Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545257
PROPERTYMASTERSGUILD.ORG 7 DAVE GOELZ: By Scott A. Buckwald, PMG F ew performers have shaped the language of modern puppet character performance as profoundly as Dave Goelz. For decades, his work has been an essential part of the creative heartbeat behind The Muppets, where humor, craftsmanship, and emotional truth intersect in ways that transcend generations. Best known as the performer behind Gonzo, as well as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Zoot, Goelz helped define a style of performance that blends technical precision with spontaneous, deeply human storytelling. Emerging from his early collaboration with Jim Henson in the early 1970s, Goelz became a cornerstone of productions ranging from The Muppet Show to its many evolving incarnations, including Muppets Tonight and The Muppets, along with an The Prop Culture Interview enduring presence in specials, films, and live performances that have kept the characters vibrant for many generations. Across each iteration, he brings the same core sensibility while adjusting to the specific demands of each new production. In this conversation, Goelz is joined by longtime Muppet Property Master Brad Elliott, whose years of collaboration with Goelz offer a rare, inside perspective on the relationship between performer and Property Master. Goelz speaks with clear appreciation for what Elliott has brought to the Muppets over the years, reflecting a partnership built on trust, craftsmanship, and a shared understanding of how objects support performance. Dave discusses a process where props are not simply handled but actively shape timing, behavior, and character. Whether manipulating a beaker in Bunsen's lab or bringing Gonzo's eccentric contraptions to life, the interaction between hand, mechanism, and prop becomes a layered performance shared between actor, object, and audience. Thoughtful, inventive, and remarkably grounded, his perspective makes him a natural presence for this special puppet-themed issue of Prop Culture. PROP CULTURE: Good afternoon, Dave! It's really an honor to meet you. Thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us and talk Muppets! DAVE GOELZ: Thank you so much. Likewise. Any friend of Brad's… PROP CULTURE: You've had such an extraordinary career, and along with Jim