The Amazing Mumford

PERFORMER	Jerry Nelson
DEBUT	1971
PATTERN	Large Lavender Live Hand
DESIGN	Jim Henson designer
	Don Sahlin builder

The Amazing Mumford is a talented magician from Sesame Street, but his magic tricks sometimes go awry. His characteristic magic words are "A la peanut butter sandwiches!" After saying this and waving his wand, there is a puff of smoke usually accompanied by either a "poof" noise or magical tinkling sounds, and then after clearing, it reveals how the trick has gone wrong. Grover often appeared as Mumford's over-eager assistant.

Casting history

Following the passing of Jerry Nelson, the role of the character was inherited by John Kennedy. Among his earliest performances of the character include an #ELMOtivation video, published on Sesame Street's social media in October 2018 and Caroll Spinney's retirement party the same month. His first performance as Mumford on the show was a "Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck" segment which first aired in Episode 4906. Kennedy previously performed the character on-set for A Magical Halloween Adventure, where Jerry Nelson looped his dialogue later. However, one brief bit of dialogue remains unlooped in the final product: a scene in which Mumford speaks on the phone with his friend Gilda the Great.

Notes

• Mumford's voice is based on that of the famous comedian W. C. Fields.

• As noted in the original scripts for his first two aired sketches, the character was originally named "The Amazing Ralph." The name is also mentioned in the Sesame Street Script Highlights for Episode 0305 and Episode 0322.

• On Sesamstrasse, the German co-production, Mumford is named "Mumpitz", which means nonsense or balderdash.

• According to The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook, Mumford lives in a castle, next door to the castle owned by Count von Count.

• Mumford has a cousin, fellow magician The Fantastic Finkelman, who appears in Episode 1815. He also has a brother-in-law who sells aluminum siding, as mentioned in Episode 0674, while his Grandmum is pictured in The Sesame Street Cookbook.

• In Episode 3845, Mumford states his personal web address is "www.alapeanutbuttersandwiches.com."

Sketches

Image	First Appearance	Description
	Episode 0280	Disappearing Pineapple Trick The Amazing Mumford begins his magic subtraction trick with four pineapples, and makes them disappear one at a time. Then Grover makes Mumford disappear. The story was retold in the book The Amazing Mumford and His Amazing Subtracting Trick. Video: Old School: Volume 3
	Episode 0287	Disappearing Cookies The Amazing Mumford waves his magic wand over a transparent glass cookie jar and makes the jar become full of cookies and then empty (over and over) as an anxious Cookie Monster watches. Online: (YouTube)
	Episode 0292	Suspension Act Grover volunteers to assist Mumford in his suspension act. Grover will get on top of a platform, and Mumford will pull the pillar off from underneath, and the platform will not fall. The trick works, so Grover decides to try it himself, with Herry Monster as his assistant. Grover can't pull it off, and Herry falls. Video: 50 Years and Counting Online: (YouTube)
	Episode 0305	The Story of Quiet and Loud Bob tells the story of a mother who had a loud child (who screamed all the time) and a quiet child (who whispered all the time). Mumford casts a spell to reverse their afflictions.
	Episode 0381	Surprise A woman (Jim Henson) volunteers to assist The Amazing Mumford in his surprise magic trick. Mumford makes her disappear – but when he tries to make her reappear, Herry Monster pops up, saying "SURPRISE!" (Note: In this trick, Mumford uses the magic words "peanut butter" by themselves, instead of his longer trademark phrase.)
	Episode 0407	Rabbit Trick Grover watches Mumford practice a trick, making a rabbit come out of his hat. Mumford has trouble getting a rabbit to come out of the hat; both are oblivious to the fact that Grover gradually turns into a rabbit. Video: Old School: Volume 1 ( as a Season 3 sketch), Monster Magic Online: (YouTube)
	Episode 0455	Rhyming Trick Grover volunteers to assist Mumford in his rhyming magic trick, making three things come out of his hat that rhyme with "knee". Grover guesses the first one (key), but doesn't get the last two (ski and tree) right.
	Episode 1075	MAGIC The Amazing Mumford sounds out the word MAGIC, then makes himself disappear.
	Episode 1210	Disappearing Carrot Grover is about to eat his carrot when he hears Mumford approaching. Grover asks Mumford to make the carrot disappear. Mumford obliges...by eating the carrot.
	Episode 1447	The Leslie Mostly Show Leslie Mostly interviews Mumford at his home. He tries to conjure up a rabbit for her, but ends up turning himself into a rabbit. When Mumford attempts to become a person again, he succeeds...and accidentally turns Leslie into a rabbit.
	Episode 2579	Gladys the Cow Disappears Gladys the Cow assists The Amazing Mumford on stage. Mumford says he will make her disappear, but his attempts fail, so he says he'll turn her into a duck instead. She runs off the stage in fright, which means his trick did work this time.
	Episode 2696	Big and Small Trick A Sesame Street News Flash, in which Kermit the Frog interviews Mumford, who is showcasing his big and little trick, where he will make Thumbelina big and The Big Bad Wolf small. He succeeds in making Thumbelina big, but makes Kermit (not the Big Bad Wolf) small.
	Episode 4004	Letter of the Day: C Cookie Monster asks The Amazing Mumford to make the cookie with the letter of the day disappear so that he can't eat it. Mumford tries and fails to make the cookie disappear, but Cookie Monster figures out a way to do it...
	Episode 4906	Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck: Jelly Cookie and Gonger receive a request from Mumford to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The sandwich gives Mumford the energy he needs to perform his magic act, though his rabbit (performed by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph) appears out of his hat and runs off with his sandwich.

