Clash - My life as a furry red monster: what being elmo has taught me about life, love and laughing out loud

CONTENTS

TO MOM AND DAD,
FOR ALL THE CARING, LOVE, AND SUPPORT

WELCOME TO ELMOS WORLDAND MY WORLD, TOO

Once upon a time, a young man was given a special but unusual set of gifts: a fuzzy mop of cherry-red fur, crowned with two enormous eyes, which sat high atop an orange egg of a nose that resembled, well, an orange egg. The young man seemed to know exactly what to do with his gifts, as you will soon see, but he added one more thing to the mix: a high-pitched voice brimming with joy, and a laugh like no other that would capture, soothe, and delight the hearts of millions both young and old. Yet like Jacks magic beans, Dorothys ruby slippers, and Frodos golden ring, the full power of these gifts wouldnt be revealed to their owner until later in the story

Like many a fairy tale, mine begins a long time ago in a faraway land, called New York City.

Give it a voice, Clash, challenged Richard Hunt, a master Muppeteer and my Sesame Street colleague, tossing me a shapeless, soft bundle of red that I caught in midair. Back then I was still a very junior employee, wondering how much longer my dream job as a Muppeteer-in-training would last. Some days, as I worked away at playing chickens and pigs and AMs (Anything Muppets), clucking and oinking (and barking, squeaking, or hooting) my way through the television studio in New York, I remembered that I was only a train ride away from Turners Station, Maryland, my hometown on the Chesapeake Bay where I happily and unwittingly took the first steps on a path that would lead me right here, to West Fifty-ninth Street.

Without thinking, I grabbed the little monster and put him high on my arm, all at once letting loose with a boundless, childlike laugha falsetto squeal that would change my life. Hello, its Elmo! called this creature in the happiest of voices. Hi, everybody!

Now the adrenaline surged through me, as if a magic wand had been waved, and suddenly I wasnt in New York. In a flash, I was a kid again back home in Turners Station, with a blanket strung over the clothesline for a makeshift stage, doing a puppet show for my moms daycare kids, lip-synching Earth, Wind & Fire songs. Another one, another one! theyd beg, wanting the show to go on. Back then, I had a captive audience. But now, my audience could just change the channel. There was more at stake than my youthful egoI was working for Jim Henson now, and on one of the most prestigious and popular television shows for children ever created.

But on that day back in 1983, when I greeted Richard as a three-and-a-half-year-old little monster who seemingly came out of nowhere, I wasnt thinking about that grown-up stuff. Instead, I was soaking up the magic of inspiration, remembering the pure and simple fun of being a child, and claiming the gift that had literally been thrown at me.

Elmo was born.

MY LIFE AS A FUZZY RED MONSTER is a real-life fairy tale, complete with a rise from obscurity to fame, some wonderful fairy godmothers and godfathers, a villain or two, a cast of loyal townspeople, some pitfalls, and more than a few morals. I started out as a kid who loved to draw and build things, whose imagination was fired not only by the fun-loving family surrounding me, but by the countless hours I spent in front of the television, watching everything from Captain Kangaroo to Jonny Quest, from All in the Family and Good Times to The Mike Douglas Show, and, of course, Sesame Street.

Gradually I overcame my youthful shyness by performing puppet shows first for neighborhood kids, then all around the Baltimore area, at schools, churches, community events, and later on local television shows. I had always dared to dream large, but even this black kids imagination could not have come close to inventing the storybook success that I have enjoyed in the nearly thirty years Ive worked in this medium I adore.

This is my story, but its also Elmos. Elmo connects with people on a level beyond any other character Ive performed, and I think I know why. Though he represents youthful curiosity and innocence, behind his childlike simplicity youll find the wisdom of an old soul, an unfailing sense of humor (and the laugh to go with it), and a loving, lovable hero with a heart worthy of any fairy tale. Youll also discover, as I have, that Elmo is a teacher whose lessons can have a lasting value for adults, not just for the countless children he reaches each day.

What most of us envy about kids is the simplicity of their early years, when having a close family, friends to play with, and unlimited new worlds to discover are the only ingredients needed for a happy life. We long for those days when we would speak our minds and do our thing without worrying about the consequences, mostly oblivious to the past and the future. Children, after all, are masters at the art of living in the moment. And so is Elmo. (It turns out that getting to be three and a half all your life is a pretty good gig!)

As adults, we cant return to those simple days of childhood, but we can draw on their lessons to recapture some very basic pleasures, like that joyful feeling that the skys the limit. If you are a parent, as I am, youve witnessed a certain no-holds-barred spirit in your youngster and undoubtedly youve looked for ways to nurture that quality, to help your child discover and follow his passions.

That type of nurturing is one of the things that Elmo does best (and my own parents did an excellent job of it, as well), but it doesnt have to end once a little girl or boy no longer watches Sesame Street. True, sooner or later, hell trade up from crayons to computer keyboards, or shell exchange imaginary friends for trips to the mall with real friends, but there is a certain magical quality of childhood that can be preserved and used as an inner strength throughout adulthood.

Being Elmo helps me tap in to those lessons of childhood every single day of my adult life, and now I want to share what Ive learnedabout love, joy, creativity, friendship, and so much morewith you. I believe that this little red monster may hold the key to unlocking that most elusive of fairy-tale treasures: a happy life with promise of a happy ending.

WHEN I TELL folks what I do for a living (Whatdya mean youre Elmo? Youre a forty-five-year-old six-foot African American male with a deep voice, get outta here), after they regain their composure, they ask me to explain Elmos popularity. Elmo is instantly recognizable in nearly every country in the world. He knows heads of state, A-list celebrities, world-class athletes, Oscar winners, Tony winners, Grammy winners, spelling-bee winners, and lots of babies. If Elmo had a cell phone, it would never stop ringing. Why is this little fur-and-foam bundle of energy such a phenomenon?

I have a one-word answer: love. Elmo connects with children and adults on the purest and most fundamental level, and that is the human desire to love and be loved. Its as simple as that.

Though Ive said Elmo loves you thousands of times, maybe millions, the thrill remains because children crave hearing that they are loved. (So do most adults, even if they wont admit it.) And kids love to say it backI love you, too!and you know they mean it, no matter how many times they say it.