Musical Monday - Just One Person by Kevin Clash, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, and Steve Witmire

So, another school shooting, this time in Parkland, Florida, this time the body count was seventeen. This seems all too familiar, too tragically "normal". But this time the survivors have come out demanding that real change take place. There are some people who have become tired of fighting the lobbying efforts of the NRA, and view such efforts as little more than tilting at windmills, but the teens at the center of this have not yet succumbed to such cynicism and fatigue. They believe that change can take place if they just push hard enough, and on a fundamental level, they are correct. This is why every political movement needs fresh blood on a regular basis - to inject optimism and hope into it. It is possible that out of the Parkland tragedy, something good might finally happen.

I've said this before, and it is still true: The message that Jim Henson's work sends is that we could live in a better world, and that we should aspire to make the world we live in that better world. Though this song is mostly about believing in oneself, the message it sends applies really to any kind of cause. All it takes is one person to start something that can build into a force. Mothers Against Drunk Driving was started by one mother who lost her child, and it ended up changing not just the laws concerning the laws about drunk driving, but how society viewed the issue as well. Things can be changed, we just have to believe that they can and then act on those beliefs.

This performance is from Jim Henson's memorial service, and is the tail end of a medley of his favorite songs sung by his closest collaborators. They performed most of the medley as themselves, but I think it is somewhat significant that they chose to perform this song as their Muppet alter egos. The obvious reason is that they wanted to pay homage to what Henson had created, but I think the deeper reason is that the Muppets inhabit a better world than ours. They live in the world that we could inhabit if we just chose to make it happen one person at a time.

Previous Musical Monday: Simon Zealotes by Larry Marshall

Subsequent Musical Monday: I'm Gonna Getcha Good by Shania Twain

Kevin Clash     Dave Goelz     Richard Hunt

Jerry Nelson     Frank Oz     Steve Whitmire

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Musical Monday - Can You Picture That? by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem

Yesterday was Jim Henson's birthday. He would have been 81. He died in 1990 at the age of 53 from toxic shock syndrome that probably could have been treated if he had just paid attention to the signs his body was telling him and gotten medical attention earlier.

I am the exact right age to have been influenced by Jim Henson. Sesame Street debuted in 1969, the year I was born, and by the time I was ready to watch it, it had hit its stride. When he made The Muppet Show, I was seven, which is pretty much the perfect age to first watch that series. When The Muppet Movie came out, I was ten, and once again, the perfect age to watch it. When he followed that up with The Great Muppet Caper, I was twelve, and despite the movie's odd flaws, I was in overjoyed to have it. When he put out the somewhat surreal Dark Crystal movie in 1982, I was thirteen, and ready for the quirky fantasy story. I even liked The Muppets Take Manhattan. I didn't really appreciate Fraggle Rock when it was first aired, but in 1986 when he put out the movie Labyrinth, and in 1987 when he made the Storyteller series, I was primed and ready.

The Storyteller series was essentially the last major work we got from Henson.

Between 1969 and 1990, Henson produced one of the most magnificent bodies of work in the entertainment world. Under his guidance, puppets became a major force in the entertainment world. He gave us educational children's entertainment, snarky humorous shows and movies, surreal fantasies, all which was packaged with vibrant, beautiful music, and a perspective on how people should live that was joyful and optimistic. Even his "failures" (such as, for example, Labyrinth, which lost money at the box office) were brilliant.

He contributed more than just the Muppets though. He was instrumental in so much of what Sesame Street was: He appeared in several stop-motion pieces that were regularly aired on the show, and one recurring "counting" feature always ended with a chef proudly presenting a number of confections as he walks, and then fell, down a small set of stairs. The triumphant voiceover announcing what the chef was carrying was Jim Henson's voice. Every day I am grateful that Henson hit his high points during my childhood, when I was of the age to be able to truly appreciate them. Even things I discovered later, such as his production of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, are so good that I wish I had first seen them when I was younger. It is hard for me to explain the influence Henson has had on my life, in part because I am almost certainly not aware of the full extent of it. I grew up awash in Henson's life philosophy, and I am certain I wouldn't be who I am without that.

