Props

They Might Be Giants performing with carpet hats behind cardboard cutouts of William Allen White, 1988

In the early days of They Might Be Giants, the band had multiple different props and items that made their appearances in live shows, early promotional material and some of the band's early music videos. Sometime around October 1988, a majority of these props were retired in the interest of keeping the fans' attention towards the band's music. John Linnell mentioned the stripping of the props in a 1988 interview with Technician:

It was getting to be like a comedy act, where people just wanted to hear the punchline and didn't care about the joke. People just wanted us to bring out the props, and they would forget about the music. We want to showcase the songs. The props are meant to underscore and nothing more. The vehicle and not the show.

Early years

Below is an alphabetically ordered list of props, items and other material that have been known to appear in the band's early live shows, photos and music videos.

• Barbara Lipp's Spinning Machine - This prop was most notable for its appearance on the cover of the Don't Let's Start EP. It was constructed by Barbara Lipp, who was also a part of the performance arts act Frieda, which opened for many of the band's mid-1980s live shows. The stage prop was a “painted cardboard cut-out of a rabbit, a gun, a noose, and a question mark, that they rigged up onto a spinning device”. Some of these cutouts can be seen without the spinning device on multiple different live show photos from 1986 to 1987.

• Bread Loaves - These bread loaves were mentioned in various articles, with the earliest mention being an article in the December 1985 issue of SPIN Magazine. The articles mention that the band would duel each other with these bread loaves, however the band has apparently denied that any acts involving "fencing with bread" ever took place.^[1]

• Cardboard Faces - Used as early as 1985,^[2] the band has used cardboard faces of various figures throughout the 1980s. Figureheads include Arthur Koestler, Liaquat Ali Khan, Spiro Agnew and most notably, William Allen White, whose likeness was most notably used for the "Don't Let's Start" and "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head" music videos. These faces would mostly be used as masks for live shows, but would also be hung up onstage as decoration. Regarding the larger versions of faces the band used, giant stats of the images would be made and xeroxed in sections before being stuck together on pieces of cardboard^[3]. For the band's international performances throughout 1989-1990, cardboard faces of an unknown woman were used exclusively.^[4] The band was once interviewed about the masks that they wore by Things That People Carry in 1986.

• Carpet Hats - These three-foot hats are mostly known for their appearance in the Don't Let's Start music video, but also made their appearances in many 1988 live shows, mainly for performances of "Shoehorn With Teeth". They were red in color, built entirely by John Flansburgh out of felt, cardboard, and duct tape. The earliest carpet hats used by the band were originally blue in color, and were performed with as early as 1987.

• Chessmaster Prototype - The famous Chessmaster guitar built for John Flansburgh in 1991 originally existed in the band's early days as a modification of a black Fernandes Guitars Telecaster constructed out of cardboard, duct tape and foam core. Flansburgh described this modification as "highly misguided". The Chessmaster prototype is known to have made an appearance at one show at the Iron Horse and in the infamous "Rabid Child" music video, where it can be seen donned over Flansburgh's shoulder.

• Cue Cards - These cards were mostly brought out during performances of "I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die". They had lyrics of the song printed on them and the band encouraged the audience to sing along with them during the performances of the song. The earliest instance of the cue cards can be traced back to a review of the band's 1985 Iron Horse show from the Daily Collegian.

• Lincoln Beards - Brought out once at a Darinka show in 1985 as fakes worn by the Johns.^[5]

• Lizard Head - Not much is known about this lizard head, but apparently it was brought out at least once at a 1985 show at the Iron Horse.

• Mexican Sombrero - This sombrero was seen in old mid-1980s promotional photos and was known to have been brought out at two shows, a 1985 show at the Iron Horse and a 1987 show at the Milestone Club, where it can be seen sitting on a stand. One of these photos ended up in Michael Small's review of the 1985 Demo Tape for People Magazine in 1986. Linnell can also be seen wearing another sombrero in a few promotional images made for Star Hits.

• Papier-mâché Hands - Nost notable for their appearance in the "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head" music video and on the cover image for the 1985 Demo Tape, these hands were constructed out of rolled up New York Times newspapers, covered in "art school paper mache" and spray painted with day-glow pink paint according to Flansburgh^[6]. John and John would use the hands during "Number Three",^[7] which was a song where the band did not play any instruments. They also used these hands for live performances of "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head".

• Puppet Heads - One of the band's earliest props, these heads were attached to poles, which Flansburgh and Linnell would wave around onstage for performances of "The Big Big Whoredom" as early as 1983. It is not known what they looked like, but the band would create new puppet head props for performances of "Exquisite Dead Guy" and "Counterfeit Faker" in the late 1990s.

• Question Mark Prop - This prop was made specifically for the "Don't Let's Start" music video, built entirely by John Flansburgh.^[8] It was a bright red cardboard circle with a white question mark printed onto it. It is unknown whether this prop made its appearance at any shows, but it did make an appearance in one promotional image for Star Hits.

• Saturn 13" Giant Walking Robot - This prop is one of the band's earliest, appearing at 1983 live shows and in rehearsal photos. In the Pyramid Club photos, it can be seen hanging on a rope, which was tied to a black bar attached to the roof of the club. The original toy dates back to 1981 and includes light-up eyes, four shooting missiles, and other features. The band also advertised a giveaway for this robot in a "misguided attempt" to expand their mailing list. In an interview with Smash Hits in April 1990, Flansburgh said that a kid once smashed the robot with a rock.

• The Snowman - The snowman was a big cardboard cutout of the snowman burning money from the Don't Let's Start EP, although colored with red gloves, a red scarf and red boots. It was only known to have been toured with in mid-1987, and was mentioned by Bill Krauss to have "cast a watchful eye" onstage.

• The Stick - Used to create a deep, pounding sound during certain songs. Introduced circa. 1986-1987 to create a bass drum sound for "Lie Still, Little Bottle",^[9] it became a staple for many of the band's live shows in the late 1980s. Although initially retired alongside other props in October 1988, the Stick returned in December of that year,^[10] and continued to be performed with until at least 1990. The Stick has occasionally been revived over the years, and has recently returned for the band's 2024 shows.^[11]

Later years

They Might Be Giants did not entirely abandon the idea of props during their shows. In the 1990s, the band returned to using puppet heads on poles to perform certain songs, such as "Exquisite Dead Guy" and "Counterfeit Faker". In the late 2000s, they created sock puppets called The Avatars Of They to use during certain portions of the show.

Gallery

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  The Saturn robot toy hanging on a rope while They Might Be Giants perform, 1983

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  John Flansburgh holding his Chessmaster prototype alongside John Linnell, wearing a bicorne-like hat in an old promotional photo, 1985

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  Flansburgh performing under an Arthur Koestler mask, 1985

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  They Might Be Giants performing with papier-mâché hands, 1985

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  Flansburgh performing under a Liaquat Ali Khan mask alongside Linnell, 1986

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  They Might Be Giants performing at CBGB behind Barbara Lipp's spinning machine, 1986

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  Linnell and Flansburgh with a broken snowman prop, 1987

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  Flansburgh holding up cue cards during a performance of I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die, 1988

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  They Might Be Giants performing with Spiro Agnew masks, 1988

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  They Might Be Giants at the New York Music Awards with their red carpet hats, 1988

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  Flansburgh performing with the Stick, 1988

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  Puppet heads "performing" the song "Exquisite Dead Guy", 1990s

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  The Johns using The Avatars of They, June 2011