, when Jim asked me if I would like to work on Sesame Street in the second season. I had not worked the first season.

RYAN:   What is it about The Count that makes him one of the only characters you continue to perform?

JERRY:   Well Ryan, counting just never seems to go out of style. I mean it’s not as if they said, "What character would you like to keep doing?" Gush gush, gee, I would like to keep doing the Count until I fall off this mortal coil, please. With diminished physical capacity, I am lucky to be doing anything. I thank Sesame Workshop for letting me continue doing what I love.

RYAN:   In the beginning The Count was a rather frightening, foreboding presence. How did you change a vampire with the power to hypnotize Bert into a charming, passionate, truly awesome character?

JERRY:   I stopped relying on cliché darkness, and allowed the Count’s charming, passionate, truly awesome self to shine through.

RYAN:   The Count has had flings with a few different women (including Susan Sarandon). Can you tell us which one he fancies the most?

JERRY:   Flings indeed! A gentlecount never tells, Ryan. They each had their own charm and beauty.

RYAN:   What are your favorite Count songs?

JERRY:   "The Song of The Count," "Batty Bat," "Counting is Wonderful," "Coconut Counting Man," "Count on Me," "Bones," "Eight Beautiful Notes," "The Count's Lullaby," "I Want to Count," "Zig-Zag Dance," "Transylvania Polka," "The Number of the Day Waltz," "The Lambaba," "I Could Have Counted All Night," "Hands" (been werry good to me), "How Deep is Your Bathtub," "Cloud Nine," "Baby You Can Count on Me," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Little Miss Count Along," just to name a few and last but certainly not least... "Count Von Count's Continuous Country Cookin' Downhome Diner."

RYAN:   Which characters do you think The Count works with the best?

JERRY:   He has just two criteria. They must be either foam and fur fabric or flesh and blood. Other than that he’s not too picky.

RYAN:   What does The Count think of the Twilight craze? Does he enjoy counting the insane teenage girls?

JERRY:   You know the answer to this, Ryan, Count Von Count enjoys counting absolutely everything and anything, he can find or you can name.

RYAN:   Does The Count have a favorite number?

JERRY:   Of course! Doesn’t everyone? 34,969.

RYAN:   Where did the idea for thunder and lightning to accompany The Count’s counting come from?

JERRY:   You would have to ask Norman Stiles that question, I think it was he, or possibly Jon Stone?

RYAN:   The Count has also hobnobbed with a good amount of celebrities on the show. Who were some of your (and his) favorite celebrities to work with?

JERRY:   Harry Belafonte, Madeline Kahn, Whoopi Goldberg, Maya Angelou, Alison Krauss, Susan Sarandon, Jon Stewart, Dave Winfield, Mookie Wilson, Trisha Yearwood, to mention a few.

RYAN:   In recent years you’ve dubbed The Count’s voice while someone else performs him. What are the difficulties that come with this?

JERRY:   Matt Vogel does the puppet work with the Count. Matt worked with me doing right, and often both hands for a long time so he knows the way I work. Of course we rehearse and he can pick up the rhythms of speech from that. Matt is a very talented puppeteer in his own right, so most of the time there are no real difficulties. People often remark about how smoothly it all works.

RYAN:   One of my favorite Sesame Street moments in recent years is the "Outrageous Makeover: Home Addition" sketch with Grover and Mr. Johnson. What was it like to perform this hilariously fun sketch?

JERRY:   It was hilariously fun, Ryan, as they most always are. I can’t think of one that wasn’t and I’m not going to try.

RYAN:   Why does Mr. Johnson keep going back to Charlie’s Restaurant? Is the food really that good?

JERRY:   Would you rather for him to have never gone back? I don’t think so.

RYAN:   Is Grover really a bad waiter/salesman/exercise instructor/airplane steward/etc.? Or is Mr. Johnson just a difficult customer?

JERRY:   It is simply perfect chemistry for teaching and comedy. You’ve got this poor sap who continues to somehow always become saddled with furry, cute, adorable, inept Grover, who through his mistakes repeats the objective lessons, each time frustrating Mr J in (and you know it’s coming) an ever escalating temper, to the point of collapsing. Comedy.

RYAN:   Can you talk to us a little bit about Herry Monster? How was his character developed?

JERRY:   Herry is my tribute to Jimmy ("da nose knows") Durante, who, when I was growing up, was one of my favorite comedians. "Good night Mrs. Calabash, where-ever you are!" Remember to think radio here.

RYAN:   What was it like to work with real kids like John-John? Was John-John still thrilled to see Herry when they were reunited after he had grown up?

JERRY:   Kids can amaze you. John-John certainly did. He was so into it. Many times children are very shy, but they found a few like John-John that were just right there. Hmm, the reunion, I’m not sure "thrilled" is the word I would use here. It was certainly a happy moment for myself, Herry, John-John, his mother and others in the studio.

RYAN:   What are your favorite Herry moments?

