Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545257
PROPERTYMASTERSGUILD.ORG 9 me. It's just something that's stuck with me from that era. PROP CULTURE: In the years leading up to joining the Muppets, were you already pursuing puppetry in a serious way, either studying it or experimenting on your own? As your creative interests were evolving during that time, what was beginning to take shape for you, and how did that path ultimately lead you into the Muppet world? DAVE: Oh, that's a good question. I was in Silicon Valley working at Hewlett-Packard (HP) as an industrial designer. It was a good job, actually the most fun job in the lab because you were redesigning what things looked like and how people interacted with them. We'd do chalk sketches of our ideas, and they were like little windows into the future, showing what something could become. Then we'd choose one, and that's what it would look like. I loved that process. But the company wasn't really built around industrial design, it was driven by engineers and marketing. I always felt a bit off to the side. I was about 25 and had been there three years, and I started to realize this was what the next 40 years might look like until retirement. Even then, I wasn't convinced it would be enough. I remember a guy retiring and talking about his pension, and it was clear he'd still need something else. So, I started thinking … maybe this isn't the whole story for me. PROP CULTURE: How did this lead to your involvement with the Muppets? DAVE: The older designers used to tell me, 'Dave, get out while you can. Go do something really cool.' And I'd say, 'I don't know what that is yet, but I'm saving my money.' I was putting away every other paycheck, building up enough that I'd have the freedom to leave when I figured it out. I just didn't know what that would be or if it would ever come. PROP CULTURE: So, you're building toward something without knowing what it is yet. When did that start to change for you, when did a real opportunity or direction begin to emerge? DAVE: A friend of mine in Los Angeles produced a television show for PBS, Humanity's Film Forum. He was my age, and I remember thinking, 'Wait, he's producing a TV show?' That really got my attention. I pulled out this little black-and-white Sony set to watch it, and before his show came on, I caught Sesame Street. I'd heard about it from coworkers with kids, but once I actually saw it, that was it. I started spending my Saturday mornings watching five episodes in a row! PROP CULTURE: At what point did watching Sesame Street go from being something you enjoyed to something you started to seriously think, I want to be part of this world? DAVE: After watching Sesame Street for a few weeks, I remember sitting upright on the couch and thinking, I've got to have my own Ernie. I grabbed the phonebook, got in my Volkswagen, and drove all over Silicon Valley looking for materials. I must have gone to 15 yardage shops trying to find something like fleece from what I could make out on my little black-and-white TV, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Still, that started the whole process. I made a couple of Ernie's, and then I just kept going, building other puppets on my own. PROP CULTURE: That's such a great origin story because it's really about building. You weren't just watching, you were reverse engineering what you saw on screen and figuring out how to make it yourself. As someone working in props, I recognize that instinct immediately. How did those first builds ultimately lead to you getting your work in front of the Muppet Workshop? DAVE: I knew the Muppets were in New York, and I didn't want to live there, so I didn't think there was any real future with them, I just knew I had to do this. I built puppets at work and at home, and because of my industrial design background, I knew how to prototype and make things, so I ended up with three that were pretty much Muppet quality. Then I got a business trip back east, and around that time, I happened to read in the paper that Frank Oz was coming to Oakland for a Puppeteers of America Convention. I took a day off, went and met him, and asked if I could ever visit Sesame Street if I was in New York. He said, 'Sure, just call.' Not long after, work sent me to Pennsylvania, so I took extra time, went to New York, and looked him up in the phonebook. It was actually him. He arranged for me to come to the set, and I spent the week there. On the second day, I brought in my puppets, and Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer for Big SESAME STREET ORIGINAL CAST DAVE AND GONZO