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This is what happens when Mr. Noodle demonstrateshow to eat a banana.
First, he does the ol banana-as-a-telephone.
Then, he tries to play the piece of fruit like a horn.
This is about the point where a grown-up might shout at the screen, Goddammit Mr. Noodle!
hit it one more time, Mr. Noodle!
), Mr. Noodle successfully unpeels the banana.
Then the banana flies up in the air, out of frame, before he can take a bite.
This bit may fail to make you smirk, but it had my kids howling with laughter.
Even with small variations, however, all of these seemingly disparate actors simply get Mr. Noodles vibe.
So the writers choose a topic or goal for Mr. Noodle to focus on.
Hell bring a football thats not the right shape, or thats too small.
Then you could be super-surprising and the third thing is an anvil.
Then its like you hit maximum ridiculousness and that leads to a lot of laughter, says Lehmann.
Behind the scenes, Mr. Noodle segments are tightly scripted, says Lehmann.
The actor who plays Elmo stands off-camera to read the prompts (Thats not it, Mr. so Mr. or Ms. Noodle has someone to respond to.
Its obviously a lot of slide whistle, says Lehmann.
I think what works for kids is that youre expressing so much nonverbally, says Lehmann.
Some kids have verbal abilities very early on and some take longer to develop them.
Its this clowning tradition that connects the various actors who play Mr. Noodle.
Early on in acting class, we had a whole section dedicated to mime and to work without words.
I think that helped prepare me, says Chenoweth.
This is an effective way to communicate, as children are drawn to these large and overt expressions.
Adult brains are hard-wired and less flexible.
They seek communication as they are used to experiencing it.
Youll do it this time!
Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget noted that even in infancy, children begin to note trial and error.
you could think about a baby shaking a rattle and hearing the sound it makes, says Walsh.
They may drop the rattle and see that Dad comes over to pick it up.
Now this has become a fun game I can make dad pick this up when I drop it.
I can watch how dad responds.These seemingly small events are actually key to cognitive and social emotional development.
Not everyone enjoys Mr. Noodles simple experiments, however.
One Redditor even put forth a theory that Mr. Noodleis actually in hell.
Even if that adult is a dumbass.
But kids get a lot from this dumbassery.
They dont get why he messes upthings so many times in a row.
But its not for them its for the kids who get something out of being smarter than Mr. Noodle.
Kids love to have mastery.
Thats the genius of Mr. Noodle.
Adults can hate all they want on Mr. Noodle, but hes not going anywhere.
That has the highest engagement with kids.
This is a hotly debated world, believe it or not, says Lehmann.
He lives in Elmos imagination.
He cannot beonSesame Street.
Out of tune, of course.
