Chris Cerf of Sesame Street and Children's Education (#110)
Say Hello to Chrissy of the Alphabeats
Christopher Cerf is an author, composer-lyricist, voice actor, puppeteer, and record and television producer. He is known for his musical contributions to Sesame Street, for co-creating and co-producing the award-winning PBS literacy education television program Between the Lions, and for his humorous articles and books.
Since writing and performing his first song for Sesame Street, "Count It Higher" in Season 5 in 1973, Chris has written or co-written over 300 songs featured on the program. Chris loves to have a focus for his stories, giving him a creative direction.
“If you give me a blank piece of paper and say ‘write a book or a song,’ I’m not sure what I would do. But if you tell me ‘We could sure use a song where Cookie Monster sings reggae about the letter J’ then I know exactly what to go do!” - Chris Cerf on story direction
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Chris Cerf of Sesame Street and Children's Education (#110)
From National Lampoon to Sesame Street
In one word, the career of Chris Cerf can be summed up in one word: collaboration. Chris says from National Lampoon to Sesame Street and all of the other storytelling stops he’s made, he’s been part of a collaborative team.
Chris says a story hits its apex when you can bounce ideas around and sharpen the story into the best version of itself. And for Chris, it usually starts with something fun.
“I love getting an idea and saying ‘This is fun, this makes me laugh.’” - Chris Cerf on why he loves storytelling
Connect with Chris:
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The Storytellers Network with Dan Moyle publishes every Monday at 7 AM EST.