The oldest TRICK in the book: HOW DO Muppets SIP LIQUIDS through STRAWS?

Hi:

I was re-watching some old Ernie skits from the early 1970's,

(like the one where he tries to "even out" the rations of grape juice and pepperoni pizza slices with Bert)

and I was wondering:

HOW DID THEY GET ERNIE TO SIP GRAPE JUICE out of the glass???



In the MUPPET MOVIE,

Kermit sips Champagne out of a glass, with a straw (that was given to him by waiter Steve Martin). How the heck did they do that?


Any one here have any theories? Any actual Muppeteers to give us insight?

I'm guessing they drain the liquids little by little in the glass... but that's just a guess...

Drtooth said:

I'm guessing they drain the liquids little by little in the glass... but that's just a guess...

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On TMS with Juliet Prowse, Kermit addressed that same question. He was drinking through a straw and stopped and said to the viewing audience, "Uh, think about this friends."

I have a feeling the drink trickles downward through a hole on the table.

matleo said:

From what I understand there's a hole in the bottom of the glass with a tube leading out of it and a spigot on the end of the tube (like the spigot you'd find ona beer keg). When the puppeteer wants to empty the glass, he simply pushes down on the spigot and 'drink' flows down. not sure if that's a very good description, but I hope it helps.

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Since this was a similar (okay the same) post, I thought I'd put the answer here!

There was another Muppet sipping through straws part on the beginning of the 1971 premiere where Mr. Hooper, Bert, Tom and Gordon help Ernie how to use a straw while drinking his drink. It's right before David wanting Oscar to do favors and Big Bird learning to read Maria's name.

its kinda obvious, they just put the straw in the mouth and the puppeteer makes slurping noises. the REAL question is about Christmas Eve On Sesame Street where Cookie Monster and the pencils and stuff. i mean, is there, like, a hole in his mouth?

Another trick I have seen is specially rigged prop glasses/cups that have a liquid between to layers of glass (the glass or cup appears to be full). When the glass is tilted (say, to a puppet's lips) the liquid appears to empty from the cup, but it's really collecting in the bottom or top of the cup.

Not sure if the Muppets have ever used this approach, but it's pretty neat.

On a muppet video I have, in one episode theres a koozebane segment with kermit interviewing a liquid creature, I think he is called a koozebanian spoob, im not sure if I got the name right but whilst he is interviewing the puppet made out of liquid and stored in a glass jar another creature comes along and drinks him, This must have been done the same way, I have always wondered how they did that.

from,Paul

drspy00 said:

On a muppet video I have, in one episode theres a koozebane segment with kermit interviewing a liquid creature, I think he is called a koozebanian spoob, im not sure if I got the name right but whilst he is interviewing the puppet made out of liquid and stored in a glass jar another creature comes along and drinks him, This must have been done the same way, I have always wondered how they did that.

from,Paul

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You were close. his name is "The Spooble". A muppet geek caught me on this piece of trivia many years ago and now...now I shall never forget it. *sigh* So is life.

--Matt

matleo said:

You were close. his name is "The Spooble". A muppet geek caught me on this piece of trivia many years ago and now...now I shall never forget it. *sigh* So is life.

--Matt

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Yeah, not too long ago on "Koozebanians Gone Wild Vol. 4" I heard a young wonk-wonk yelling "SHOW US YOUR SPOOBS"....oh, wait...that's something else entirely!