Puppetmaster Michael Earl on his roles in Sesame Street and The Muppets

Apr 12 2008 by Peter Elson, Liverpool Daily Post

One of the world’s leading puppeteers is coming to Liverpool to give a Muppets-style master class. Peter Elson reports

FROM Shrek to Sesame Street favourite Mr Snuffleupagus, Michael Earl has literally had a big hand in the worldwide success of modern puppetry.

Michael is one of those lucky people who have known practically all their lives what they wanted to do and been single-minded in pursuit of their goal.

Nothing came bigger in the revival of the art of puppetry than the success of the long- running television series, Sesame Street, and its sibling The Muppet Show.

Far from being one of those self-serving show business types, parallel to Michael’s performing career is his dedication to teaching his skills.

In contrast to the average demented rapper, here is a true artiste who can actually command respect by telling us to “listen to the hand”.

Later this month he will be in Liverpool to share his award-winning talent and years of experience with the next generation of puppeteers.

California is his home state and he currently lives in Los Angeles, so his character is an intriguing mix of intense devotion to his art and a laid-back US West Coast attitude to life.

“Does it rain much in England during April?” seems to be his major concern on this, his first trip to the UK. Indeed it’s a surprise to hear that he has not visited the UK before.

Although The Muppet Show television series was made in Britain, courtesy of UK television mogul Lord Grade, Michael was one of the puppeteers holding the fort back home in the US with Sesame Street.

Starting very young Michael, now 48, has been secretly entertaining millions of people for 30 years, as by nature of his work, he is not visible to the audience.

While not seen, he has performed with some of the greatest names in show business, ranging from comedienne Whoopi Goldberg to comedy pianist Victor Borge, plus outings as an alien in conflict with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the film Men in Black II.

A protege of the Muppets’ driving force, Jim Henson, Michael performed the original Shrek character in a motion-capture development test film for DreamWorks.

HE ALSO puppeteered the lead characters in Team America: World Police, which was written and directed by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who created the cartoon series South Park.

“I actually began my professional career aged five years, acting in a band-aid TV commercial and two years later I was in a series of adverts as the Is It Soup Yet? kid for Lipton,” says Michael. “My other childhood interests included music and magic, but it was my passion for puppetry that propelled me towards my emerging goals.”

At the age of 18, Michael moved from his hometown of Livermore, California, to New York City where he quickly landed a job working for world-renowned puppetry pioneer Bil Baird. Baird was his long-time puppeteering hero and creator of the Lonely Goatherd marionettes for the fantastically successful Sound of Music film starring Julie Andrews.

“I performed original puppet shows during high school,” says Michael. “During weekends, I was an apprentice at Children’s Fairyland Puppet Theater, in Oakland, California, where Frank Oz’s father, Mike Oznowicz, sometimes visited.”

Interestingly, Frank Oz was born in Hereford, England. His parents, who were both puppeteers, were refugees from Nazi Germany and the family eventually settled in California. “When I was 17 years old, I attended a puppetry festival, where I met the puppet designer and performer Kermit Love, who talked to Jim Henson (as did Mike Oznowicz) about my enthusiasm,” says Michael.”