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The Swedish Chef is the incomprehensible preparer of foodstuffs from The Muppet Show. A rather literal variation of the Live-Hand Muppet concept, the Swedish Chef is a humanoid character, with human hands rather than gloves. On The Muppet Show, Frank Oz performed the character's hands. The chef first appeared in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence in 1975, with Chinese subtitles for his dialogue, and Richard Hunt performing the hands. Only in poser puppets used specifically for photo shoots does the Swedish Chef have standard Muppet hands.

According to Brian Henson in one of his introductions for The Muppet Show, "Jim Henson had this tape that he used to play which was "How to Speak Mock Swedish". And he used to drive to work and I used to ride with him a lot. And he would drive to work trying to make a chicken sandwich in Mock Swedish or make a turkey casserole in Mock Swedish. It was the most ridiculous thing you had ever seen. And people at traffic lights used to stop and sort of look at him a little crazy. But that was the roots of the character that would eventually become The Swedish Chef."

Nearly all Swedish Chef sketches begin with him in a kitchen, waving some utensils while singing his signature song in a trademark mock Swedish, a semi-comprehensible gibberish which parodies the characteristic vowel sounds of Swedish. The opening song usually sounds something like: "Yorn desh born, der ritt de gitt der gue, Orn desh, dee born desh, de umn børk! børk! børk!" but in fact changes subtly in every episode. The last line of the song is always "Børk! Børk! Børk!" and is punctuated by the Chef throwing the utensils over his shoulder to crash into the crockery behind him. (Although the letter "ø" does not exist in Swedish — it is a Danish/Norwegian letter whose Swedish equivalent is "ö" - the Chef's trademark word is nearly universally spelled as "Børk.") However, in The Muppets at Walt Disney World, his closing line is "Ole!"

After this introduction, the Chef continues to speak gibberish while preparing a particular recipe. His commentary is spiced with the occasional English word to clue the viewer in to what he is attempting. These clues are necessary as he frequently uses unorthodox culinary equipment (firearms, tennis rackets, etc.) to prepare his dishes. The sketch typically degenerates into a slapstick finale, and he often winds up in pitched battle with his ingredients, from Lobster Banditos to a Japanese Cake. The Swedish Chef has also appeared, at least briefly, in every Muppet film to date. He was put in charge of running the film projector in The Muppet Movie and Muppet*Vision 3D. In A Muppet Family Christmas, he attempts to cook the Christmas turkey, then sets his sights on Big Bird instead.

The Swedish Chef's popularity led to his own cereal, Cröonchy Stars, in 1988. Commercials for the product featured the Chef, up to his usual antics. In the 1990s, the Swedish Chef appeared regularly on Donna's Day starting in the second season.

In Episode 316, Danny Kaye, portraying the chef's uncle in a sketch, claims that the Swedish Chef's first name was Tom. However, since Kaye was not a blood relative in reality, this information may be considered apocryphal.

Contents 1 Casting History 2 Trivia 3 Sketches 3.1 The Muppet Show Season 1 3.2 The Muppet Show Season 2 3.3 The Muppet Show Season 3 3.4 The Muppet Show Season 4 3.5 The Muppet Show Season 5 3.6 Additional Sketches (Non-Muppet Show) 4 Filmography 5 Video Game Appearances 6 Book Appearances 7 References 8 See also

Casting History

• Jim Henson - from The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975) to The Muppets at Walt Disney World (1990)

• Steve Whitmire - I Love Lucy Screen Test (Movie Mania)

• David Rudman - The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

• Bill Barretta - from Muppet Treasure Island (1996) to Present

• Dave Goelz - Muppets From Space (1999)

• Victor Yerrid - From the Balcony: Episode 26 (2006)

Trivia

• The Chef's gibberish gained a life of its own with the creation of a Unix filter capable of converting standard English to Chefspeak in 1992. The filter quickly became a staple of hacker culture and eventually spread to the mainstream with Swedish Chef translators on several Web sites such as Google. In 2003, Opera Software published a special Bork version of its internet browser that turned the MSN Web site into mock Swedish. Mozilla Firefox also contains a popular add-on called Bork Bork Bork! that allows the selective translation of text from Web pages of the user's choice. It is also a display language there.

• As a one-note joke, it is revealed by Jean Stapleton (who speaks mock Swedish) in episode 306 of The Muppet Show, that the Swedish Chef's native language is mock Japanese.

