I am probably best known for having created all the puppets for, and performing in, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical AVENUE Q.

I was a puppeteer on Sesame Street for over 15 years, was an animatronic puppeteer for two of the original live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, and have also built puppets for and performed on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Originally from Rochester, NY, and currently based in the New York City area, I studied theatre at Penn State University, and puppetry at the Institute of Professional Puppetry Arts in Connecticut and the Institut Internationale de la Marionnette in France. It is while I was studying in Connecticut in 1986 that I first met the late Jim Henson, which later led to my working for him as a puppeteer with the Muppets and Jim Henson's Creature Shop. I've also worked independently and with other companies on television and film projects for Columbia Pictures, New Line Cinema, ABC, CBS, PBS, The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, and Fox.

I've built puppets and props and performed for all kinds of projects, including numerous industrials, home videos, and live shows.

When time permits, I perform with my own troupe, The Lyon Puppets. Live performances by The Lyon Puppets feature a colorful cast of bright, eye-catching puppets, which I design and build myself. I also write my own scripts, and compose the music for my shows, which are often arranged, performed, and recorded by "The Ripmeisters."