PERFORMER | Jerry Nelson |
DEBUT | 1975 |
PATTERN | Pumpkin |
Jack Be Nimble is a nursery rhyme character, famed for his prowess at leaping over candlesticks. He appears in a Sesame Street News Flash sketch, where he is portrayed as a hippie who does not know what "over" means, instead going under and around the candlestick.
Jack finally jumps over the candle stick (and thereupon remarks that he broke every bone in his body). He contemplates suing Mother Goose after what happened, but is interested when a cow tells him that he should jump over the moon sometime if he thinks that simply jumping over a candlestick is so painful.
Many years later, in Episode 3193, Jack goes to Finders Keepers to find something new to jump over. The puppet's design is exactly the same as the one featured in the News Flash segment, from his hair and clothes to his hipster talk. He appeared once more in this fashion in Episode 3329.
Prairie Dawn interviewed Jack in a 2005 segment for Nursery Rhyme News, but he doesn't have the energy to jump over his candlestick. He tells her, "Jack be tired, and Jack be slow, so back to bed Jack must go." Prairie Dawn discovers he did not eat Breakfast, and she tells him of the importance of a healthy Breakfast. He calls for his Mother, Mom Be Nimble, to bring him breakfast, which fills him with enough energy to not only jump over his candlestick, but Prairie Dawn as well. Here, he was performed by Joey Mazzarino.
The character, retaining the same appearance and performer, later appeared in Episode 4164, and was featured prominently in Episode 4204 and Episode 4522.
Other portrayals[]
- A Green Anything Muppet appears in Episode 3747, claiming to be every single fairy tale and nursery rhyme "Jack," including Jack Be Nimble.
- Similarly, another Green AM character with the same role appeared in Episode 4093 and the home video Elmo and Abby's Birthday Fun!