‘Listen, React and Tell the Truth’: An Interview with Michael Earl

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Max

201210240118Michael-Earl I am sorry to mark the passing of Michael Earl, a longtime puppeteer, whom Richard Hunt mentored as a young performer on Sesame Street. Earl briefly played Snuffleupagus, Forgetful Jones, and dozens of other roles in The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and various other Muppet and non-Muppet productions. Earl also passed on the craft of television puppetry, founding Puppet School with his partner Roberto Ferreira. Here’s a brief excerpt from our 2011 interview. Continue reading →

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“The Muppets” (2015) – The Review!

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Max

The Muppets passes my most important test – it’s funny as hell. At moments, it’s old-school, Muppet Show funny — and that’s my highest praise.

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poster1Puppets are a great art form: They don’t die. The most beloved outlive those who brought them to life. Jim Henson’s been gone for 25 years, and the Muppets are back on primetime television – on ABC, which rejected The Muppet Show forty years ago, making their zealous promotion of the new show especially sweet.
Continue reading →

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Fan Mail!

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Max

Writing is solitary, so it’s easy to forget that an audience is out there waiting for the book – until you get a wonderfully encouraging email from a complete stranger! Thanks to Julia Kosier of Wisconsin for this wonderful message. Continue reading →

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Brand new zine: Queen Elizabeth’s Purse!

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Max

queen-elizabeth-handbag

“Queen Elizabeth’s Purse” is a bright red, 50-page story of my 2014 trip to London – my very first time in Europe – to research Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography. It’s a story about how to do things you didn’t think you could, and enjoy yourself to boot; or, how I learned to love London. The zine provides an inadvertent advance behind-the-scenes look at the biography, taking the reader along on six interviews with Muppet producers, writers and performers, as well as a pair of Hunt’s London pals. 17 photos and drawings. Bonus: Find out what Queen Elizabeth really keeps in that purse!

Updated: Out of print!

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Saturday Night Live – and the Muppets!

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Max

Richard Hunt and Jerry Nelson's daughter Christine clowning around on the Saturday Night Live set, 1975.

Richard Hunt and Jerry Nelson’s daughter Christine clowning around on the SNL set, 1975.

Did you enjoy last night’s Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special? Saturday Night Live didn’t quite know what to do with the “Mucking Fuppets” (as John Belushi called them), but
their appearances in SNL’s first year were a great springboard for the Muppets to prove their mettle with a late-night, grown-up audience, thus paving the way for The Muppet Show! Enjoy this clip from 1975 — the sketch is opened by none other than Richard Hunt!

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The Count Writes a Haiku

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Max

Jerry Nelson would have been 80 today. I was lucky to know him.
Here’s my memorial essay, “The Count Writes a Haiku.”

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