Filmography

Mumford turns Big Bird small in a two-part plotline in Season 36.

Mumford in Episode 4270, his last appearance as performed by Jerry Nelson.

• Sesame Street
• Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird
• The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
• Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
• Sing Yourself Silly!
• Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration
• Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years
• Imagine That
• Don't Forget to Watch the Movie
• CinderElmo
• A Magical Halloween Adventure
• A Celebration of Me, Grover
• Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration
• The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo

Episodic appearances

• Season 5: 0538, 0607
• Season 6: 0674, 0724, 0733
• Season 7: 0839, 0845, 0886, 0906 (VO), 0910, 0918
• Season 8: 1003, 1039
• Season 9: 1145, 1150
• Season 10: 1196, 1213, 1291, 1307
• Season 11: 1367
• Season 13: 1583, 1605, 1607, 1637, 1671, 1676, 1691, 1705
• Season 14: 1738, 1744, 1772, 1779, 1797, 1815
• Season 16: 1972, 2033
• Season 18: 2293, 2310, 2318, 2324, 2341
• Season 19: 2358, 2359, 2360, 2405, 2407, 2415, 2418, 2485
• Season 20: 2488, 2496, 2543, 2566, 2572, 2581, 2594, 2598, 2599, 2607
• Season 21: 2658, 2704, 2711
• Season 22: 2778, 2794, 2808, 2857
• Season 23: 2949, 2953, 2973, 2996, 3005
• Season 24: 3074, 3075, 3080, 3108
• Season 25: 3157, 3198, 3251
• Season 26: 3348, 3360
• Season 27: 3401, 3457, 3468, 3521
• Season 28: 3593, 3619, 3647, 3655
• Season 29: 3700, 3714
• Season 30: 3830, 3845
• Season 31: 3869
• Season 32: 3943, 3972
• Season 33: 3999, 4014, 4027
• Season 36: 4107, 4108
• Season 42: 4270
• Season 50: 5013

Book appearances

• The Amazing Mumford and His Amazing Subtracting Trick (1972)
• More Sesame Street Finger Puppets (1972)
• The Sesame Street ABC Storybook (1974)
• Big Bird's Busy Book (1975)
• See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Smell No Evil (1975)
• The Sesame Street A to Z Coloring Book (1976)
• Una Sorpresa (1976)
• The Sesame Street Block Party (1977)
• The Sesame Street Mix or Match Storybook (1977)
• Who's Who on Sesame Street (1977)
• The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook (1978)
• The Sesame Street Cookbook (1978)
• The Amazing Mumford Forgets the Magic Words! (1979)
• The Amazing Mumford Presents All About Bones (1980)
• The Count Counts a Party (1980)
• The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
• The Amazing Mumford Presents the Magic Weather Show (1981)
• I Have a Friend (1981)
• Prairie Dawn's Upside-Down Poem (1981)
• Put & Play Magic Show (1981)
• The Sesame Street Sun (1981)
• Which One Doesn't Belong? (1981)
• Big and Little Stories (1982)
• More Who's Who on Sesame Street (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 1: The A Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 2: The B Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 3: The C Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 5: The EF Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 6: The GH Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 7: The IJKL Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 8: The M Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 9: The NO Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 10: The PQ Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 11: The R Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 12: The S Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 13: The T Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 14: The UV Book (1982)
• Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 15: The WXYZ Book (1982)
• A Sesame Street Christmas (1982)
• The Sesame Street Word Book (1983)
• There's No Place Like Home (1983)
• Big Bird's Alphabet Book (1984)
• Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? (1984)
• Lovable, Furry Old Grover in Please Don't Push the Red Button (1984)
• A Silly Sesame Street Story: The Three Little Pigs (1984)
• Trace & Color Alphabet (1984)
• Big Bird's Book of Rhymes (1985)
• I Can Count to Ten and Back Again (1985)
• ABC (1986)
• A My Name Is Annabel (1986)
• Sesame Street ABC (1986)
• Colors (1987)
• A My Name Is Alice (1989)
• Happy and Sad, Grouchy and Glad (1992)
• A New Way to Get to Sesame Street (1992)
• Imagine... A Million Kittens for Elmo (1993)
• I Spy: A Game to Read and Play (1993)
• Knock, Knock! Who's There? (1994)
• B is for Books! (1996)
• The Amazing Mumford Presents: H (1996)
• Elmo's Tricky Tongue Twisters (1998)
• The Counting Carnival (2003)
• Abby Cadabby's Rhyme Time (2007)
• Color Carnival (2008)

Character merchandise

• Sesame Street Beans
• Kellogg's mini bean
• Gund Mini Plush

See also

• The Amazing Mumford books