When Jim Henson did The dark crystal in 1982. he had his usual band of Muppeteers working with him. Since Henson passed away and puppeteers like Frank Oz became directors themselves, the Jim Henson Company has found new puppeteers over the years. Victor Yerrid joined the Henson company over 20 years ago, so when The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance came, they cast him as several characters.
Yerrid spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet about his work on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and his work as a puppeteer. Season 1 of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is now streaming on Netflix.
Victor Yerrid started out in music
Victor Yerrid’s road to The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance started when he went to college for music.
“I was a classical music student,” Yerrid said. “I studied classical percussion at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. It is a conservatory that gives full scholarships. They only accept enough people for an orchestra, but they give full scholarships to all who enter in order to have performers from all over the world. It’s a beautiful school. “
The music led to “Sesame Street”
sesame street performs many songs for children to teach them basic subjects and life lessons.
“Towards the end of my university studies there, I became interested in children’s music and got an internship at sesame street because I wanted to write new songs for them,” Yerrid said. “When I came to sesame street, that’s when I got interested in puppetry and I had already acted and done voiceover, so it was just another way to play.
“Sesame Street” led to the Muppets
Once The Jim Henson Company saw Victor Yerrid’s work on sesame street, they gave him his first jobs as a puppeteer.
“The Muppets provided the puppets for sesame street and had a partnership with them for years,” Yerrid said. “So I ended up working in the Muppet workshop after that and that’s, I got my first jobs as a puppeteer for the company making appearances from Sweetums, the tall walker on Muppets for The puppet show and The puppet movie.”
The Muppets Led To Other Jim Henson Shows
Victor Yerrid’s early jobs included Bear in the Big Blue House, where he assisted the puppeteers as a “right hand”, when both of their hands were already occupied.
“It takes a while to build the skills and the confidence to actually voice a character and play a character,” Yerrid said. “It’s always been Jim Henson Company tradition, it’s a bit of an apprenticeship for a while until you get to that place where you can really show off your skills.”
