Billy Barkhurst

[FoxWorthy]

They should have called me! Lol! As a father of 2, (soon to be 3), I couldn't be a muppeteer right now but I man...I'd rock as Ernie. I was born in 1980 and grew up with Jim's Ernie and that's where my heart will always lie. Heck, I'd be worth the salary as I also do a great Grover and Kermit and an 80's based Cookie Monster.

I thought about almost selling my Ernie once upon a time and quickly did this video:

I also did this last X-Mas:

 

[FoxWorthy]

Does anyone know if the sesame street producers read these forums?

 

[MuppetSpot]

Probably not and also it's Sesame Workshop decision to choose a performer for the character not the fans.

 

[FoxWorthy]

Probably not and also it's Sesame Workshop decision to choose a performer for the character not the fans.

Well obviously not the fans!
Imagine a Muppet/Sesame Street cast that was chosen by the fans...
I'm sure there are some out there who have already made their list.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

They should have called me! Lol! As a father of 2, (soon to be 3), I couldn't be a muppeteer right now but I man...I'd rock as Ernie. I was born in 1980 and grew up with Jim's Ernie and that's where my heart will always lie. Heck, I'd be worth the salary as I also do a great Grover and Kermit and an 80's based Cookie Monster.

I thought about almost selling my Ernie once upon a time and quickly did this video:

I also did this last X-Mas:

Wow! It seems like you really nailed Jim's characters. I especially liked that Animal solo at the end of the Frosty song.

 

[FoxWorthy]

Wow! It seems like you really nailed Jim's characters. I especially liked that Animal solo at the end of the Frosty song.

Thanks! I really only discovered it a few recent years back. I've always been a fan. What really helped to nail it down was listening to the records with my first child. For a while, i could do Ernie but had trouble with Kermit...the two are so similar but there are key differences. I can do both now with ease. I will eventually upload a video where I sang 'bein'green' as Kermit with a live pianists. I was there performing with my original puppet characters and since it was a fundraiser, I decided to have Kermit be a special guest. I am extremely proud of it and will eventually share it.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Yeah. I wondered about that too, the key differences in similar type voices, I mean. (Ex: Kermit - Ernie, Bert - Fozzie, Rowlf - Dr. Teeth, Grover - Piggy, though I have to admit Eric's Piggy tends to sound like Grover more regularly, Frank's Piggy only sounded like Grover when she got excited or whatever.) As for Kermit vs. Ernie that has been one noticeable thing with Steve's Ernie, sometimes he had him sound more like Kermit than he should have which is why I believe Billy's Ernie is a bit closer to Jim's.

 

[MuppetSpot]

http://www.toughpigs.com/mannequin-challenge/
Is Billy performing Ernie cause it kind of sounds like mixture Him and Steve.

 

[D'Snowth]

Considering Ernie looks as if he's being performed left-handed, I'd say it's Billy. Hasn't it been confirmed that Steve is officially retired from SST?

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

We have no reason to believe it isn't Billy, that's the only person who's played Ernie the past two years, plus you can hardly hear his voice in the clip anyway.