High spirits at Sesame Street

In the US, the toy craze this Christmas is not for Disney’s Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear but a Tickle Me Elmo doll. Elmo is a loveable, high-pitched character from the legendary children’s series, Sesame Street.

While in New York last week the Diary came face-to-face with puppeteer Kevin Clash, the strapping 6ft 3in African-American who animates and does the voice for Elmo. In normal speech, Clash has a deep, well-modulated voice.

But this got us wondering whether other down-at-heel celebrities who are naturally blessed with high voices might want to turn to dolls as an alternative revenue source.

Defeated boxing champ Mike Tyson could endorse a Thump Me Tyson doll. Squeeze it and it slumps to the floor. Chris Eubank could endorse a Confuse Me Chris figure. Squeeze it and it reels out a stream of words from the dictionary.