We recently connected with Matt Vogel and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Matt thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Being a Muppet Performer incorporates many different skills that must all work in conjunction with one another. To make it easier to understand, there’s a technical side and an artistic side. Both sides have multiple skills contained within that need to function seamlessly together to achieve an honest, true-to-life character.

Some of these required skills overlap between technical and artistic, but I’ll try to break them up a bit. The technical side involves physical manipulation of the puppet and working to a television monitor. The manipulation of the puppet means lip-synching to your own voice (generally speaking “each individual syllable equals one mouth open for the puppet”) as well as subtle puppetry that mimic human behaviors so that an audience can understand what the puppet is feeling (a slow, small look down can convey sadness while a bright, open mouth look out can convey happiness). Then, there’s the ability to work to a monitor, a technique Jim Henson developed 70 years ago. Muppet Performers watch and perform to a monitor showing them exactly what their audience sees. It’s a skill that can take years to develop proficiency. A monitor is not a mirror image – which would be easier, but problematic for several reasons. When working on a show like Sesame Street, we often see words on screen. If the monitor were reversed to be like a mirror, those words to us would be backwards. Also, it helps to work to a true monitor image for composition and communication with the director. And…in the end, this is the way that Jim Henson did it and so do we.

The artistic side has to do with creating a bold character and acting. Characters on Sesame Street like Elmo, Big Bird, and Oscar the Grouch are all bold, dynamic characters and that is part of what makes them interesting to watch, so another one of a Muppet Performer’s tasks is to bring a character to life that is intriguing and compelling. Linked to that is the fact that all Muppet Performers are actors. They must be in order to create a believable character (even if that character is a monster, a giant yellow bird, or a grouch).

The skills that you need as a Muppet Performer are all essential – none can be left aside – and when given the benefit of time on camera to learn, a critical eye for knowing what you are looking for, and good old hard work, the result is very satisfying to me and, hopefully, and audience. When the skills are all put together and done well, the result is a character that you cannot take your eyes off.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was a kid in the 1970s who was inspired by Jim Henson and The Muppets. I loved everything Muppet Show and Sesame Street-related. Jim inspired me to create my own puppets as a 10-year-old and entertain kids in my neighborhood. All the while I did not know that being a Muppet Performer was a job.

I went to school to learn acting and in 1994 moved to New York City where – after seeing an ad looking for puppeteers and featuring Kermit the Frog – I had an audition for the Jim Henson Company that got my foot in the door. After working on my monitor skills and participating in several puppet workshops held by the Jim Henson Company, I found myself on Sesame Street assisting under many original Muppet Performers including Jerry Nelson (The Count) and Caroll Spinney (Big Bird). It was a long time before I was given the opportunity to perform a small character of my own, but ultimately became one of the main Sesame Street Muppet Performers. I now perform The Count and Big Bird as well as other characters on Sesame Street.

I am also one of the core Disney Muppet Performers. I play Kermit the Frog and many other classic Muppet Show characters. I was featured in the 2014 film, Muppets Most Wanted, playing the evil doppelgänger for Kermit named Constantine.

In addition to being a Muppet Performer, I am also a co-producer and a director on Sesame Street. I find that my experience as a Muppet Performer enhances my ability to direct the cast and how to solve potential puppet-related obstacles on set.

My creativity beyond being a Muppet Performer ranges from creating music with my band, The Mighty Weaklings, to hosting two podcasts – Below the Frame with Matt Vogel which interviews Muppet Performers and others in the universe of Sesame Street and the Muppets, and SOLVE FOR GEN X a podcast where three people from Generation X discuss a pop culture topic relevant to the ’70s and ’80s and then talk with someone from another generation to see if there’s any shared experience between generations.

My love for the Muppets and being on this ride with them is a dream (I didn’t know I had) come true.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I think one of the most important things along my creative journey is keeping my eyes open for opportunity. It’s happened time and time again for me going all the way back to creating those puppets as a kid. I felt an impulse to create and entertain and seeing The Muppets drove that impulse to become a reality.

I was moving to New York to be an actor, not a puppeteer. Seeing the ad with Kermit was something I could’ve passed on, but didn’t. I pursued it and it has led me to this point.

Keeping my eyes open for creativity and artistic endeavors has always benefited me and it’s one thing I always say to younger performers.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think there is a lesson in my line of work that applies to non-creatives and creatives alike. We never truly know how difficult something is until we see it. Until we are in it. As a Muppet Performer – if we are doing it right – it looks easy. It looks like anyone can do it. That’s the trick of it. It’s a skill that’s so refined over thousands and thousands of hours that it can look deceptively easy. I think the same can be said for so many artistic disciplines. Being able to appreciate and look deeper into what goes into a skill can bring a fuller understanding and perhaps a larger sense of gratitude. And that’s whether one is a non-creative or a creative.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mattvogel.com
• Instagram: welcomematt
• Youtube: @MattVogel_tv