Rick Lyon

Rick Lyon, born Richard S. Lyon on February 25, 1958, in Rochester, New York, is an American puppeteer, actor, and puppet designer and builder. He studied theater at Penn State University and pursued specialized puppetry training at the Institute of Professional Puppetry Arts in Connecticut and the Institut International de la Marionnette in France.

Lyon spent fifteen seasons as a puppeteer on Sesame Street, from 1987 to 2002, and worked for The Jim Henson Company as one of the operators of Big Bird. His television credits also include Crank Yankers, for which he served as a lead puppeteer during the Comedy Central program's first season, as well as Bear in the Big Blue House, The Book of Pooh, and Binyah Binyah. He contributed to the Nickelodeon projects Stick Stickly and the Me + My Friends pilot. His film work encompasses Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, The Neverending Story III, Men in Black, and the Disney attraction Muppet*Vision 3D at Hollywood Studios.

In 2003, Lyon made his Broadway debut in Avenue Q, the Tony Award-winning musical, where he originated the roles of Trekkie Monster, Nicky, the blue Bad Idea Bear, and additional characters. He also designed and built all of the puppets used in that production. In the fall of 2005, he reprised his roles in the Las Vegas production of the show for eight months before returning to the Broadway cast.

Through his company, The Lyon Puppets, which operates out of a permanent workshop in New Jersey, Lyon has built puppets for the original West End production of Avenue Q in London, the United States national tour, and international productions in Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, France, and China. He also directed a production of Avenue Q at Smithtown PAC and regularly coaches actors in puppetry for productions of the show for which he supplies puppets.

Lyon has made multiple appearances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, performing puppets he also provided for the program. His work on the show has included puppeteering a xenomorph chest burster in an Alien parody sketch featuring guest star Sigourney Weaver, as well as performing Yoda, Kermit the Frog, and Big Bird in satirical sketches, a pair of singing pants, and the Number Two. He additionally performed Kukla, Fran, and Ollie-inspired puppets for a black-and-white throwback segment on the fifteenth episode anniversary show of At Home with Amy Sedaris.