Larrikin Puppets Biography 2026
Award-winning Larrikin Puppets performs colourful and exciting puppet shows, songs and stories for stage and screen. They provide children’s entertainment that’s engaging and educational, with a focus on humanities, arts and social sciences.
Highly entertaining and captivating, Larrikin Puppets’ fast-paced, feel-good puppetry celebrates fun, kindness and diversity while nurturing child development, encouraging audiences to talk, dance, sing and play along.
Established in 2012, Larrikin Puppets is a world-class Australian puppetry arts business founded and owned by puppeteer and musician Brett Hansen. His wife Elissa Jenkins joins him as co-puppeteer and human host. Based on Bribie Island in regional Queensland, they specialise in children’s entertainment, humanities and social science education, and kids’ music.
Brett and Elissa, who have received training in the USA under puppeteers from The Muppets and Sesame Street, provide child and family audiences with wide-eyed wonder, joy and laughs from beginning to end.
In 2021 Larrikin Puppets won ‘Best Kids Live Show’ at their national industry What’s On 4 Kids Awards. With 13 original songs for children and videos on YouTube, their music has been played on Australian kids’ radio and is streamed globally.
In 2023 Larrikin Puppets presented the first TEDx Talk in Australia to feature a puppet, with Elissa as a human presenter and Brett (hidden) performing “Troggg” the blue puppet monster.
Larrikin Puppets has appeared on TV shows Channel 10’s Shake Takes, Totally Wild, The Bureau of Magical Things and Todd Sampson’s Mirror Mirror. They have appeared on music videos by Illy, Regurgitator, Tia Gostelow and Gutterfire.
Elissa from Larrikin Puppets recently received an RADF (Regional Arts Development Fund) grant to create a new in-theatre production titled Zietta and the Little Larrikins. Launching in October 2025, this will expand the company’s educational and performance offerings for school and community audiences, in preparation for national and international theatre touring. Elissa is also about to release her first children’s book, Marina’s Marine Adventure, and this will likely tour libraries as a pop-up puppet show in 2026 and beyond.
In addition, Brett recently received funding from the Queensland Government through the Business Basics Grant to support the development of Little Larrikins Learning, a video subscription service for children designed for teachers and parents to use in classrooms and at home.
Larrikin Puppets is also currently finishing post-production on Yompers, the first episode of their new children’s TV series set in a magical, multi-species vacation care. With filming complete, the series is now being prepared for pitching to television networks.
Larrikin Puppets is passionate about bringing wide-eyed wonder to children and families everywhere and work each day to make the world a more whimsical, kind and joyful place.
