First, Bert and Ernie play a rhyming game:

This is probably a stupid question, but instead of Bert telling Ernie that he doesn’t want to play, why doesn’t he just stop talking?

For the longest time, I used to confuse the preceding clip with the following clip, in which Bert and Ernie play an “echo game” with the drums.  I was confused when I watched the rhyming game sketch as an adult and found no mention of “A Tale of Two Breakfasts”:

I’ve said before that Bert and Ernie remind me of myself and my older sister when we were young, but this is a sketch that I specifically remember re-creating with her when I was a kid.  She thought it was really funny.  She’s also a percussionist, so maybe it resonated with her in that respect.

Fast forward 15-20 years, and Ernie plays a game which involves both rhyming and the drums, as well as alliteration.

You know, I just have to say, one thing I really admire about Steve Whitmire is his perfect Ernie laugh.  I’ve been working on my Ernie laugh for about 35 years, and I still haven’t gotten it right.