Robin Goldwasser

Robin Goldwasser, sometimes affectionately nicknamed Goldie, is mainly famous as the wife of John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants; however, with another stringed mind of her own as a multitalented musician (areas of her expertise include the ukulele and cello), it’s actually quite no wonder they make a perfect fit.

Undoubtably her most major work is an off-Broadway musical named “People Are Wrong!”, which she wrote with Julia Greenberg. Originally conceived as a concept album similar to “Jesus Christ Superstar”, and the couple in the play being based around Flansburgh and Goldwasser, the playwright duo received a lot of assistance from John early in the process, and when it came to the booking process, John Linnell came in too (he would later contribute to the musical aspect of the play, providing saxophone and accordion for the instrumentation). The musical received generally good reviews, but remains unknown to the mainstream musical crowd, having not been performed since it’s final first-run performance in December 2004.

Robin also contributed some vocals to Flansburgh’s side band, Mono Puff, in the late 90s. She has also contributed to They Might Be Giants herself, with singing vocals on 37 songs (including backup vocals, and rarities/demos). However, this non-John monopoly has led to negative reception from some of the TMBG fanbase, and she has been in the past referred to as a “Yoko Ono” (referring to how John Lennon let his wife sing on many of his songs, much to negative reception); however, many fans seemingly appreciate her vocals, which are known for being sweet, gentle, and bold.

Goldwasser is also a highly talented knitter and crafter, and has created the Deeply Felt Puppet Theater (with an unidentified puppeteer; the characters have performed at both family-friendly and more adult TMBG shows), the infamous Puppet Johns who delighted children on the DVD sets of They Might Be Giants’ kids albums “Here Comes The ABCs”, and its mathematical follow-up “Here Comes The 123s”, and, more recently, the other silly puppet John duo The Avatars of They; which the two Johns play during live shows as a sort of “mini-show” comedy act, performing songs for the audiences and engaging in silly comedic “banter”.