Two-Headed Monster
| Two-Headed Monster | |
|---|---|
| Sesame Street character | |
| First appearance | Episode 1121 |
| Portrayed by |
Left Head: Richard Hunt (1978), Jerry Nelson (1980-2000), Joey Mazzarino (2001-Present) Right Head: Peter Friedman (1978), Richard Hunt (1980-1991), David Rudman (1992-Present) |
| Information | |
| Species | Sesame Street Muppet Monster |
| Gender | Male |
| Nationality | American |
| Fur/skin color | Purple |
The Two-Headed Monster is a comical, light purple Muppet monster on the television show Sesame Street, first appearing in season 9, 1978.
History
The Two-Headed Monster, as the name implies, is an example of bicephaly. The left-hand head has purple hair and a black beard, with upturned horns, whereas the right-hand head has black hair and a purple beard, with downturned horns. Speaking in baby-like gibberish except when emphasizing a word, which is usually enough for them to communicate with others, the monster, in typical sketches, would sound out words in front of a brick wall, or do something else which involves cooperation. They are presumably dicephalic conjoined twins, as their mother made an appearance upon their sounding of the word "mom"; she has a single head and speaks normally. They share a single pair of arms and legs.
The question of whether the monster is a singular being or not has led to semantic confusion, typified by this exchange between Bert and Ernie in A Muppet Family Christmas when the Two-Headed Monster was cast as Santa Claus in the Sesame Street pageant:
- Bert: Now, who let the Two-Headed Monster be Santa Claus?
- Ernie: Yeah, but, Bert, he said he'd never been in a play before... I mean they said it... um... both of him said it.
From 2003 to 2006, the Two-Headed Monster's primary role in recent seasons has been to "assist" Big Bird in his search for Ernie during their hide and seek game called "Journey to Ernie". The heads generally discuss amongst themselves, and each of the monsters' arms point in a different direction. Then, the heads often debate and the arms switch directions as they say "that way," and then swap back again.
Inspiration
The creation of this monster was inspired by performers Jerry Nelson and Richard Hunt playing around on the set one day, saying that they were a monster with two heads.[1] While right-handed performers use their right hands to perform the heads of characters and their left to perform left hands, whoever performs the left half of the monster performs the head with the left hand, and the right hand with their right hand.
Performers
The performers for the Two-Headed Monster are listed in order of the history from the Left Head and the Right Head:
- Richard Hunt and Peter Friedman (ca. 1978)
- Jerry Nelson and Richard Hunt (ca. 1980 – 1991)
- Jerry Nelson and David Rudman (1992 – 2000)
- Joey Mazzarino and David Rudman (2001 – )
Design Team
The Two-Headed Monster was designed by Jim Henson and built by Caroly Wilcox.
References
External links
- Two-Headed Monster at Sesamestreet.org