A new Australian children’s TV series for ages 5–9
Yompers follows the social lives of children who attend a whimsical, multi-species vacation care run by four wise, but hilarious Yompers who bring insight, peace, love and laughter. Each donning a colourful backpack, Yompers carry the heavy load of life’s biggest lessons. It takes a Yomper to raise a community.
Yompers is a fast-paced, fun and funny children’s TV series for ages 5–9 and their families that shines a light on the individual, social and community life of children using humanities, arts and social sciences education. Each 11-minute episode includes a snappy live action storyline, creative cutaways and a different two-minute song per episode as the outro.
Featuring over 15 puppet characters per episode, human actors include children in vacation care and the teenage and young adult assistants who help run things – the Yomper “Helping Hands”.
The Yompers theme song is by Australian rock legends Regurgitator!
Their calling is to impart wisdom to some of the youngest humans on earth in a super fun way, supporting them to understand important and exciting ideas in the areas of HASS (Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences).
The main characters are four puppet Yompers: A Polar Bear, a Greater Glider, a Crested Porcupine and a Pine Marten. They are peacemakers who run Yompers Vacation Care Centre, which is a converted war bunker on Bribie Island. Each Yomper carries a heavy load – a colourful backpack. Each of them has something special inside their backpacks that is revealed to support their care for the children.
Note, ‘Yomping’ was revealed by journalist Charles Laurence in 1982 as the word which the British Royal Marines used to describe carrying heavy loads long distances on foot. It’s used here as euphemism for “taking on the heavy load to help others achieve their goals”. The twist is that these Yompers are harbingers of global peace which is, let’s be honest, the HARDEST of jobs.
The Yompers TV series proof of concept was filmed in February 2025 at Pluggas Studio on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.
We recently enjoyed a wonderful Brisbane catch-up with UK puppeteer Laura Bacon, performer of Patsy May from Britain’s Got Talent. It was a special opportunity to connect here in Queensland while she was visiting Australia from the United Kingdom.
Laura Bacon and Patsy May in Brisbane made for a memorable meeting, especially for Troggg, who was very excited to finally meet the legendary character in person.
From Britain’s Got Talent to Global Touring Productions
Many audiences first discovered Patsy May during her unforgettable appearance on Britain’s Got Talent. Bold, fearless and brilliantly funny, the character quickly gained international attention and showcased the power of contemporary puppetry on mainstream television.
Here is the performance that introduced Patsy May to a global audience:
Beyond Britain’s Got Talent, Laura Bacon has worked across major international productions. She performed in Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, a large-scale prequel to Jim Henson’s original 1982 film, requiring extraordinary technical precision and endurance.
Her stage credits include performing in the UK leg of Disney’s Winnie the Pooh stage production, bringing beloved characters Piglet, Kanga and Roo to life for theatre audiences.
Laura has also toured with Coldplay, performing with the Henson puppet band The Weirdos as part of the Coldplay world tour. It is a remarkable example of puppetry crossing into large-scale live music performance at stadium level.
Talking with Laura Bacon about Patsy May in Brisbane led to inspiring conversations about touring, television production, character building, physical stamina behind the monitor, and the strength of the global puppetry community.
Troggg Meets Patsy May in Brisbane
One of the highlights of Laura Bacon and Patsy May visiting Brisbane was Troggg finally meeting Patsy May face to face.
About Laura Bacon
Laura Bacon is a UK-based professional puppeteer whose work spans live theatre, international touring, television and major film productions. She is best known for performing Patsy May on Britain’s Got Talent and for her work on Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Her diverse career includes Disney theatre productions, arena tours, and large-scale screen projects, demonstrating the versatility and artistry of contemporary puppetry.
Laura Bacon and Patsy May catching up with us in Brisbane is a reminder of how connected the international puppetry world truly is. From UK theatre stages to Netflix productions, from Coldplay stadium tours to some TV work in Sydney, puppetry continues to evolve and inspire audiences around the world.
If you would like to explore more about our professional puppet shows here in Australia and international collaborations, visit:
Larrikin Puppets
As we look back on 2025, we’re feeling exhausted, but also grateful, and a little bit amazed by just how much we’ve done this year.
One of the biggest focuses of our year has been screen work. Early in the year, we spent a significant amount of time at Pluggas Studio on the Sunshine Coast filming the pilot for our children’s TV series “Yompers“.