• In episode 319 of Fraggle Rock, Sprocket does an impersonation of the Swedish Chef.

• There was a Swedish Chef sketch that was taped but not broadcast, in which the Chef prepared ratatouille.^[1]

• In A Muppet Family Christmas he manages to say "Merry Christmas" in Swedish, "God Jul".

Sketches

The Muppet Show Season 1
Picture	Title	Episode	Description
	Meatballs	Episode 102: Connie Stevens	The Swedish Chef prepares meatballs, which bounce when dropped. He then grabs a badminton raquet and serves it. Statler vollies it back with a racquet of his own. "Fifteen, love!" says Waldorf. Note: This sketch can also be seen on The Muppet Revue.
	Flapjacks	Episode 105: Rita Moreno	The Chef prepares pancakes, which wind up stuck on the ceiling. He then grabs a gun and shoots them down.
	Spaghetti	Episode 111: Lena Horne	The spaghetti comes to life and attacks The Swedish Chef. Note: This sketch can also be seen on Muppet Treasures and in The Muppet Show Book.
	Doughnuts	Episode 114: Sandy Duncan	The Swedish Chef shoots a hole through an English muffin to make a doughnut. Note: This sketch can also be seen on Muppet Treasures and in The Muppet Show Book.
	Spicy Sauce	Episode 115: Candice Bergen	The Swedish Chef's sauce is so spicy that his hat flies off, giving the audience a rare but brief glimpse of what the chef looks like without his hat. Note: This sketch can also be seen on Muppet Moments.
	Japanese Cake	Episode 120: Valerie Harper	The Chef adds cream and fruit topping his a chocolate cake, but as he goes to cut it, the cake loudly objects...in Japanese! The cake is instead dispatched by a "cakenschmooscher" (baseball bat).
The Muppet Show Season 2
Picture	Title	Episode	Description
	Fishie Chowder	Episode 201: Don Knotts	The Swedish Chef attempts to make fish chowder using a live fish.
	Salad, Brussells Sprouts, and Coconut	Episode 205: Judy Collins	In a two-part sketch, The Swedish Chef shoots lettuce with a gun, first creating a salad and then Brussells sprouts. Later, he tries to shoot a coconut, but instead shoots a rubber chicken and gets hit by a coconut.
	Lobsters	Episode 209: Madeline Kahn	The Swedish Chef tries to boil a lobster, but is attacked by a group of lobster banditos, who rescue their comrade from the pot.
	Bomb Egg	Episode 212: Bernadette Peters	The Swedish Chef wants eggs for his dish, but his chicken lays a bomb.
	Ping Pong Ball Eggs	Episode 214: Elton John	The Swedish Chef prepares "egg der chef," but his chicken only lays ping pong balls.
	Frog Legs	Episode 215: Lou Rawls	Since Kermit rushes the Swedish Chef onstage (when he's not ready), the Chef takes Robin and tries to prepare frog legs.
	Salad	Episode 216: Cleo Laine	The Swedish Chef makes a salad while Cleo Laine sings "You're Just in Love."
	Cow	Episode 217: Julie Andrews	The Chef paints on a real live cow to demarcate the different cuts of beef.
	Coconut	Episode 218: Jaye P. Morgan	The Chef hammers and saws a coconut, trying to crack it. When he finally gets it open, he discovers a bomb inside it.
	Chocolate Moose	Episode 220: Petula Clark	Mickey Moose helps the Chef make "chocolate moose". Kermit interrupts this play on words.
	Pressed Duck	Episode 221: Bob Hope	The Swedish Chef tries to use the iron to press Ronald Duck, who grabs it and then drops it on him and flies away.
	Popcorn	Episode 224: Cloris Leachman	The Swedish Pig makes popcorn.
The Muppet Show Season 3
Picture	Title	Episode	Description
	Living Dough	Episode 303: Roy Clark	The Swedish Chef is attacked by living dough, which hits him with his own rolling pin.
	Patient Swedish Chef	Episode 309: Liberace	What starts as a Swedish Chef sketch finishes with Veterinarian's Hospital, as the hospital staff discover the chef has a rare case of in-grown coffee pot.
	Chicken in the Basket	Episode 311: Raquel Welch	The Swedish Chef throws a chicken through a basketball hoop. Note: This sketch can also be seen on Playhouse Video: The Muppet Revue and It's The Muppets: More Muppets, Please!