JERRY:   The song, "I Can’t Help It," in the course of which, he destroys the Fix-It Shop. By the end of the song the shop is a shambles. The Special Effects Team, get kudos for that one and I had a ball. Scenes like that you rehearse over and over because it’s going to happen for real in only one take.

RYAN:   Whatever happened to Biff and Sully?

JERRY:   Biff is retired and worrying about the economy, social security and medicare. I don’t know for sure, but I heard that Sully is playing piano in a lounge out on City Island.

RYAN:   I know that you really enjoyed Sherlock Hemlock. What were some of your favorite aspects of his character?

JERRY:   He was so totally clueless. It was so much fun to play him unconditionally confident of his complete solution. I liked him best with Watson the dog trying to tell him at each step of the way what the real clues were and Sherlock’s lame restructuring when the truth is revealed.

RYAN:   One of the greatest moments in Season 40 was your cameo alongside Herry, Mr. Johnson, and Sherlock Hemlock. How did that come about?

JERRY:   I was visiting the set with my grandson and it just sort or happened, as I recall. I’m not saying that is what happened, just that is what I recall.

RYAN:   How has Sesame Street changed during your time on the show? How has it remained the same?

JERRY:  Segmentilization. Elmos World, Where’s Ernie. They still do great spoofs, which used to be called "inserts."

RYAN:   What does Sesame Street mean to you?

JERRY:   Do you mean aside from being part of a great career and contributing to children’s education and the uses of what was a new media in my lifetime?

RYAN:   If you had to pick one, what would you say is your favorite Sesame Street moment?

JERRY:   Being on set to hear Ray Charles sing, "It’s Not That Easy Being Green." Being in studio to share 40th Anniversary cake with my family of friends, who are my coworkers. Working with the best in the business. All that and more.

RYAN:   Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

JERRY:   I think you take the N, Q or F train to 36th Street, or is it Avenue? Ask my driver. He knows the way.

RYAN:   What would you like to be remembered for? If you could shape your legacy, what would it be?

JERRY:   Jerry Nelson. He was mostly on time.

RYAN:   Jerry, before we finish, I promised myself that if I ever got the chance I would personally thank you for autographing both a photo of The Count and a picture I drew of you surrounded by your characters for me. They are proudly framed and hanging on my wall. So thank you so much for that, sir.

JERRY:   Is that the one with the cowboy boots? No, that one is Smig’s, which I have on my wall.

RYAN:   Well Jerry, unfortunately those are all of the questions I have. I just have to thank you for everything. Thank you for inspiring me to be a better person, for putting music in my heart, and bringing laughter to my life. I’m sure I speak for Muppet fans everywhere when I say that once again I wish I could stand up and applaud you.

JERRY:   Thank you, Ryan. If you think I made you a better person, you were a better person to begin with. You have my permission to applaud me any time you see me.  Thank everyone else for bothering to read these rambles.

We can't thank Jerry Nelson enough for taking the time to talk to us. Jerry is a true treasure... one we're so glad he shared with us throughout the course of this four-part interview. Thank you, Jerry, for all you've done and continue to do!






The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Herry Monster

Please welcome good friend of the blog Michael Wermuth, Jr. as he brings us yet another guest Weekly Muppet Wednesday article!

HERRY MONSTER

Performed by...

Jerry Nelson

First Appearance...

Sesame Street Season 2: Episode 131 (1970)

Most Recent Appearance...

Sesame Street Season 40 Episode 4206 (2009)

Memorable Quotes...

“Monsters? Where monsters? You see monsters?” (Follow That Bird)

“And now, the song that asks the musical question… Fuzzy and Blue?” (Monster Hits!)

“Good morning, weights. I’ve been waiting to lift ya.”

“Here comes ol’ Herry, looking for the triangle.”

“You’re very good at saying the alphabet, Grover… But you’re lousy at keeping secrets!”

Best Friends...

In a season 31 episode, Herry helped Rosita find herself a best friend, before the two decided to become best friends themselves. Unfortunately, this was around the time Herry was being phased out, and the two weren’t seen together very much afterwards.

The book Sesame Street Unpaved lists Grover as Herry’s best friend, and this seems more logical. There were many sketches featuring the two, including a season two sketch where Grover helped Herry find a triangle, and an early sketch in which Herry tells Grover a secret (which is actually the alphabet). The two also starred in two Monsterpeice Theater sketches together, “Chariots of Fur” and “ABCD Blue”.

Cookie Monster could also be an honorary best friend. The two have sung quite a few songs together, including “Circles” and “Up and Down”.

WHO IS HERRY MONSTER?

Herry Monster is a furry blue monster who is really strong but doesn’t know his own strength. Though strong, he is also quite tender. In some sketches, he appears to be scary to certain characters, when he really had other intentions (for example: In one sketch, Farley was scared of him, but Herry just wanted to see if Farely wanted to play with dolls). Many of his early sketches seemed to include him as an ending punchline character. One example is in the “First and Last” song, when the kid who’s always first ends up being first to a package, which had Herry Monster inside. Or the aforementioned Farley sketch, in which Farely hears somebody knocking at the door, and speculates who it could be, before it ends up being Herry.

