In December, Elmo came to visit Sprout. I thought it might be interesting to find out what the staff thinks when a superstar comes to visit, so I talked to Forrest Harding, the producer for The Sunny Side Up Show for some insider information.
How far in advance do you know a celebrity like Elmo is coming?
We try to book a guest as far in advance as possible, ideally a few months before the show, because their schedules tend to fill up very quickly. With Kevin Clash even more so, because Sesame Street was celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2009 and Elmo was making several personal appearances, including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
Kevin Clash? Is he a friend of Elmo’s?
Kevin Clash, who is also the Muppet Captain (supervises performances of puppet performers) on Sesame Street as well as Co-Executive Producer, performs Elmo. He is the gold standard of puppeteers working today, no question. Kevin takes this red, furry lump out of a duffel bag, puts it on his arm, takes hold of the arm rods with his other hand and it's just amazing to see Elmo come to life. And working with the originators of these classic characters has its advantages, too. There's a song from Sesame Street that we see on Sprout all the time: it's Elmo and Telly singing about heavy and light. Telly is holding an armful of bricks, while Elmo holds a feather that he blows up into the air and catches in his hand. Every time we'd see this clip at the office, we'd all have a different theory on how they pulled off the feather thing: it's on a string, it's magnets, etc. Well, at lunch we were finally (finally!) able to ask the man himself how he did it. Turns out, he just blew the feather up from just off camera, and was able to catch it in Elmo's hand by quickly looking away from his monitor (A video screen that shows the puppeteer what the camera is seeing, which all puppeteers use for performing). He makes it look so easy, but it's really not.
Do you have a list of "stars" you'd like to have on the show?
When our staff meets to decide the themes for the coming season, we like to brainstorm and see if there's a guest that would be a good, complimentary choice for that theme. For instance, Oscar the Grouch, lover of trash that he is, was a great recycling advocate for Earth Week. We've never had a real pirate, like The Wiggles' Captain Feathersword, on for Pirates Week, that would be fun. And a theme like Food Week is just begging for a superstar like Cookie Monster. I can't help but think our Sproutlet audience, and their parents, would enjoy that. Stay tuned.
How is preparing for a guest star like Elmo different from preparing for a regular day?
Our on-air teams of host and Associate Producer/Chicateer (Sprout puppeteers who perform the part of Chica)
usually prep their content the week before they're live. When we have a special guest, we'll usually prepare that content a little further in advance, so we can review it with them and see if they have anything that needs to be changed. We are always very open and love collaborating with our guests. They bring a new energy and creative spirit to the Sunshine Barn that's always welcome and fun.
Who decides which host works with a guest star?
The choice of host is dictated by the date that the guest is available. Kevin Clash just happened to be available during Sean's on-air week, so Sean was the host. It could just as easily have been one of the other hosts.
What is it like working with Elmo?
It was a ridiculous amount of fun. Kevin Clash is a legend and we were all humbled by his presence. The man is an incredible puppeteer who learned from the best of the best, Jim Henson. Not only was he regaling us with his tales of working with presidents and traveling the world, but his work in the Barn alongside Chica and Sean was inspiring. He is so creative and so clearly enjoys what he does, that joy is infectious. All of us in the control room were like little kids, laughing like we did when we were Sproutlets.
What is different on a day that Elmo comes in?
We came in a little earlier than usual, around 7:30am, so we could do a little rehearsal before the show was live. The day Elmo was on was a phone call show, so of course we tested the phone lines. This was kind of funny; to test the line, I pretended to be a Sproutlet on the phone while Elmo, Sean and Chica asked me my favorite color (our question of the day). I wanted to give a sassy fancy-color answer, so I said, "My favorite color is taupe." Elmo just started laughing, "Taupe? TAUPE??" Then I pretended to be a second caller whose favorite color was eggshell. Elmo laughs even harder at this one, "What's WRONG with you?"
After we have a show with a special guest like Elmo, we'll often try to organize what's called a "Meet and Greet"; where employees and their kids can meet and get a picture with Elmo. It was amazing to watch those children meet Elmo. The love they have for him. Kevin Clash didn't hide himself while he was performing, he's sitting with Elmo on his arm and not one child even takes notice of the big guy next to Elmo. They are transfixed on that furry red guy. And Kevin is SO good with the kids. Elmo just locks in on them, making them feel like they're the only person in the room, and they believe it when Elmo says that he loves them. Those connections between characters and children are why we do what we do. It's very special.
Does Elmo have any special requests? (No green M&M’s® ?)
