Mallory, Lamb Chop can't wait to make Missouri State Fair debut

Mallory Lewis and her puppet, Lamb Chop, will get to see the Show-Me State for the first time during the Missouri State Fair.

“I’ve never been to Missouri. I can’t wait,” Mallory said in a recent telephone interview. “I may have come with my mother as a child, because I used to tour with my mother, the way my son is touring with me. But I have never been to Missouri that I remember.”

Mallory is the daughter of Shari Lewis, the woman who brought Lamb Chop to life in the 1950s. Shari was the daughter of Abe Hurwitz, who was known as Peter Pan, the Magic Man in New York.

“He was sort of one of the last vaudevillians and so Mom knew how to juggle, how to play with fire, how to do magic,” Mallory said.

However, Shari loved dancing the most. She was a trained ballerina who danced at the American Ballet Theater.

“But you don’t get to be a prima ballerina if you’re 5 feet tall,” Mallory said.

So, Shari decided to do what she got the most positive reinforcement for — ventriloquism.
One day Bob Keeshan, better known as Captain Kangaroo, called and told Shari that he loved her, but he hated her dummies. At that time she was working with wooden puppets. He wanted her to be on his show and asked if she had anything else. Her father had given her Lamb Chop some time earlier. Before Keeshan called, she had no interest in her. But after he called, Lamb Chop was born.

Shari went on have her own television program in 1960. She had numerous series in the United States and United Kingdom and participated in a lot of variety shows. In the 1990s, “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along” was broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System. Mallory was her mother’s head writer and producer for the last 15 years of her life. She was eight weeks pregnant when her mother died at the age of 65.

“When my mom died I realized I had to try. I couldn’t let Lamb Chop be dead for my son,” Mallory said. “I put Lamb Chop on and I started working.”

Mallory started by doing a two-minute show and worked her way up to 30 minutes. She has performed at a lot of state fairs and performing arts centers.

“My show is not a kiddie show. It pleases multi-generational audiences. There is humor for the grandparents, there’s humor for the parents,” Mallory said. “People ask me who my audience is. I say — breathing.”

Children love the show because Lamb Chop is funny. She loves talking about her own awesomeness and looks at the world through the eyes of a self-centered, spoiled 6-year-old.
Lamb Chop’s friend, Hush Puppy, will also attend the fair. He’s a dog puppet from Arkansas. He enjoys teasing Mallory about her being from the North.

Mallory said she has the best time performing at fairs. After the show, she invites the audience to come up for autographs and to visit.

“The sweet thing is it’s a half an hour where people come up and tell me how much they loved my mommy,” she said. She appreciates hearing stories of how her mother affected the lives of strangers.

Mallory is a big supporter of the military. Her mother told her to pick one charity to support so she could make a real impact. She spends a lot of time going to military bases and stopping by VA hospitals.

“We do a huge amount of work with the troops,” she said.

Mallory and Lamb Chop will perform at the Missouri State Fair at 11 a.m., 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday at the Kids Stage.