The Two-Headed Monster is a comical, light purple Muppet monster on the television show ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', first appearing in season 9, 1978.

History

The Two-Headed Monster, as the name implies, is an example of bicephaly. The right-hand head has purple hair and a black beard, with upturned horns, whereas the left-hand head has black hair and a purple beard, with downturned horns. They have slightly different personalities, with the left-hand head seemingly the more rational and sensible of the two, but also slightly grouchier. 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, then push them together to say the full word, or do something else which involves cooperation. They are physically dicephalic parapagus twins, as their mother made an appearance in one sketch when they sounded the word "mom"; she has a single head and speaks normally. They share a single pair of arms and legs.

Inspiration

The creation of this monster was inspired by performers

Jerry Nelson Jerry Nelson (July 10, 1934 – August 23, 2012) was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Known for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on ''Sesame Street'', ''The M ...

and Richard Hunt playing around on the set one day, saying that they were a monster with two heads. 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) *

and Richard Hunt (1978–1991) * Jerry Nelson and Adam Hunt (''Let's Make a Word!'' PC game, 1995) * Jerry Nelson and

David Rudman David Rudman (born June 1, 1963) is an American puppeteer, puppet builder, writer, director, and producer known for his involvement with the Muppets and ''Sesame Street''. Rudman currently performs the roles of Scooter, Janice, and Beaker for ...

(1998–1999) * Joey Mazzarino and David Rudman (2001–2016) * Martin P. Robinson and Joey Mazzarino (Episode 4024, 2002) * Matt Vogel and David Rudman (Episode 4030, 2002) *

Eric Jacobson Eric Jacobson (born January 15, 1971) is an American puppeteer. He is best known for his involvement with the Muppets, performing Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle for The Muppets Studio, as well as ''Sesame Street'' characters ...

and David Rudman (2016–present) * Stephanie D'Abruzzo and David Rudman (Episode 4733, 2017)

Design team

The Two-Headed Monster was designed by

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

and built by

Caroly Wilcox Carolyn Wilcox (May 16, 1931 – January 9, 2021), known as Caroly Wilcox, was an American theatre professional, best known for her work with the Muppets, on television programs including ''Sesame Street,'' '' The Muppet Show'', and ''Fraggle Ro ...

References

External links

* {{Sesame Street Characters Sesame Street Muppet characters Fictional monsters Television characters introduced in 1978