And yet, every year when his birthday rolls around, I am also angry. Henson's primary creative career spanned a period of twenty-one years. (Yes, he did stuff before Sesame Street, but that show marks the beginning of the explosion of creative output from him). He's been gone for twenty-seven years now. Even if you assume that he would have retired at some point between then and now, there is no question but that we have missed out on years and years of fantastic work that he could have done. I know it sounds greedy, and I am grateful for all of the work we have of his, but I will always wonder about what might have happened had he just taken some time out of his workaholic schedule and gone to see a doctor a couple of weeks earlier.

Previous Musical Monday: Walk Away Renee by the Left Banke

Subsequent Musical Monday: The Rainbow Connection by the Kermit the Frog

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Musical Monday - It's Not Easy Being Green by Big Bird

This past week has been something of a lost week for me. During first part of the week I was swamped at work, and in the second half of the week I got sick and as a result I was unmotivated to do anything productive for two days. I followed this week up with an emotionally draining weekend that involved dealing with a passively-aggressive surly teenager who was himself dealing with a tough situation. And although the surliness is understandable, it didn't make it any easier to deal with. To top things off, I was so worn out that I forgot to try to call my mother until fairly late in the evening yesterday, and she didn't answer her cell phone. So now she's annoyed with me too. I think I'm just going to forget last week ever happened and start this one as if it was actually May 6^th instead of May 13^th.

So I'm going to kick off this week on a down note with a Musical Monday that is both depressing and bittersweet. This Thursday, May 16^th, will mark the 23^rd anniversary of Jim Henson's death. Anyone who has been paying attention will know that Henson's work has played a significant role in my life. I grew up on Sesame Street, was enraptured by The Muppet Show, eagerly rushed to the theater to watch The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and The Dark Crystal. I loved the Jim Henson Storyteller series and Fraggle Rock. Even after his death, the influence of Henson's legacy continued for me, with the release of his production company's space opera Farscape. I have determined, based on the range that Henson's work covers, that everything he did counts as science fiction or fantasy, and thus will probably eventually review and comment much of it on this blog. I am who I am, in no small part, because of Henson. And that is why his untimely death from an untreated streptococcal infection was such a blow.

After Henson died, his friends and family organized a public memorial service so that the millions of people whose lives he had touched could say goodbye. As was typical for Henson, he left some instructions: No one was to wear black, and he wanted singing and butterflies. Big Bird came to the service and sang It's Not Easy Being Green. Just try not to tear up when he says, "Thank you Kermit".

Previous Musical Monday: Blake's 7 Closing Scene and Theme

Subsequent Musical Monday: Band of Brothers Opening Theme

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Musical Monday - When the River Meets the Sea by Jerry Nelson and Louise Gold

Jerry Nelson died on Thursday last week. He was one of the "core" group of Muppeteers, originally hired by Jim Henson to fill in for Frank Oz as the right hand of Rolf the Dog. He played several characters on Sesame Street, the most famous being Count Von Count, but also a number of memorable bit parts, including Herry Monster, my favorite of all the monster characters when I was a kid and regular viewer. One of his best bit parts was the long-suffering customer Mr. Johnson who appeared in a number of sketches with Grover as a hapless waiter. He participated in The Muppet Show, but his early participation was limited due to his daughter's health problems. He still created several memorable characters for the show, including Floyd, the bassist of The Electric Mayhem, and Robin, Kermit's introverted and somewhat insecure nephew. When Jim Henson wanted to make a Christmas special out of the Russell Hoban book Emmit Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, Jerry stepped up and played the lead role beautifully. Nelson truly came into his own on Fraggle Rock, playing the lead character Gobo Fraggle, as well as Pa Gorg and Marjory the Trash Heap.

I know how you feel Count. I feel the same way.

Although he spent most of his career singing as various fictional characters, in this video, Jerry sings in his own voice. This performance is taken from Jim Henson's memorial in 1990, where he and Louise Gold helped say goodbye to their friend by singing a song that first appeared in Emmit Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. You can hear him barely able to hold himself together as he sings his farewell to Henson. And it makes a fitting send off for Jerry himself. I hope he's somewhere out there with Jim Henson and Richard Hunt, singing silly songs like a chicken. Jerry's death and looking back at his performance at Henson's memorial reminds me of how many of the Muppet performers we have lost. Richard Hunt, who performed Scooter, died in 1992 at the age of 40. Eren Ozker, best known for creating the character Janice, died in 1993 when she was 44. Jerry Juhl, the head writer of The Muppet Show and writer for other Muppet projects like Fraggle Rock and The Muppet Movie, died in 2005.

