We spoke with Kevin Clash via telephone at his New York City office for the February edition of the monthly Be more Tuned In podcast. While you might not instantly recognize Clash's name, or even his deep voice, you probably know his work. To most of the world, Clash is the Emmy-award winning Muppeteer of Elmo, the lovable furry red monster from Sesame Street. The mp3 podcast conversation can be downloaded here and can be enjoyed on your personal computer or loaded onto your personal mp3 player for on-the-go listening.
With a lifelong love of puppetry, Clash has turned his childhood passion into a successful, high-profile career. And while Elmo is probably (and justifiably) his best-known work, Clash also has been involved in a number of other big-time puppet projects in the past 30 years. He's worked and voiced a number of Muppets on various Jim Henson productions. He brought the energetic Baby Sinclair to life in the television series Dinosaurs. He was the giant mutant rat Splinter in the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. He also worked on various creatures in the fantasy film Labyrinth.
As Elmo, Clash has been able to travel with the three-and-a-half-year-old monster around the world. He's visited the White House. And he's voiced two of the biggest-selling toys of all time -- Tickle Me Elmo in 1996 and the Tickle Me Elmo TMX this past year. Most importantly, Clash and Elmo have been instrumental in the positive development of millions of children that watch the long-revered Sesame Street, which can be found on WPT at 8 a.m. weekdays.
