Last week I had the opportunity to be in the presence of one of my heroes. I don't know why people always discourage others about meeting their heroes - I suppose it depends on who it is. A lot of people are a-holes, after all. And if your hero is Charles Manson or something I would advise against it. Also, I would suggest some help. But if it's someone who doesn't appear to be a raging a-hole, I say go for it. I've met some of my favorite musicians in the past and have never been disappointed. But this - this was a whole other level. This was a life hero. This...was Elmo.
Let me give some history for a moment here. For anyone who doesn't know me very well, you need to know that I must have accidentally slept through the day in your childhood or adolescence when you stop making your stuffed friends talk. I've always had this array of stuffed animals who are full-blown characters, and I've always had this knack of making people believe. So, as you can imagine, I have always been a huge Muppet fan. I still don't even want to talk about when Jim Henson died. I have the little memoriam from People Magazine in a drawer and I tear up whenever I see it. I even auditioned to be a Muppeteer when I was 19 years old. (I got a call-back, but the job was gone by the time I sent in a second video as requested.) And although I have also enjoyed others, like Shari Lewis (I cherish the autographed Lamb Chop puppet I have from when I met her one summer), the Muppets have always been my favorite in the realm of Making Stuffed Friends Come Alive. And when it comes to who resonates with me the most, it's Elmo. (There's too many reasons into why, so we'll just leave it at he rocks and have you met Tim? They could be best friends.)
So let's get back to the present and to the matter of a little documentary film called Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey. It premiered at Sundance this year, and it chronicles the life of Kevin Clash from his days of doing puppet shows for his mom's daycare as a child to his rise among the puppetry ranks to become the one and only Elmo. (I also must point out here that when I talk about Elmo being my hero, I am obviously talking about Kevin as he is Elmo.) A couple of weeks ago I was checking on release dates for the film and saw that it was going to be at the International Film Festival of Boston in 10 days. I headed right over to the website and got my ticket. I would have bought it just to see the movie itself, but I also had a feeling that Elmo would be making an appearance at the screening as he has done at the ones in the past. And, as it turns out, I was correct.
AAAAHHH!!!!
Sorry, I still get excited thinking about it.
Anyway, I got myself there bright and early, landing second in line (you can see me in a few pictures from the even on the film's Facebook page here). I got me a seat in the front row and settled right in for the movie. And you guys? It's so awesome. And I'm not saying that because I'm biased. It really is a remarkable movie. There were even some people there who weren't the biggest Elmo fans who LOVED it. (Elmo actually isn't a huge part of the movie, it's all about Kevin's journey.) And, as the saying goes, I laughed and I cried. And I may have cried again a little when Kevin came out at the start of the post-show Q&A. I've been to a few Q&A sessions after film screenings before, and they're usually about 15 minutes long. This one was almost an hour. The filmmakers and Kevin answered questions first, and then Elmo came out later to answer some questions. Speaking of which - ELMO!!!
I had all of these questions planned, but as the Q&A went on, other people kept asking them before Elmo came out and I was waiting for that, so I ended up just coming up with a new one and asking who Elmo's favorite celebrity that he has met or worked with is. (I was hoping the answer was Ricky Gervais, as I love when they get together, but I found out later that he's his 3rd favorite friend.) Anyway, as Elmo was preparing to answer my question, one of the producers of the film pointed out my little stuffed Elmo in my lap, and he teased me about it. Oh, why am I explaining all of this when video footage exists? Imagine my immense glee when I found this:
I cannot even handle it, people.
After the event ended, I noticed that Kevin stopped to shake some hands after he had put Elmo away, so I made my way over there. After everything I saw in the movie and heard in the Q&A and then watching him with people after the movie, I have to say that he is seriously one of the nicest people ever. Super sweet and you can tell he just loves what he does and genuinely cares about it all. Such a true honor to meet him.
Don't fear meeting your heroes! If some turn out to be a-holes, then they shouldn't be worthy of being your heroes anyway. Class acts like Kevin Clash? Worthy.
Shmuel is happy that you got to meet Kevin and Elmo! :-)
...also, while I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Kevin, I have met four of the other Sesame Street cast members, and I can attest that they're all just wonderful in person. (Perhaps especially Roscoe "Gordon" Orman.) I don't know if it was inspired casting, or if working on Sesame Street is a great influence on people but... seriously. Just some of the nicest people I've met in my life.
Posted by: Shmuel | May 06, 2011 at 12:41 AM
Hi! I just find your blog.
You have had great time! Actually I found you another video in YouTube. I also love Kevin Clash. But I live in Tokyo Japan. So I can't go to meet him. I really hope you to show information about him and Elmo.
Thank you!
Posted by: Mocamoca | May 19, 2011 at 12:17 AM