Yompers follows the social lives of children who attend a whimsical, multi-species vacation care run by four wise, but hilarious Yompers who bring insight, peace, love and laughter. It takes a Yomper to raise a community. Featuring 20+ puppet characters per episode, human actors include children in vacation care and the teenage and young adult assistants who help run things – the Yomper “Helping Hands”.
And as part of Yompers, we were excited and honoured to once again collaborate with members of iconic Australian band Regurgitator, with Ben Ely voicing the Snowball, Quan Yeomans voicing Slate the Cat, and the band also recording the theme song for the series. Brett’s brother Todd Hansen along with his King Parrot bandmate Andrew Squiz Squires also recorded the music for the puppet band segment of the show, with vocals by Madeleine York.
Throughout the year we held meetings about Yompers with producers, investors and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, and we now have a trailer being shown to networks and industry decision makers. We are hopeful that Yompers will continue to move forward toward a full season, whether in Australia or overseas.
We also performed the puppetry for the new educational kids TV series “Nature Knows”, which was filmed at Pluggas Studio. The federally funded series is all about blue carbon and how caring for our wetlands can help curb climate change and protect our biodiversity. The puppets were beautifully built by Katherine Hannaford.
Additional video projects this year included work on new videos for Miss Nicky Says, the Leave Stress at Home road safety campaign starring Scrambles as a stress monster, and continued growth of our YouTube channel’s nursery rhyme videos. While live performance often takes priority, filmed content remains a key part of our creative future and we are excited to return to creating more video content in the year ahead.
We were proud to receive several grants in 2025 supporting both our creative and business development. Elissa was awarded two RADF grants from the City of Moreton Bay and Arts Queensland, including a Creative Cities Grant to co-produce and co-direct our next large-scale theatre production, “Zietta and the Little Larrikins: A Celebration of Culture, Connection & Creativity”, and a Continue Creating Grant supporting early scriptwriting and set development for the same work. These grants supported puppet-building, set design, music production, filming, and the launch of this original children’s puppet theatre project for ages 5–9 and their families. Brett was also awarded a Business Basics Grant from the Department of Small and Family Business to develop “Little Larrikins Learning”, a video streaming educational platform delivering puppet-led HASS content for children aged 4–9. Together, this support enabled us to grow both our artistic practice and our educational reach. A big thank you to City of Moreton Bay, Arts Queensland and Queensland Government for their support.
This year saw the launch of our brand new podcast, “Little Larrikins Podcast“. Episode 1 is now available, with Episode 2 currently in the editing stage. It’s a zany, fast-paced, feel-good listen for kids, families, homeschoolers, and classrooms! Each episode bursts with music, jokes, learning, and puppet fun while shining a light on the world of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS).
We’re also excited to share that Elissa has written a children’s book based on our ocean-themed puppet show “Marina’s Marine Adventure“. With beautiful illustrations by Jannata Dea, the new book will launch in the new year.
In November, Elissa and Brett were flown to Sydney to speak at the 40th Anniversary Conference of NEIS and Self-Employment Assistance at the ParkRoyal Darling Harbour. We were honoured to deliver the keynote speech at the gala dinner, with Brett, Elissa, Troggg and Marina all part of the presentation. It was a joyful night filled with laughter, warm reactions and plenty of photos with the puppets.
Our presentation explored the beginnings of Larrikin Puppets through the NEIS program 13 years ago, highlights from our live shows, moments from our screen work and a preview of Yompers.
Touring highlights throughout the year included:
A massive Queensland Outback tour of performances in Miles, Roma, Mitchell, Charleville, Wyandra, Winton and Barcaldine.
A week based in Toowoomba, delivering OSHC performances and workshops across Toowoomba and Dalby.
Returning to the Snowflakes in Stanthorpe Festival, where the nicest audiences attended our puppet show, often multiple times across the three days of performances. We also got to meet and spend time with childhood hero Eric Summons, who famously starred in 1980s children’s TV shows Boris’ Breakfast Club (as Boris), Seven’s Super Saturday Show (with Agro) and Wombat (also with Agro).
We performed at a wide range of pubs, clubs and RSLs, including Tewantin Noosa RSL, The Junction Hotel Annerley, The Koala Tavern Capalaba, Alexandra Hills Hotel, and North Lakes Sports Club.