The Muppets are, more or less, the music and comedy of my childhood. They are also a gateway to fantasy fiction. Because Sesame Street was a success despite making the unheard of choice to include a full cast of puppets as a regular part of reality (a choice, by the way, that was opposed by child development experts at the time, who thought that children watching would get confused about what was real and what was not), it had dozens of imitators. But none of those imitators were able to capture the magic of the Muppets. Their puppet cast members where just puppets. The Muppets were real to those of us watching the show. And I think this is because despite treating the puppets physically as puppets (Henson, for example, never worried about people being able to see the sticks they used to move the Muppets' arms), as characters they were treated as real. No matter what project they were involved in, the Muppeteers were able to immerse their audience into their mythic reality because they took the mythic reality seriously. In the hands of others, the Muppets would have been just dull puppets. Henson, Oz, Nelson, Hunt, and the other men and women that made up the Muppeteer team made them come to life. And although others may imitate their magic, and even produce entertaining material like the 2011 film The Muppets, I don't know if it can ever be recaptured.

Previous Musical Monday: Oh My Dayum by The Gregory Brothers (featuring Daym Drops)

Subsequent Musical Monday: From the Earth to the Moon Opening Theme

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Musical Artist - Spinney, Caroll

Carroll Spinney is a veteran Muppeteer best known for performing the Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. By the time he joined forces with Jim Henson, Spinney was already a seasoned performer. After a stint in the U.S. Air Force, during which he wrote and illustrated the comic strip Harvey and animated a series of cartoons called Crazy Crayon, Spinney worked as a puppeteer, first creating the show Rascal Rabbit and later performing as part of the cast of The Judy and Goggle Show and Bozo's Big Top. Eventually, he crossed paths with Jim Henson, and beginning in 1969, he was a Muppeteer.

Spinney's most prominent characters are Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird, but he has performed a number of other characters, including Granny Bird and Bruno the Trash Man. He was also one of the first Muppeteers to perform Elmo, although at the time the Elmo character was not yet a named character. For his work on Sesame Street, Spinney has been given several Daytime Emmy Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, among several other honors.

Musical Monday Selections:

05/13/13: It's Not Easy Being Green

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Musical Artist - Oz, Frank

Frank Oz is an American Muppeteer, director, and actor. Despite not really having a love for puppetry, Oz joined Jim Henson and Muppets, Inc. in 1963 at the age of 19, and stayed with the Muppets until 2001. Oz's actual surname is Oznowicz, and his stage name is the result of a mumbled pronunciation given by Jimmy Dean in an appearance on Dean's variety show. Over the years, Oz appeared on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show performing several of the most prominent Muppet characters including Animal, Bert, Cookie Monster, Fozzie Bear, Grover, Miss Piggy, and Sam the Eagle.

In addition to his work on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, Oz has performed in several other Muppet-related productions including The Dark Crystal, Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, and Labyrinth. His most notable role outside the Muppets was performing and providing the voice for Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and The Last Jedi.

In addition to his screen work as a puppeteer, Oz has appeared on screen in person in a handful of films including American Werewolf in London, Blues Brothers, Spies Like Us, and Trading Places. Oz also directed several movies, including Bowfinger, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, In & Out, Little Shop of Horrors, and What About Bob? among others.

Oz was one of the earliest Muppeteers hired by Henson (he may have been the first), and was one of Henson's closest collaborators. Many of Oz's central character were paired closely with Henson's, most notably Oz's Bert and Henson's Ernie, but also Oz' Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy to Henson's Kermit. At Henson's memorial service Oz recounted a story in which Henson made him a gift involving a naked picture of Oz, a bust of Bert and a collection of little Berts. I have come to regard this story to be the gold standard of friendship. The trust Oz had in Henson when Henson came and asked him to pose for a picture. The care, imagination, and love that henson put into crafting the gift. We can all only hope to have a friendship as good as those two men did.

Oz has a page devoted to him on the Muppet Wiki as well as one on the Internet Movie Database. He can also be found on Twitter.

