Back in May, I wrote a piece called ‘so, you wanted to read the news’ where I explored my relationship with a dream career that I thought I wanted that didn’t work out. One thing that I realised was that because it didn’t materialise, other amazing things appeared in its place, such as Bloom and Grow and specifically my podcast Muppetsational!.
I’ve fleetingly mentioned Muppetsational! before in a couple of pieces, but I’ve never written about it solely on its own. I’m not always the best at self-promotion, but feel like I’ve gotten better at it over the past year as I have grown in confidence in promoting Bloom and Grow. However, for some reason Muppetsational! has never really had a look in, and I’ve always resisted doing a piece of writing on it. I’m not sure why this is, as writing and podcasting are two parts of me, and I am immensely proud of both, but the lines have never crossed. They feel like two separate entities, and bringing them together always felt like I was crossing an invisible barrier for some reason, as they are so different in style and content. But then I kept seeing pieces and posts on podcasts, and it felt like the universe was nudging me towards writing about it, so I decided to take the hint and finally bring the two together.
As we have not put out a show since Christmas 2022 - due to work/life/admin/timings, I can’t talk about the trials and tribulations of recording in the present day. But I can step back in time to explore it. I recently revisited it and was astounded to find 50 episode listings on Apple Podcasts. I was quite taken aback by our achievements, considering we had no prior experience and we used microphones and pop shields ordered from Amazon alongside recording software downloaded from the internet.
The idea to start a podcast came about after my friend’s 30th birthday. We had joked about making a podcast and that kernel of an idea remained and grew as we felt we wanted to create something that we could listen back to in years to come. We then discussed the idea with my brother, and we settled on creating a podcast around The Muppet Show as at the time it had just become available to watch on Disney+. As we are all Muppet fans, it felt like the right fit for the three of us to explore, giving a modern take on a classic television show.
We did a dry run where we recorded an episode to see if we had chemistry together, and asked loved ones to give it a listen and provide feedback. Luckily for us, they were very kind and positive so Muppetsational!1 was born. We created ideas for our logo and then hired an art student to bring them to life, she designed Muppet versions of us (10 points if you can guess who we are based on!) and then created our wonderful logo.
The main premise of the podcast was that we followed the series and each week we dove into an episode of Jim Henson’s classic variety show. We discussed sets and guests, capers, costumes, songs, and skits. Throwing in facts and pop culture moments along the way. We recorded the episodes in our spare rooms, firstly during the Covid lockdowns and then over evenings and weekends.
It was fascinating going back to that era of The Muppets, as we were introduced to a lot of characters we hadn’t seen before. We were also witnessing the first versions of characters, which was really interesting to see, as they were not the fully developed characters that we know of today.
Each episode featured a new guest host, and it was interesting to watch such a variety of people from all corners of the entertainment business. They ranged from television and film stars to singers, dancers, comedians, and presenters. The guest hosts over seasons one and two ranged from Dame Julie Andrews, Vincent Pryce, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Juliet Prowse, Rita Moreno, Peter Sellers, Jaye P. Morgan, and Sir Elton John to name a few. It was fun to see familiar faces, but also to see guests who we had no prior knowledge of. When we watched their performances, it was really intriguing to see how they reacted to The Muppets and what they each brought to their episode. Sometimes the guest hosts who we didn’t know turned out to be the ones who were the most game, and those who were well known stuck to their star personas more closely.
It was quite a steep learning curve as we recorded, edited and published it ourselves. We all put in a lot of hard work, research and dedication, sometimes we even recorded three episodes over a weekend. We also created and maintained our social media channels, which added another layer of responsibility to the experience.
Very unexpectedly we found our little show was gaining traction, picking up listeners from all over the world, and we even got a mention in an online Guardian article which was really delightful.
Over time our confidence and audience grew and when we started planning our second season we reached out to people who we wanted as guests on the show. Adding guests gave episodes a new dimension, and everyone who came onto the podcast elevated the show. Each guest gave their take on their favourite episodes and brought amazing stories along with them. My personal favourites were Brian Jay Jones (Jim Henson’s Biographer) who collaborated with us on the Sir Elton John episode and Warrick Brownlow-Pike (Muppet Puppeteer, performer of Dodge the Dog on CBeebies and Gonger on Sesame Street) who joined us to discuss the episode featuring Dame Julie Andrews.
We finished 2022 by recording a special episode centred on The Muppet Christmas Carol. It was celebrating its 30th anniversary that year, and we wanted to dedicate a whole show to it, as the film holds a special place in all of our hearts. We shared a lot of memories as well as favourite moments and our mutual love for the film. It was really joyous to record and felt a perfect way to finish our recording for the year.
I hope that at some point we can resume our quest to finish season two and that one day we get to tackle the rest of the seasons too. It was a fun ride and I feel like I learned a lot, gained confidence, and it further widened my knowledge and understanding of The Muppets and their history. It also introduced me to people who I might never have crossed paths with, which I am entirely grateful for.
I am so proud to be a co-creator and co-host of Muppetsational! and I would encourage anyone who wants to start or try something, to jump in feet first and give it a go, ride the wave as you never know what might happen. We took part in an experiment, not knowing the outcome, and I am so glad that I took part and experienced the journey.
If you would like a listen, Muppetsational! is available on all major podcasting sites, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We are also on Youtube.