We also enjoyed performing “All Together Now: A Celebration of Cultural Diversity” as part of the Anywhere Theatre Festival, with huge thanks to City of Moreton Bay for curating these sessions, and “Marina’s Marine Adventure” at many libraries across South East Queensland.
Our bread and butter continues to be live performances in schools and childcare centres, and this year we reached several milestones by performing for clients who have booked us for ten consecutive years.
This year we also made time for professional development, from a marionette session with Neil Fainges to Elissa taking part in a shadow puppetry workshop with Catherine O’Neill from Little Big World Puppet Company, along with catch-ups with legendary puppeteer Dennis Murphy in Toowoomba.
Our annual Christmas season began in late November with performances at schools, OSHC programs, childcare Christmas parties and evening carols events. We rounded out the year in our home community of Bribie Island, presenting both daytime and evening performances at the Bribie Community Hall in Woorim, shared with the wonderful Rosanna Valentina (Magic Moments in Oz) and Monty the Magical Dragon (played by Greg Jones), making it a joyful and meaningful way to close the year.
In 2026 we look forward to officially launching Zietta and the Little Larrikins at the Redcliffe Entertainment Centre in May, and appearing at the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival in April, as part of the children’s program, performing a new and extended version of our crowd-pleasing, award-winning Kids Comedy Puppet Show across 16 performances at Kindred Studios in South Yarra. Tickets are already selling well, and we can’t wait to bring our puppets to Melbourne audiences for the first time as part of this prestigious festival. We’ll also be releasing more episodes of Little Larrikins Podcast, rolling out our new video streaming service Little Larrikins Learning, and continuing progress on Yompers.
Thank you for supporting Larrikin Puppets throughout 2025. We could not do this without you.
We’re thrilled to share some exciting news from the world of Larrikin Puppets! Our much-loved red monster puppet Scrambles has made his government campaign debut, starring as the “stress monster” in the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) StreetSmarts social media ad.
The campaign — produced by Tusk Media — encourages drivers to “leave stress behind” by leaving a little earlier and avoiding road rage. Scrambles, normally known for his kind, gentle and slightly nervous personality at our live puppet shows, was given a clever makeover for the ad. With the addition of bushy, angry eyebrows, he transformed into a stressed-out creature representing the tension drivers sometimes take on the road.
Brett Hansen, principal puppeteer at Larrikin Puppets, performed the puppetry for the commercial, bringing Scrambles’ new persona to life on screen. “It was a fun creative challenge,” Brett says. “We took a familiar character and, with just a small design tweak, gave him an entirely new energy that perfectly suited the campaign’s message.”
The live-action role of the commuter leaving for work and “leaving stress behind” was played by actor Sherwin Saran, whose calm performance provided the perfect counterpoint to Scrambles’ over-the-top stress monster antics.
A huge thank-you goes to Liam Lafferty, Creative Director at Tusk Media, for bringing us on board and leading such a creative and collaborative production.
We’re proud to have worked with Tusk Media, Liam Lafferty, Sherwin Saran, and the StreetSmarts team on a project that promotes safer, calmer roads for everyone. It’s also a wonderful showcase of how puppetry for TV, film, and advertising can communicate important public messages in an engaging, memorable way.
Watch the Advertisement
Behind the Scenes
Want to see how it all came together? We’ve got some behind-the-scenes glimpses from the set of the StreetSmarts ad:
These behind-the-scenes moments show how Scrambles was transformed into the stress monster, the filming process with Tusk Media, and the teamwork that went into making the ad come to life.
Book Larrikin Puppets for Your Screen Projects
This campaign highlights how effective puppetry in commercials, music videos, TV, and film can be. If you’re producing a TV commercial, music video, film, or television project and want memorable characters brought to life by experienced puppeteers, Larrikin Puppets would love to collaborate with you. Get in touch with us here to discuss your next project.
Learn to count and practice moving your fingers with Zietta Elissa, her clever monster friend Moss and a fun-loving crew from Larrikin Puppets.
Help Zietta and Moss put the baby to sleep by singing along to the classic Five Finger Family song with a fun puppet finger family, including Daddy Finger (Troggg), Mummy Finger (Flossy), Brother Finger (Scrambles), Sister Finger (Marina), and Baby Finger (New Baby)!
Larrikin Puppets loves it when you sing along and move your fingers too – children and their grown ups together!