Musical Monday Selections:

02/19/18: Just One Person with Kevin Clash, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, and Steve Whitmire

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Musical Artist - Nelson, Jerry

Jerry Nelson was one of the "core" members of the Muppeteers who performed for most of their lives as part of the team. Although he didn't have as many signature characters as Jim Henson or Frank Oz, or probably not even as many notable characters as Richard Hunt, Nelson performed so many Muppet characters that listing them all would be an exercise in tedium. Because of his skill as a Muppeteer and his talent for singing, Nelson was the "go-to" guy when a one-shot character was needed, and so ended up playing dozens and dozens of characters one or twice. Even so, he did have several memorable characters, his most famous probably being Count von Count, the number obsessed vampire of Sesame Street. Although the Count was his most famous character, his most substantial roles were Gobo Fraggle, the lead character in the Fraggle Rock series, and Emmet Otter in Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.

Other characters performed by Nelson include Pa Gorg and Marjory the Trash Heap on Fraggle Rock, Mr. Snuffleupagus, The Amazing Mumford, and Herry Monster on Sesame Street, as well as Floyd, Robin, and Uncle Deadly on the Muppet Show. He also did all the voice-over announcements and introductions for segments like "Pigs in Space" on the Muppet Show. Nelson continued working with Sesame Street until his death, although after 2004 he was unable to perform the puppets due to health problems.

Musical Monday Selections:

02/19/18: Just One Person with Kevin Clash, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Frank Oz, and Steve Whitmire

08/27/12: When the River Meets the Sea with Louise Gold

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Musical Artist - Henson, Jim

Jim Henson was an American puppeteer, actor, director, writer, and filmmaker best known for creating the Muppets. He was also one of the greatest creative geniuses of the twentieth century. After graduating from the University of Maryland, Henson founded Muppets, Inc. in 1958 and set about making puppets for use in commercials and talk show appearances. He created the character Rolf the Dog, who made regular appearances on the Jimmy Dean Show, and used the character Kermit the Frog, who had been created previously for the local television show Sam and Friends, in a series of advertisements. In these early years, Henson was a regular on the talk show circuit, appearing on shows such as the Jack Paar Program, the Steve Allen Show, and the Ed Sullivan Show.

Henson rose to prominence when he and the Muppets became affiliated with the children's show Sesame Street, an affiliation that would continue for the rest of Henson's life and beyond. In addition to Kermit the Frog, Henson created and performed numerous characters on the show including Ernie, Guy Smiley, Captain Vegetable, the King, and several others. Henson also appeared in stop motion live-action sequences, and did a memorable voice-over for a series of counting videos he produced that always culminated with a baker triumphantly presenting a collection of confections before tripping and falling to the ground.

In the mid-1970s, Henson tried to appeal to a more adult audience by doing sketches for the new comedy show Saturday Night Live, but this never really worked out. Instead, Henson created The Muppet Show and later an adaptation of Russell Hoban's Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, both of which proved quite successful (which is mildly ironic, given how difficult it was for Henson to market The Muppet Show to skeptical television executives). The success of these projects led to the development of the feature film The Muppet Movie, which was followed by The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. For The Muppet Show (and later projects), Henson created and performed several new characters, such as Waldorf, Dr. Teeth, and the Swedish Chef.

Never satisfied to rest on his laurels, Henson developed yet another television show - Fraggle Rock, as well as the Storyteller series using Muppet-like technology to help retell folk tales and stories from Greek mythology. Henson's Muppets inspired a whole collection of Muppet-like work beyond his own projects, including Frank Oz's turn as Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back and subsequent Star Wars movies, and the entirety of the Farscape television show.

Henson clearly loved music, and song featured heavily in his work. He sang the iconic Its Not Easy Being Green as Kermit in 1970, and when The Muppet Movie was released, the song The Rainbow Connection reached the Top 40 charts. He directed the original production of the song C Is for Cookie. He turned Emmet otter's Jug Band Christmas into a musical, and featured musical numbers in The Muppet Show and every subsequent Muppet-related movie.

On May 16, 1990, Jim Henson died of toxic shock syndrome stemming from an untreated viral infection. The infection apparently went untreated because Henson, a notorious workaholic, didn't bother to get medical attention on the grounds that he had too much to do and couldn't afford to take the time. And as a result, he died when he was only 53.

