I know you probably think this is about The Muppet Show, since I feature them often enough, but no. This week’s featured performers, MUMMENSCHANZ, just celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2012.
The Swiss mime group caught my attention in the mid ’70s and early ’80s. Their work, featured on The Muppet Show and elsewhere, so surprising and out of the ordinary, reminds me of a living abstract animated film. You can’t believe there’s a human inside some of their creations.
In a lot of ways, they’re doing what Jim Henson did with some of his more experimental Muppet work,
I’ve seen their shows at least twice, on tour in Rochester and in Manhattan on Broadway. Glad to find them online and shareable in this medium.
(Note that this was the link to the full episode, which is on the Muppet Show Season One DVD set. It appears Disney figured it out. Sigh.)