The Amazing Marvin Suggs And His Muppaphone

Marvin Suggs is a puppet musician in the world of Jim Henson's The Muppets, voiced by Frank Oz.

Marvin Suggs is a blue "whatnot" Muppet that wears a frilly, multicolored shirt. He is best known for "playing" an instrument known as a muppaphone, a group of small, round, furry pink and orange Muppets that emit a tonal "ow" when Marvin strikes them on the head with his mallet.

Although Marvin is not one of the more commonly seen Muppets, his rendition of "Lady of Spain" from his first appearance was included on the Muppet-released CD The Best of the Muppets as well as The Muppet Show: 25th Anniversary CD.

Suggs appeared in episode 3.11 for an interview, in which the following conversation took place:

:Marvin: Ah, yes, but I have to replace them every month or so. They go flat.

:Kermit: Flat? You mean, out of tune?

:Marvin: No. Flat. Like teeny pancakes.

:Kermit: What happens to them then?

:Marvin: That is something you don't want to know.

Suggs was also featured in episode 2.08, where he conducted the "All-Food Glee Club" in singing "Yes, We Have No Bananas", and in episode 3.04 for a performance of "Witch Doctor", with Suggs voicing the solo parts, and the Muppaphone providing the "Ooh-Ee-Ooh-Ah-Ah!" in the chorus. Then the Witch Doctor appears and turns Marvin into a giant Mappaphone.

Frank Oz on Marvin Suggs, from The Muppet Show 25th Anniversary Collection:

:"I don't recall where Marvin Suggs came from... probably from one of the writer's meetings. But the accent came from my French friend Phillippe Gentry - I just exaggerated it and made it really annoying. I've always felt Marvin lived in a scuzzy trailer park with his put-upon wife, and he kept the Muppaphones in a cage and would beat them regularly."