Ha! I can just imagine, "Hey, someone took out all the M&M’s® and replaced them with W&W's!" No, nothing like that. Kevin Clash is a very healthy eater, so we just made sure there were plenty of healthy food choices available while he was with us.
How is Elmo different when he's off camera?
Off-camera, he's purple. Just kidding. When he's not on camera, Elmo is the same loveable, furry red monster we all know and love. He's so playful and eager to have fun. We played some songs for him in between links that we've done on The Sunny Side Up Show in the past, like "The Blue Kazoo Blues" and "Counting Kwanzaa Candles". He dove right in, singing and dancing along with Chica to these songs he'd probably never heard before. He's such a talented guy.
What kind of entourage does Elmo travel with?
Kevin came only with his assistant Kimi. No big entourage. Kevin and Kimi just walked through the halls of the office with a duffel bag. No one suspecting that inside that duffel bag is one of the most popular children's characters in the country.
How long does it take to plan a script for Elmo? Does he have final script approval? Are there things he is really good at doing?
Elmo is such a well-known character, it didn't take too long for our fabulously creative team to come up with material. Our show is very improv-based (short for "improvisation", where all the dialogue that's spoken is made up on the spot), so there isn't an exact script so much as what we call a rundown: bullet-points or beats that we want to make sure we hit in a particular segment. No one knows Elmo better than Kevin Clash, so we'd be foolish not to seek his input on the material. We sent the rundown to Kevin and our friends at Sesame Workshop. We had a very fruitful and creative conference call with him the week before he came to the set, just to see if there was anything that didn't ring true to Elmo's character or if there was anything he wanted to add.
Once Sean, Kevin and Ed (our Chicateer) got on set to rehearse, that's where it all really started to come together, as it always does on The Sunny Side Up Show. They played around with some of the games, like "Can You Name That Color", a game show where Elmo would need to "phone a Sproutlet friend" to help him name the color of an object. We knew Elmo would be great with the kids on the phone, so this game was developed to play to that strength. Plus, it's always fun to try to use Sproutlet phone calls in a playful way. It's a rare and unique opportunity to talk to Elmo live, but to also get to play a game with him, that's the icing on the cake. Which is a "sometimes food", Sproutlets.
Ha! I can just imagine, "Hey, someone took out all the M&M's and replaced them with W&W's!" No, nothing like that. Kevin Clash is a very healthy eater, so we just made sure there were plenty of healthy food choices available while he was with us.
How is Elmo different when he's off camera?
Off-camera, he's purple. Just kidding. When he's not on camera, Elmo is the same loveable, furry red monster we all know and love. He's so playful and eager to have fun. We played some songs for him in between links that we've done on SSU in the past, like "The Blue Kazoo Blues" and "Counting Kwanzaa Candles". He dove right in, singing and dancing along with Chica to these songs he'd probably never heard before. He's such a talented guy.
What kind of entourage does Elmo travel with?
Kevin came only with his assistant Kimi. No big entourage. Kevin and Kimi just walked through the halls of the office with a duffel bag. No one suspecting that inside that duffel bag is one of the most popular children's characters in the country.
How long does it take to plan a script for Elmo? Does he have final script approval? Are there things he is really good at doing?
Elmo is such a well-known character, it didn't take too long for our fabulously creative team to come up with material. Our show is very improv-based, so there isn't an exact script so much as what we call a rundown: bullet-points or beats that we want to make sure we hit in a particular segment. No one knows Elmo better than Kevin Clash, so we'd be foolish not to seek his input on the material. We sent the rundown to Kevin and our friends at Sesame Workshop. We had a very fruitful and creative conference call with him the week before he came to the set, just to see if there was anything that didn't ring true to Elmo's character or if there was anything he wanted to add.
Once Sean, Kevin and Ed (our Chicateer) got on set to rehearse, that's where it all really started to come together, as it always does on SSU. They played around with some of the games, like "Can You Name That Color", a game show where Elmo would need to "phone a Sproutlet friend" to help him name the color of an object. We knew Elmo would be great with the kids on the phone, so this game was developed to play to that strength. Plus, it's always fun to try to use Sproutlet phone calls in a playful way. It's a rare and unique opportunity to talk to Elmo live, but to also get to play a game with him, that's the icing on the cake. Which is a "sometimes food", Sproutlets.
Forrest had great stories. Can you imagine Elmo laughing at one of your jokes? I’d be giddy myself! Who would be more excited to meet Elmo—you or your Sproutlet?