I have said this before, but it bears reiterating: I am almost exactly the right age for Henson's work to have had a huge influence on me. I was a child when he was doing his pioneering work on Sesame Street, and was exactly the right age to be sucked in by The Muppet Show and The Muppet Movie. When The Dark Crystal hit the theatres, I was a preteen and primed for that kind of fantasy tale. And so on. If you can find clips from it, Henson's memorial service featuring many of the people whose lives he influenced is beautiful, tear-jerking, and for me, almost rage-inducing. Henson's most productive period of creativity only lasted a little over twenty years. Had he not died so very young, he could have created so much more. Most of his closest collaborators outlived him by decades: Frank Oz and Dave Goelz are still alive. Jerry Nelson died in 2012. If Henson had gotten medical attention early enough, he might not have died in 1990, and I think it is likely we would have had at least another twenty years of his genius.

Musical Monday Selections:

10/02/17: The Rainbow Connection

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Musical Artist - Hunt, Richard

Richard Hunt was an American Muppeteer best known for his performance as Scooter. Hunt first started working with Henson Associates in 1970, and by 1972 he was a member of the cast of Muppet performers for Sesame Street. For his first few years, Hunt was mostly a background performer, rotating between a variety of fill-in roles. In addition to his work on Sesame Street, Hunt also performed several background characters for the television specials The Muppets Valentine Show, The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, and Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.

Eventually, Hunt became one of the main puppeteers on Sesame Street, performing characters such as Don Music, Forgetful Jones, Gladys the Cow, Sully, and an early version of Elmo. When The Muppet Show debuted, Hunt made his biggest leap forward, becoming one of the core cast members of the show and introducing his signature character Scooter as a regular. In addition to Scooter, Hunt also performed Beaker, Janice, Placido Flamingo, Statler, and Sweetums, and shared the role of Miss Piggy with Frank Oz. Hunt made several appearances as Wayne, one-half of Wayne and Wanda, the ill-fated singing duo beloved by Sam the Eagle.

Hunt was also part of the cast of Fraggle Rock, performing the characters Junior Gorg and Gunge. Hunt was good friends with fellow Muppeteer Jerry Nelson, and their characters were often paired with one another. Notably for a Muppeteer, Hunt appeared onscreen in a number of small roles, including The Great Muppet Caper, Oxford Blues, Puppetman, and Trading Places.

Hunt died in 1992, just two years after Jim Henson did. When one views videos of Jim Henson's memorial service, it is obvious that Hunt was heavily involved in the planning and execution of the event. Given that Hunt died of AIDS related complications, it seems likely that Hunt knew he was dying at the time, which makes his participation in Henson's memorial service seem all the more beautiful and tragic, as he was saying goodbye to a friend while knowing at the same time that he was due to join him fairly soon thereafter.

Hunt has a page devoted to him on the Muppet Wiki. He is also on the Internet Movie Database.

Musical Monday Selections:

02/19/18: Just One person with Kevin Clash, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, and Steve Witmire

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Musical Artist - Gold, Louise

Louise Gold is an English actress and puppeteer. She joined the Muppet Show in 1977 where she worked for four years. At the time, she was the only English member of the Muppeteers, and one of the few women. Gold performed a number of Muppets, but her most prominent was Ms. Piggy's rival Annie Sue Pig. She left the Muppets after the 1982 movie The Dark Crystal, and helped found the satirical television show The Spitting Image. She stayed with the show from 1984 to 1986, becoming notable for her sharply satirical performances as Nancy Reagan and Queen Elizabeth II.

Musical Monday Selections:

08/27/12: When the River Meets the Sea with Jerry Nelson

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Musical Artist - Goelz, Dave

Dave Goelz is an American Muppeteer best known for his portrayal of the character the Great Gonzo. Originally hired by Henson associates in 1973 as a puppet builder, Goelz moved to performing when the Muppet Valentine Show was created for ABC, playing the character Brewster. He designed and built several characters for the The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, including the host Nigel, and performed Zoot, who would become one of his signature characters.

In 1976, Goelz became part of the cast of The Muppet Show, and premiered his most prominent character the Great Gonzo, as well as the recurring characters Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beauregard the janitor. Goelz spent the first season of the show splitting time between performing and working in the Muppet design workshop, but by the second season he was exclusively a performer. In 1977, Goelz performed the characters Pop-Eyed Catfish, Wendell Porcupine, and Will Possum on the Muppet production of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.

