Sesame Street Episode 4166 Max the Magician

Max the Magician

Season 39 (2008)

Will Arnett visits Sesame Street

In this episode's street scenes, Chris serves snacks to Big Bird, Elmo, and Rosita while welcoming the viewer to Sesame Street. Elmo asks for a banana, and Chris responds, "You just said the magic word!" This prompts the grand entrance of Max the Magician (Will Arnett), who has some "real" magic tricks to display.

For Max's first trick, he produces two scarves, then another one, making them three scarves. Everyone is amazed and wants to know how he did the trick, except for Chris, who already knows. Max doubts that Chris knows his secrets, but Chris explains that the "trick" was done using something called "addition." He demonstrates it himself by adding one and two glasses of milk to make three.

Max then displays another trick: he shows five cards, then makes each of them disappear, one by one, by "discarding" them, until they become zero cards. Once again, Chris is able to explain the trick with something called "subtraction," using straws to demonstrate. Max wonders if Chris is a magician himself.

Max has one more trick, which requires a volunteer. He displays a rope, which Big Bird holds one end of, and turns it into two pieces by cutting it with a pair of scissors. To Max's surprise, Big Bird figures out that the trick was done with something called "division," and tries it on one of his birdseed breadsticks.

Max has no more tricks up his sleeve, but he vows to return one day with some tricks that will really impress everyone. With a whirl of his cape, he poofs out of sight—a trick that even Chris can't figure out!

In another street scene, Elmo shows up as a magician while Chris washes the counter at Hooper's. Elmo makes the letter C appear and then "disappear."

Later, as Chris washes carrots, Elmo the magician returns to present the number of the day, subtracting one carrot from five to make four carrots.

In the final street scene, Chris finds Elmo's magician cape and pretends to be a magician himself. He announces the sponsors and tries to take a bow, but the pesky spotlight keeps moving away from him.

The episode kicks off with a song called "Subtraction!" which reuses footage from a film where The Count counts five children on a bench. In the "I'm Curious" cartoon segment by Sally Cruikshank, viewers are treated to a quirky and colorful animation.

In an animation, construction equipment is used to build the letter C. Following this, a film segment showcases the letter C for Circle. The "Murray Has a Little Lamb" segment features Murray's lamb, Ovejita, leading him to a secret soccer school, where kids practice playing soccer. Murray tries being a goalie and dribbling the ball with his feet.

The "Dancing with the Flowers" animation by Karen Aqua presents a visually stunning and artistic piece. Egyptian figures are used to illustrate the number 4 in another animation, while gymnasts form the number 4 in a film segment.

In "Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures," Ernie and Bert become astronauts and travel through space in their Rubber Duckie-shaped spaceship. They land on a distant planet and befriend a group of aliens who resemble Bert. The aliens and Bert bond over their mutual love for pigeons.

The song "No Matter What" features kids of all types playing with a huge beach ball, emphasizing that everyone has the same feelings. A cartoon segment shows musicians in a painting learning to cooperate to play music. Lastly, the "Elmo's World: Violins" segment teaches children about violins and their importance in music.