#muppaphones

Marvin Suggs says he has to replace Muppaphones every two to three months because they become flat from his strikes. Despite this, he claims he's not a cruel man.

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Marvin Suggs

PERFORMER Frank Oz

DEBUT 1976

DESIGN Jim Henson designer

Mari Kaestle builder

Marvin Suggs, the demented Whatnot musician, appeared many times on The Muppet Show playing the Muppaphone, an instrument made up of living balls of fluff.

Marvin Suggs and the Muppaphone first appeared in The Muppet Show Episode 105, playing "Lady of Spain". In Episode 208, Marvin auditioned with an All-Food Glee Club, singing "Yes, We Have No Bananas". He was back with the Muppaphone in Episode 304, singing "Witch Doctor".

In Episode 311, Kermit interviewed Marvin in a Talk Spot that appeared as a UK Spot. Kermit tells Marvin that he wants to ask him the question that most people ask, and Marvin tells him that the answer is, "Mutual love and respect."

Kermit asks the Muppaphones the question that most people ask: "Does it hurt?" Since Marvin Suggs is right behind them, they nervously answer, "No." When asked if they are the original Muppaphones, Marvin says that he has to replace them every two or three months, since by then they go flat (not off-key; they become two-dimensional). Kermit asks what happens to them after that. "I don't think you want to know,” Marvin replies.

In Episode 315, guest star Lesley Ann Warren was horrified to learn that Marvin was the accompanist in one of her numbers. She accused him of being cruel, because he makes music by hitting live creatures. "Of course they're alive!" he answered. "You can't make music by hitting dead creatures!"

In the Alice in Wonderland-themed Episode 506, Marvin played the judge at Alice's trial. He struck the jurors on the head as if they were a Muppaphone.

Marvin appeared in multiple films, including The Muppet Movie, where he can be seen gyrating through the theater before the movie starts. He showed up again in Muppets from Space twenty years later. In 2004, Palisades Toys released a Marvin Suggs Action Figure.

In the liner notes of the Music, Mayhem and More! CD, Frank Oz said:

“ I don't recall where Marvin Suggs came from... probably from one of the writer's meetings. But the accent came from my French friend Phillippe Gentry -- I just exaggerated it and made it really annoying. I've always felt Marvin lived in a scuzzy trailer park with his put-upon wife, and he kept the Muppaphones in a cage and would beat them regularly. ”

In 2006, the puppet was on display at the Jim Henson: Performing Artist exhibit at the University of Maryland. After a twelve year absence, Suggs reappears in The Muppets, performed by Eric Jacobson. He also made a brief appearance in the music video for "The Muppet Show Theme Song," using the band members of OK Go as a Muppaphone.

Although nowhere to be seen, part three of The Muppet Show Comic Book: Family Reunion has "Marvin Suggs and the All-Food Glee Club" listed on a marquee outside the theater.

FORERUNNERS IN POP CULTURE

Other comedy skits have involved characters committing cruelty against living creatures for music's sake (a concept that dates back to at least to 1928, when Mickey Mouse yanked piglets' tails to create musical squeals), which in some ways predate Marvin Suggs. In 1957, in a sketch from his radio series (later released as a record), Stan Freberg created Monsieur Toulier and his Tuned Sheep. The French-accented Toulier tied bells to his sheep, and when struck on the head with a shepherd's crook, the sheep would play music (a rendition of "Lullaby of Birdland"). Like Marvin, Toulier chided his sheep individually by name when they were out of synch or tempo.

A similar sketch, with closer parallels in some respects, occurred in a 1969 episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus (an episode titled "Sex & Violence"). "Arthur Ewing and His Musical Mice" features Mr. Ewing (played by Terry Jones) beating on tuned mice (in boxes so as to be unseen by the viewer) in his "Mouse-organ" with two mallets, in a rendition of "The Bells of St. Mary". The sketch also appeared in the film And Now For Something Completely Different (1971) with the name changed to "Ken Ewing and His Musical Mice", playing "Three Blind Mice".

FILMOGRAPHY

The Muppet Show

Episode 105: Rita Moreno

Episode 208: Steve Martin

Episode 304: Gilda Radner

Episode 311: Raquel Welch

Episode 315: Lesley Ann Warren

Episode 414: Liza Minnelli

Episode 506: Brooke Shields

Episode 510: Jean-Pierre Rampal

The Muppet Movie

The Muppets Take Manhattan

The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years

The Jim Henson Hour

Episode 105: The Ratings Game

Episode 112: Food

A Muppet Family Christmas

Muppets Inside

Muppets from Space

"The Muppet Show Theme Music Video"

The Muppets (film)

Orange trailer

Muppets Most Wanted

Warburtons commercial

The Muppets (series)

"Because... Love"

BOOK APPEARANCES

Jim Henson's Muppet Show Bill

MARVIN SUGGS

Performed by…Marvin Suggs

Frank Oz

First appearance…

The Muppet Show Episode 105: Rita Moreno (1976)

Most recent appearance…

The Muppets (2011)

Best known role…

Muppaphone player, manager, operator, slave-driver; PETA’s Most Wanted

WHO IS MARVIN SUGGS?

Marvin Suggs and his Muppaphone were one of the first recurring acts on The Muppet Show. Marvin is the world’s only known player of the famed Muppaphone instrument, which consists of a group of furry pink and orange creatures who make the most beautiful yelping sound when struck just the right way with a mallet. Marvin is well-known for his performances on the Muppaphone of such timeless classics including “Lady of Spain” and “Witch Doctor.”

Although most often seen with the Muppaphone, Marvin Suggs is a multi-talented individual as can be seen in the Steve Martin episode of The Muppet Show when he performed “Yes, We Have No Bananas” with his All-Food Glee Club. However, Marvin’s true passion seems to rest with his beloved Muppaphone, considering his leafy-green show choir never appeared again. (Or perhaps they broke up when Marvin threatened to turn them into a salad… the world may never know.)

TheMuppets-(2011)-Finale-MarvinSuggs&MuppaphoneMostly unseen since the days of The Muppet Show, before 2011, Marvin only made a very brief cameo in Muppets From Space. He had a wee bit of a resurgence, starting with the OK Go video for “The Muppet Show Theme.” He would go on to show up in The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014). Marvin’s addition to The Muppets was brought about thanks to director James Bobin, who loves the character. In both films Marvin can be seen pounding on the Muppaphones.

Although Marvin has been largely absent, an action figure was made of Marvin in 2004 as part of Series 8 of Palisades Toys line of action figures. Marvin came packaged with two mallets, a musical wall, and six Muppaphones. Series 8 also included a variant figure of Marvin, dressed in black and silver attire.

MARVIN SUGGS AND FRANK OZ

Although Marvin Suggs is a very obscure character, Frank Oz still talked about and developed a backstory for Marvin, which was expanded upon in the liner notes for the 2002 CD “Muppets: Music, Mayhem and More.” When asked about Marvin, Frank said,

“I don’t recall where Marvin Suggs came from… probably from one of the writer’s meetings. But the accent came from my French friend Phillippe Gentry — I just exaggerated it and made it really annoying. I’ve always felt Marvin lived in a scuzzy trailer park with his put-upon wife, and he kept the Muppaphones in a cage and would beat them regularly.”

WHY DO THE MUPPETS NEED MARVIN SUGGS?

Quite frankly, they might not need him, really. After all, the Muppets already have multiple counts of animal abuse (read: karate chopping pigs, sexually harassing king prawns, bears with tomatoes hurled at them), so tossing Marvin Suggs back in the mix will surely do nothing to get PETA off of their furry backs.