Goelz continued to perform his array of characters in the feature films The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and by 1983 he was cast as one of the leads in the series Fraggle Rock, playing Boober Fraggle. In addition to performing Boober, Goelz also played Uncle Traveling Matt and the World's Oldest Fraggle on the show. Goelz also appeared in the movies The Dark Crystal in which he performed the Garthim Master SkekUng and Fizzgig, and Labyrinth in which he notably performed the part of Sir Didymus.

After Jim Henson died in 1990, Goelz took over performing Waldorf. He continued to appear in Muppet productions including Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Muppets, and Muppets Most Wanted. Though he is in his seventies, Goelz continues to perform both as a Muppeteer and a voice actor, most recently providing voice work for the 2015 film Inside Out.

As one might expect, Goelz has a page on the Muppet Wiki. He can also be found on the Internet Movie Database.

Musical Monday Selections:

08/27/12: Just One Person with Kevin Clash, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, and Steve Whitmire

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Musical Artist - Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem is the Muppet house band originally created in the 1970s, and who, after performer changes and a few lineup changes, are still a mainstay of Muppet-related music productions. They were first seen on The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, and then made regular appearances on The Muppet Show, with some members even appearing as part of the "pit band" in the Muppet Theater. When the Muppets turned to making movies, they showed up in prominent portions of The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan. The "original" lineup of the band featured characters who were played by what were essentially the "core" Muppet performers during the Muppet Show era, and consisted of:

• Dr. Teeth on keyboard and lead vocals, played by Jim Henson
• Animal on drums, played by Frank Oz
• Floyd Pepper on bass, played by Jerry Nelson
• Janice on lead guitar, played by Richard Hunt
• Zoot on saxophone, played by Dave Goelz

When Henson died, he was replaced by John Kennedy and later Bill Barretta as Dr. Teeth. When Hunt died, Janice went silent for nearly two decades before David Rudman took over the part. As the years wore on, other members have seen their performer retire and be replaced by someone else. Eric Jacobsen took over for Frank Oz as Animal in 2002 after Oz retired. When Jerry Nelson retired, John Kennedy took the part of Floyd Pepper, and he later gave way to Matt Vogel. Zoot has always been played by Dave Goelz.

Later iterations of the band featured the trumpet playing Lips, played first by Steve Whitmire and then by Peter Linz. The character Clifford played by Kevin Cash appeared with the band once.

Musical Monday Selections:

09/25/17: Can You Picture That?

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Musical Artist - Clash, Kevin

Kevin Clash is an American Muppeteer, producer, and director best known for performing the character Elmo on Sesame Street. Clash got his start working on Captain Kangaroo and the Great Space Coaster, but when those shows ceased production he began working with Jim Henson.

Clash performed a couple of roles in the movie Labyrinth and a few stand-in "anything Muppets" on Sesame Street, but by 1985 he took over performing the character of Elmo, which became his signature character. In short order Clash became the exclusive performer of Elmo until he resigned from Sesame Street in 2012. As Elmo's popularity grew, Clash's responsibilities on Sesame Street did as well, as he became a writer, director, and co-producer of the Elmo's World segment of the show and eventually became the senior Muppet coordinator. In addition to performing the character Elmo for Sesame Street, Clash also performed the characters Clifford, Hoots the Owl, Baby Natasha, and Dr. Nobel Price

Despite his many duties on Sesame Street, Clash managed to appear in many other projects over the course of his career. He worked the 1990 movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, providing the voice for Master Splinter. He performed Clifford in The Jim Henson Hour and Muppets Tonight, and as a variety of characters in Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. He also performed characters on the sitcom Dinosaurs. More recently, he performed in the film The Happytime Murders.

Clash resigned from Sesame Street amid allegations of sexual improprieties. An internal investigation by Sesame Workshop found the allegations to be unsubstantiated, and the lawsuits that were filed against Clash were all dismissed on procedural grounds. He has returned to doing work with the Henson organization, although not on Sesame Street. As part of his response to the allegations, Clash publicly came out as gay in 2012.

Clash has a page on the Muppet Wiki. he can also be found on Facebook and IMDb.

Musical Monday Selections:

02/19/18: Just One Person with Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, and Steve Whitmire

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