HONORING JERRY NELSON

    Puppeteer, actor, musician, singer, songwriter and gracious friend Jerry Nelson passed away on August 23, 2012. It’s been a sad time for me and others who knew and worked with Jerry, but the reactions from his fans have been a great comfort. People around the world have sent forth waves of love and appreciation for Jerry and the soulful puppet characters he brought to life: Count von Count, Herry Monster and the early appearances of Mr. Snuffelupagus on Sesame Street; Floyd Pepper, Lew Zealand, Dr. Strangepork and Kermit’s nephew Robin on the Muppet Show; Scred on Saturday Night Live; Emmett of Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas, The Ghost of Christmas Present in The Muppet Christmas Carol and Gobo Fraggle, Pa Gorg and The Trash Heap on Fraggle Rock.

    I first met Jerry when I performed as an apprentice puppeteer on the Muppet Show in England in 1980. The excitement of working with my idols lead me to draw caricatures of all the Muppeteers, including Jerry, as seen above. His joy for his friends, his acting and his music inspired me then, as it still does 32 years later. Jerry was able to imbue even the most innocent of characters with a spirit that managed to be both worldly wise and sweetly hopeful, wrapping his performances in a golden singing voice.

     I loved performing with Jerry during Fraggle Rock. His character Gobo Fraggle was the unofficial leader of the main group of five Fraggles and was often employed as “The Voice of Reason” when developing stories. This was a very entertaining contrast to “The Voice of Impulsive Recklessness” as embodied by my character Red Fraggle.

    Jerry and I were performers who would sometimes decide not to plot out fine-grained acting details in advance. We’d be very familiar with the overall arc of a show and a scene, which would be fully scripted, but to get some fresh acting moments, we might leave the emotions to reveal themselves during the performance, inspired by spontaneous choices and reactions, similar to the way musicians can improvise with each other on a familiar song. You know where you need to end up, but how you’re gonna get there? Who knows!

    This approach lead to a heartfelt performing moment in “Gobo’s School for Explorers”. Gobo’s inflexible adherence to Uncle Travelling Matt’s ridiculous exploring rules annoys Red until she can’t stand it any more. They have a heated argument and part ways, only to become trapped together on a pinnacle deep down inside an abyss called “The Hole to Who Knows Where”. As they try to devise a way to escape, Gobo and Red put their tensions aside and ponder their mortality. During the final take of that scene, Jerry quietly said Gobo’s line “It’s been good knowin’ ya, Red”. There were a few other lines scripted for each of us to say at that moment, but the emotions of the scene touched us and we both spontaneously chose to skip some of the talking. Instead, Red and Gobo simply snuggled their heads together, the deep truth of their friendship revealed in a tiny gesture. It’s a microscopic moment that is barely noticeable, but it felt very powerful to us at the time. After that take, Jerry and I just looked at each other and smiled. No words necessary.

    A little bit before Jerry’s passing, I called him while visiting The Pilot, located near the former site of Yorkville Studios in Toronto, Canada, where Fraggle Rock was produced. Jerry would often hold court at The Pilot with cast and crew members at the end of a busy week shooting the show, regaling all assembled with songs, stories and jokes in a range of hilarious voices until the late hours. While talking to Jerry on the phone, I enjoyed hearing his voice in The Pilot once again. Later, as I processed the news of Jerry’s passing, I listened to the Truro Daydreams album he recorded a few years ago, smiling through the tears as I heard that soulful voice scat and swing.

    “You cannot leave the magic” was a phrase from the last episode of Fraggle Rock, spoken by The Trash Heap and Gobo, two of Jerry’s characters. When Jim Henson, Richard Hunt and Jerry Juhl passed on, this phrase resonated with all who shared the precious experience of working with them on Fraggle Rock and many other wonderful Jim Henson productions. It resonates again.

    Love and gratitude, Jerry Nelson. You cannot leave the magic.

Karen Prell

September 2012