Melvin Van Horne, better known as Sideshow Mel (voiced by Dan Castellaneta), is Krusty the Clown's sidekick. He replaced Sideshow Bob after Bob was incarcerated for framing Krusty for armed robbery. Mel's hiring was never explicitly shown in the series and his full name was only revealed when he announced himself while trying to solve the mystery of who shot Mr. Burns in the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)" and in the episode "All About Lisa" on the portrait of Sideshow Mel in the past. He first appeared in "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge", shortly after Sideshow Bob was sent to prison, filling the exact role that Bob once did. Little is known about Mel. He is a Cornell University graduate, and a former Gulp 'n Blow employee (during the time that Krusty's show was cancelled and Bart and Lisa set out to create a comeback special). Sideshow Mel is revealed, in the episode entitled "All About Lisa", to have been the winner of the prestigious Springfield Entertainer of the Year award. The intoxication of applause made him reduce himself to ridiculous behavior for laughter, which he compared to doing heroin and checking email. Sideshow Mel uses a slide whistle to communicate on camera just like Bob. When not in character, Mel speaks in a grandiose English/Shakespearean accent (Castellaneta's play on Kelsey Grammer's character, Sideshow Bob) and owns poodles. When Springfield inhabitants form an angry mob, Mel often takes a leading role. Mel wears a bone in his hair that has been used as a weapon. In one episode it is suggested that he got the bone stuck in his hair by trying to dig gum out with it. In "Homerazzi" it was revealed that Mel was in a bitter custody battle and that he has a son, who looks just like him except without a bone in his hair. In "I'm with Cupid", he reveals he has a wife named Barbara, who appears in "Realty Bites" where they are bowling in a house that Marge tries to sell to them. She is revealed to be giving birth in the episode "All About Lisa", suggesting that Mel has at least two children. She looks like a European woman, and has light hair. It has been suggested that Mel is very wealthy, able to afford betting thousands of dollars on football regularly.
Sideshow Mel is often subject to abuse by Krusty, just as Sideshow Bob was before him. Such occurrences include 'Krusty's Slide', where he is forced into a mixture of pudding, pickle brine and laundry detergent, a tub of rancid Béarnaise sauce and a tub of refried beans; another unseen one is in "Krusty Gets Kancelled" where he states that Krusty once poured liquid nitrogen down his pants and cracked his buttocks with a hammer. In the episode "Day of the Jackanapes", it is shown that Krusty can remember Sideshow Bob's name, but not Sideshow Mel's.
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