In season 30 Herry starred in a recurring segment called “Monsters in Day Care”, in which he visited real-life kids at day care and then went to his own day care/clubhouse (perhaps a precursor to Monster Clubhouse?) to tell his friends what he learned.

He has also participated in many of Prairie Dawn’s pageants, including “A Flower Grows”, “The Four Seasons”, and “Foods We Eat”. He also portrayed the role of a butterfly in a non-Prairie Dawn pageant about butterflies.

Though Herry likes being strong, he also likes dolls. His favorite doll appears to be a doll named Hercules, who resembles one of the monsters from “Where the Wild Things Are” (the same one Doglion resembles).

CHARACTER EVOLUTION

Herry went through a few design changes over the years. Originally he had a furry blue nose, but sometime during the second season it switched to smooth and blue. Then by the third season it became purple. Later on his fur would become shaggier and his nose would get a little bit smaller. In illustrations and merchandise he normally wears white and pink stripped pants, while in the rare instances that his legs are shown on the show itself he’s usually depicted as naked like any other Sesame Street monster.

HERRY MONSTER SONGS

• “Circles” with Cookie Monster 
• “Up and Down” with Cookie Monster 
• “Mmmmonster Meal” with Cookie Monster 
• “I Can’t Help It” 
• “That Furry Blue Mommy of Mine” 
• “Fuzzy and Blue (And Orange)” with Grover, Cookie Monster, and Frazzle 
• “Two Heads are Better Than One” with the Two-Headed Monster 
• “Herry’s Family Song” with his family 
• “Sad, Sad, Sad” 
• “Good Morning, Morning” 
• “Guys and Dolls” with Ruby Monster
•  “Three” with Prairie Dawn and Elmo 
• “I Can Sing When You Sing” with Louise
•  “Big Round Nose”

HERRY MONSTER MOMENTS

Some of Herry’s most memorable moments are his interactions with John-John, talking about such concepts as “up and down”, “loud and soft”, and the letter Q. But their best-known insert together is probably the one where the two count to 20. In “Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting”, the two are reunited, and they once again count to 20 (though they start at 16).

Herry was once a contestant on Guy Smiley’s game show “The Addition Game”. In that sketch he was asked a series of mathematical questions, but had trouble with the last question (“3+1=?”), and afterwards brought three cars plus one into the studio to see if Guy Smiley was right.

Another great moment for Herry was the time when Kermit x-rayed him to demonstrate what was inside the body.

Herry also appeared in a handful of Monsterpiece Theater segments. In addition to the aforementioned sketches co-starring Grover, he had the lead role in “Guys and Dolls”, and wa sin the background for “Anyone’s Nose”.

WHY DOES SESAME STREET NEED HERRY MONSTER?

Sesame Street has plenty of great monster characters, and the best of the best tend to be the blue ones. In my opinion, Herry, Cookie Monster, and Grover are the three main blue monsters (sorry, Rosita). Like Telly Monster, he is terribly underrated. Back in my days he was just as major in street stories as he was in inserts, while Grover and Cookie Monster were pretty much only used in inserts, but outside of the show, in specials and such, those two were used heavily while Herry had smaller parts (if he appeared at all). 

Herry only appeared in a handful of Sesame Street Live shows during the 1980s, I’m pretty sure there was never a Herry Monster walk-around at Sesame Place (but then again, I’ve never been there), and I never saw any Herry Monster toys as a child. I know that there were toys, most of which came out in the 1970s, long before I was born, and at a time when it was also common to see toys of such lesser characters as Sherlock Hemlock and Lefty the Salesman. Additionally, there were never any “Best of Herry Monster” videos or albums (I know, Telly, Zoe, Rosita, Baby Bear, Prairie Dawn, and Snuffy haven’t gotten that kind of treatment, either). Herry did have big roles in many books, starring in many of them.

Herry was a major character on Sesame Street until around season 32. At this point Frank Oz’s characters were given alternate performers, which meant that Cookie Monster and Grover could once again be heavily featured in street stories, and Herry seemed to be phased out of the show, being limited to background cameos and appearing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with the Sesame Street cast every year. Old segments starring Herry (mostly ones from the 1990s) can occasionally be seen in current episodes.

Still, he was a great character from the early days who continued to be major for three full decades. He is legendary. Jerry Nelson may not be performing anymore, but he has been providing the voices for his characters, including lesser characters like Fred the Wonder Horse. In my opinion Herry was Jerry Nelson’s number two major character, behind The Count. I don’t know if Jerry Nelson has trouble with the voice these days or what, but if he can’t do the voice anymore then maybe Matt Vogel (who’s been performing many Jerry Nelson characters in the past years) can.

 
The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier