Two-Headed Monster





The Two-Headed Monster is, as the name implies, a monster with two heads. He speaks gibberish that resembles baby talk, and many of his skits have to do with either cooperation or sounding out parts of words that suddenly show up. Skits with the Two-Headed Monster usually take place with the monster behind a brick wall, and in at least one instance, with his mother.

The creation of this monster was inspired by performers Jerry Nelson and Richard Hunt playing around on the set one day, saying that they were a monster with two heads. While right-handed performers use their right hands to perform the heads of characters and their left to perform left hands, whoever performs the left half of the monster performs the head with the left hand, and the right hand with their right hand.

Although the heads don't normally go by names, they have been identified on occasion. In a Sesame Street sketch, Olivia reads a story to the Count about cooperation. It stars the Two-Headed Monster named Horn and Hardart. In The Sesame Street Treasury Volume 13, the pair are featured in a photo answering phones. Their phones are labeled "Frank N." and "Stein" (Frankenstein).

From 2003 to 2006, the Two-Headed Monster made an appearance in each "Journey to Ernie" segment, with Big Bird asking both heads if they'd seen Ernie, and the monster pointing in both directions.

The question of whether the monster is a singular being or not has led to semantic confusion, typified by this exchange between Bert and Ernie in A Muppet Family Christmas: "Bert: Now, who let the Two-Headed Monster be Santa Claus? Ernie: Yeah, but, Bert, he said he'd never been in a play before... I mean they said it... um... both of him said it."

Casting history

 * Peter Friedman and Richard Hunt • (ca. 1978)
 * Richard Hunt and Jerry Nelson • (ca. 1980 – 1991)
 * David Rudman and Jerry Nelson • (1992 – 2002)
 * David Rudman and Joey Mazzarino • (2003 – )

Filmography

 * Sesame Street (1978-present)
 * The Muppet Movie (Rainbow Connection finale)
 * Big Bird in China
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan (Wedding scene)
 * Follow That Bird
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
 * A Muppet Family Christmas
 * Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
 * Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake
 * The Rosie O'Donnell Show (guest appearance, unknown date)
 * Elmopalooza
 * Peter and the Wolf
 * Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic
 * The Oprah Winfrey Show
 * ''What's the Name of That Song?

Book appearances

 * What Do You Do? (1981)
 * Monster (1982)
 * Bert's Big Band Paint-with-Water Book (1983 reprint)
 * The Sesame Street Question and Answer Book About Animals (1983)
 * The Songs of Sesame Street in Poems and Pictures (1983)
 * Big Bird Can Share (1985)
 * Big Bird's Book of Rhymes (1985)
 * Ernie's Finish the Picture (1985)
 * The Runaway Soup and Other Stories (1987)
 * Splish-Splashy Day (1989)
 * Sesame Street 123 (1991)
 * Sleep Tight! (1991)
 * Pumpkin Patch Party (1997)
 * The Monsters on the Bus (2001)
 * Clap Your Hands! (2002)