Melvin Van Horne (also known as Sideshow Mel) is Krusty's current sidekick on The Krusty the Clown Show, after Sideshow Bob. When he is not in character, Mel speaks in a grandiose English/Shakespearean/British accent and owns a lot of poodles. He is a recurring character in The Simpsons and a minor antagonist in The Simpsons Movie. Mel joined the cast of the Krusty the Clown Show to replace Sideshow Bob, who was sentenced to prison for attempting to frame Krusty for armed robbery. Sideshow Mel uses a slide whistle to communicate on camera. When not in character, Mel speaks in a grandiose English/Shakespearean accent and owns many poodles. His main accomplishment so far has been successfully removing Mr. Smithers from suspicion of having shot Mr. Burns. Off-screen, Mel is generally very eloquent, educated, poetic and intelligent, with a beautiful singing voice - it is implied that as with Sideshow Bob before him, his true talents are wasted on Krusty's show. He attended Cornell University. When Lisa Simpson won the 'Entertainer of the Year Award,' it was revealed that Melvin also won the award previously for his portrayal of Biff in Death of a Salesman, but his desire to keep his stardom eventually led him to become the sidekick he is today. He was once forced to conduct an orchestra of kazoo-playing monkeys. When he pleaded with Krusty to not force him to do it, Krusty simply shouted at him to 'shut up and conduct'. (Source: Fandom.com, CC BY-SA)