	Banana Split	Episode 312: James Coco	While preparing a banana split, the Swedish Chef is continuously interrupted by Spanish dancers.
	The Chef and his Uncle	Episode 316: Danny Kaye	The Swedish Chef is joined by his uncle (played by Danny Kaye), and they make a turkey.
The Muppet Show Season 4
Picture	Title	Episode	Description
	Squirrel Stew	Episode 401: John Denver	The Chef is out in the woods, trying to make squirrel stew.
	Hot Dogs	Episode 404: Dyan Cannon	The Chef prepares hot dogs. Miss Piggy, who is looking for Foo Foo, comes on-stage, asking the chef if he has seen her dog. The Swedish Chef, assuming the query is about the wieners, says that the dog is in the pot, causing Piggy to think that the chef is cooking Foo Foo. Note: This sketch can also be seen on It's the Muppets: More Muppets, Please!
	Home-Cooked Meal	Episode 408: Arlo Guthrie	The Chef plans a home-cooked meal, but the turkey refuses to be skewered, the pig busts him in the face, and the "beef" stampedes over him. Even the vegetable stew is unsuccessful. Eventually, the Chef unveils his dinner -- vitamin pills.
	No Bananas	Episode 412: Phyllis George	The Chef sings "Yes, We Have No Bananas" with the Singing Food.
	Meat Loafers	Episode 423: Carol Channing	The chef puts meat into a shoe. The owner of the shoe, a pig, demands to have his shoe back, and puts it on, despite the fact that there is meat in it. He then gets chased by dogs.
The Muppet Show Season 5
Picture	Title	Episode	Description
	Swedish Lump Bread Puppetry	Episode 508: Señor Wences	The Swedish Chef makes a puppet using his hands and some bread dough as he sings "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" in his native tongue.
	Spring Chickens	Episode 512: Melissa Manchester	The Chef makes spring chickens. Note: This is the only Swedish Chef sketch where The Announcer introduces the act.
	Soup	Episode 514: Mac Davis	The Swedish Chef prepares soup, but gets interrupted by multiple Beakers.
	Soufflé	Episode 522: Buddy Rich	The Swedish Chef prepares a lighter than air soufflé.
	Champagne	Episode 523: Linda Ronstadt	The Chef goes flying when he pops a bottle of champagne.
Additional Sketches (Non-Muppet Show)
Picture	Title	Episode	Description
	Sandwich	The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence	In a three-part sketch, the Swedish Chef makes a sandwich, using many unusual ingredients. Eventually, the sandwich sprouts wings and flies away, but the chef shoots it down with a gun.
	Cake	Episode 107: Health and Fitness	The Swedish Chef attempts to make a cake, but is interrupted by Jaques Roach, who explains that roaches are indestructable because of their eating habits. This is proven when the chef unsuccessfully tries to get rid of jaques by kitting him, dropping a refridgerator on him, and even blow him up.
	Tacos	The Muppets at Walt Disney World	The Chef prepares a taco for Bunsen and Beaker, which is so hot that it blows the pail that has been stuck on Beaker's head clear off... and back on again.
		Europe MTV Music Awards	Chef and Wyclef Jean perform on stage at the Europe MTV Music Awards on November 16, 2000 in Stockholm, Sweden.
	Daisy Dukes	From the Balcony Episode 4	The Swedish Chef makes Daisy Dukes.
	"Nachos Libre"	From The Balcony Episode 26	The Swedish Chef makes "Nachos Libre" with nachos, black pepper, a mask, a bell, eggs, and flour. It punches him afterwards.

Filmography

Video Game Appearances

• Muppet Race Mania
• Jim Henson's Muppets
• Muppet Party Cruise
• The Muppets: On with the Show!

Book Appearances

• The Muppet Show Book
• The Comic Muppet Book
• Two for the Show
• Jim Henson's Muppet Show Bill

References

1. ↑ Karen Prell Muppet Central Post by Karen Prell

See also

At the Dance Bear on Patrol Blackouts Cold Open The Electric Mayhem Fozzie's Comedy Acts Muppet Labs

Muppet News Flash Muppet Sports Panel Discussions Pigs in Space Planet Koozebane A Poem by Rowlf The Swedish Chef

Talk Spots Talking Houses UK Spots Vendaface Veterinarian's Hospital Wayne and Wanda