Episode 85 (The World of Puppets)

Paul’s February 2025 podcast episode is his first to tackle the speech of inanimate objects, specifically puppets. But as you will see from this month’s guest, accomplished Sesame Street puppeteer Spencer Lott, they can be just as animated as any human.

Spencer and Paul discuss puppetry and specifically the art of voicing the characters. They also dive briefly into the psychology of the craft, plus that of the related artform of ventriloquism.

Spencer Lott started performing with Sesame Street in 2014. Some highlights include playing the letter K, a rockstar rock, and a head of cabbage named Kyle. In 2019, he originated the role of Samuel, Julia’s neurotypical older brother, and he is thrilled to be a part of Sesame Street’s autism initiative.

Spencer’s other credits include John Krasinski’s IF, Saturday Night Live, Helpsters (Apple+), Disney’s The Muppets (50th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade), America’s Got Talent, SpongeBob As Told By… , Hello Tomorrow! (Apple+), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Sesame Street’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, Once Upon A Sesame Street Christmas, The Puppy Bowl, Fraggle Rock (The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade) and the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors.

Spencer helmed the team that recreated the iconic puppets from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (starring Tom Hanks) and was the lead puppeteer. Additional film credits include Hoodie (Palm Springs Shorts Fest), The Relationtrip (SXSW) and Clifford the Big Red Dog. Spencer co-wrote and directed the short puppet film Melvin the Birder, which was included in Heather Henson’s Handmade Puppet Dreams film series and received the 2014 PDN Photo Annual Award.

He has received multiple grants from the Jim Henson Foundation for his original theatrical work, which has been presented at Dixon Place, HERE Arts, LaMama, Little Island, and Lincoln Center. He has performed at the Metropolitan Opera (John Adam’s El Nino) and on tour with the Avett Brothers. He spent a decade working as an actor, director, and creative producer for Trusty Sidekick Theater Company and is now a co-founder at Simple Mischief Studio, working on projects for HBOMAX, Paramount, Nickelodeon, Goodspeed Musicals and the band Phish.

For more information on Spencer, visit MisterLott.com and SimpleMischiefStudio.com.

This month’s episode is the first to feature an extended video segment. Watch here:

The podcast includes snippets of several YouTube videos, referenced under the copyright doctrine of fair use. To watch the entire videos, see below:

And for a more malevolent character, from the related world of ventriloquism, here is a clip from Dead of Night (1945), which birthed the movie subgenre of ventriloquist-dummy horror:

Everybody Loves Raymond is copyright CBS, Sesame Street is copyright Sesame Workshop, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is copyright TriStar Pictures/Tencent Picture, and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is copyright Jim Henson Company/Henson Associates.

(Bach’s Cello Suite #1 in G Major BMV 1007 Prelude (by Ivan Dolgunov) is courtesy of Jamendo Licensing.)

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