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| PERFORMER | Jim Henson |
| DEBUT | 1983 |
| DESIGN | Amy Van Gilder designer and builder |
| Rollie Krewson builder | |
Convincing John with his Fragglettes.
And hard at work with Wembley.
Jim Henson with Convincing John.
Convincing John is a Fraggle who can convince anyone of anything. He bears more than a passing resemblance to the flashier kind of evangelical priest. His technique for persuasion involves a catchy song (assisted by his backing singers, the Fragglettes) outlining a spuriously awful fate that will befall his listeners if they fail to heed his advice. According to the Fragglettes, the more verses his song has, the more convincing it will be.
Other Fraggles tend to view the persuasive "Mr. John" with awe and, at times, a certain amount of apprehension. It is said that he could convince the stones to change color, convince a Gorg that he was a Doozer, and convince a Doozer to stop working and start dancing.
Convincing John first appeared in the Fraggle Rock episode "The Preachification of Convincing John," when he was asked by Mokey to convince the Fraggles to stop eating Doozer constructions. She later realized this was a mistake, and called on him again to persuade them to resume eating Doozer sticks.
Convincing John is not above abusing his power -- although Mokey and Red's first meeting with him is not shown, Red leaves it wearing a blindfold ("He told me it was the only way to live") and Mokey is seen wearing plastic cups on her hands.
In "The Secret of Convincing John," it is revealed that, like Wembley, Convincing John is an indecisive "wembler." This, in fact, is the key to his success, as it allows him to see things from all possible angles.
In "The Secret Society of Poohbahs," John was the Vanguard of the Poohbahs. In this appearance, he has a hard time separating "guilty" from "innocent" ("Doesn't it have something to do with lambs?").
The Fraggle Rock (Archaia) comic "The Convincing of Convincing John" reveals his backstory. Convincing John hails from somewhere far away from the Rock as we know it, where he traveled with his father who was a minstrel. One day, it became the time that Convincing John sang on stage. He suffered intense stage fright as he sang, which caused his audience to obey his every word and take his lyrics literally. Convincing John was deeply upset by this and quit singing, fueled by much of the rest of the community now seeing him in a negative light. His father, however, liked his gift, and told him to go off somewhere far away where he wouldn't be as embarrassed to sing his unique convincing songs. Convincing John is now a widely respected Fraggle, but he has never truly gotten over his stage fright, something he appears to accept as he is otherwise happy to be himself.
Convincing John is one of the only two recurring Fraggle Rock characters performed by Jim Henson, the other being Cantus the Minstrel.
Convincing John was originally going to be named Convincing Jones; his song's chorus was originally, "Listen to Convincing Jones, and you'll believe it in your bones."[1]
Appearances[]
See also[]
Sources[]
- ↑ Dennis Lee Papers, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.