Lyrics: Five Finger Family Song | Baby Finger
Daddy finger, Daddy finger, where are you? Here I am! Here I am! How do you do? Mummy finger, Mummy finger, where are you? Here I am! Here I am! How do you do? Brother finger, Brother finger, where are you? Here I am! Here I am! How do you do? Sister finger, Sister finger, where are you? Here I am! Here I am! How do you do? Baby finger, Baby finger, where are you? Here I am! Here I am! How do you do?
Larrikin Puppets have returned to the Queensland Children’s Hospital for another fun episode of Juiced TV! Our puppet character Troggg the blue monster first appeared on Juiced TV way back in Season 1.
After few more appearances over the years, Brett and Elissa returned to the Queensland Children’s Hospital in February 2024 to film a brand new episode about how puppets work.
Characters featured include Scrambles, Freerange the Chicken and Erse.
Juiced TV is a children’s infotainment program that benefits the health and wellbeing of sick kids and their families in hospital. Filmed at the Queensland Children’s Hospital, the show features many children from hospital as presenters and airs on the patient’s TVs. Troggg the blue monster co-hosted an episode of the show in 2015. The end of the episode featured Brett demonstrating how Troggg and some of our other puppets work. A couple of years later, Troggg featured as an interviewer on location at Juiced TV’s Paddle For Kids event at South Bank Parklands. And in 2021 Troggg and Marina appeared on a special Christmas storytime episode of the show.
If you’d like to see us on those other episodes of Juiced TV plus many more appearances on film, TV and music videos, you can see all of that here: https://www.larrikinpuppets.com.au/videos/
Not shown on this particular episode (S11, E10) are some short “Feel Good Friday” episodes which will air over the coming weeks and months starring Troggg and Marina telling a series of funny jokes. These segments were filmed on the same day – which was Thursday 29 February, 2024.
It’s always very rewarding to visit the Queensland Children’s Hospital not only to work on cool, fun TV episodes like this, but also to bring smiles and laughter to the children who are there with illness or injury and need all the joy they can get during such a difficult time.
Elissa and Troggg presented a talk at the highly acclaimed TEDx Brisbane on 14 October 2023.
The theme for TEDx Brisbane 2023 was ‘The Power of Intention’. What is our intention when it comes to the art of puppetry?
We are super proud of both the delivery and the content of our TEDx Talk. The professional video recording is available to watch on YouTube here.
A big thanks to Juanita, Rob and everyone at TEDx Brisbane for your support in rehearsing and producing our talk. It was an experience we’ll never forget!
We have big news! Elissa and Troggg have been invited to present a talk at the highly acclaimed TEDx Brisbane on 14 October 2023.
The theme for TEDx Brisbane this year is ‘The Power of Intention’. What is our intention when it comes to the art of puppetry?
And don’t be surprised if you spot us on a digital billboard around Greater Brisbane in the coming weeks! If you do, be sure to snap a photo and send it our way.
We have another exciting music video collaboration announcement coming soon!
On Thursday, 29 October 2020 we had the great pleasure of meeting a group of very popular, award winning musicians and posing with our puppet characters for a photo shoot.
Our next meeting with these artists will be the filming of a crazy new music video for a song that will be a POP ANTHEM! Don’t be surprised if you start to see our characters Troggg, Flossy, Frazzamatazz and Freerange the Chicken all over the place very soon in photos and video clips associated with these VERY popular and talented acts.
Short trailer of a web series I recently had the pleasure of performing the puppet character on! Can’t wait to share the whole series with you! – Brett.
A sneaky glimpse of the brand new comedy series by Cheeky Moon, premiering in 2021.
Could this mysterious self-help organisation be a cult? Find out next year on IT’S A CULT!
Starring Christine Milo, Rhys McCane, Bronte Pearce and Sam Monaghan.
With Luisa Prosser, Daren King and Mark Grimes as the voice of Professor James Gilmour.
Written and directed by Claire Coe & Alastair Craig
Also appearing among the many splendid faces in this teaser: Amy Currie, Drew Lochrie, Rosa Sottile, Coen Gilbert, Dan Beeston, Tamara McLaughlin, Taylor Edwards and Jordan Schulte.
Directors of Photography in excerpts shown: Sean Smith / Dean Swindell / Owen Smith & David Aponas (Short Stack Productions)
Special guest puppetry by Brett Hansen of Larrikin Puppets.
