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.
Puppeteers Brett Hansen and Elissa Jenkins from Larrikin Puppets are delighted and honoured to be working on a music video, performing puppet versions of Regurgitator’s Pogogo Show band members and characters: Ben Ely, Quan Yeomans, Pete Kostic, the effervescent Koko direct from Planet Rainbow, Ghost Cat and Mr. Butt. You can find out all about Regurgitator’s Pogogo Show at their official website.
Their debut album – The Really Really Really Really Boring Album (released through ABC Music) – is available to order or download from a number of different platforms listed here.
This is not the first time Larrikin Puppets have performed in a music video. Back in 2017, Triple J Unearthed High Indigenous Initiative Winner Tia Gostelow released a single called, “That’s What You Get”, which featured puppetry by Brett and Elissa in the video. While the bulk of puppetry work Larrikin Puppets do is live performances, film and television work is always special for Brett and Elissa. Australia doesn’t have as many opportunities for puppeteers on television anymore. Gone are the days of Agro, Ozzie Ostrich, The Channel Niners, C’mon Kids, Shirl’s Neighbourhood, Lift Off, The Ferals, Mr. Squiggle and countless TV commercials featuring zany puppet characters made of felt and fur. Opportunities like this are rare and very much appreciated by Larrikin Puppets. Brett Hansen has received advanced, formal training in the USA by Jim Henson puppeteers from Sesame Street and The Muppets – with specific focus on Henson style monitor puppetry for film and TV. Elissa Jenkins too has received some training in the USA at NYC’s The Puppet Kitchen.
Larrikin Puppets also provide puppetry for short films, TV shows and commercials. Our blue monster star Troggg will appear in any production, or Brett Hansen can puppeteer characters that you have created.
If you have a cast of performers without puppetry experience, Brett can provide training and supervision on set. We have received formal film and TV monitor puppetry training in the USA under Jim Henson puppeteers from The Muppets and Sesame Street. Examples of our Film and TV puppetry (both as performer and trainer/supervisor): Totally Wild – Long running kids’ TV series on Network Ten, Channel Eleven and TenPlay. In an episode filmed in January 2018 (aired in March 2018), Brooke Marsden interviews Brett Hansen about puppets, and uses Frazzamatazz to learn puppetry techniques. Brett Hansen and Elissa Jenkins perform Troggg, Marina, Flossy and Frizzby in the segment:
The Bureau of Magical Things – Kids’ fantasy-drama TV series on Network Ten and Channel Eleven produced by Jonathan M. Shiff, and starring Kimie Tsukakoshi, Jamie Carter, Elizabeth Cullen, Julian Cullen, Mia Milnes, Rainbow Wedell, Melanie Zanetti, Nicholas Bell, Christopher Sommers and Steve Nation. Brett Hansen was a puppeteer in Episode 11 – performing a magical pogo stick. Below are Brett’s scenes. Brett’s in the dumpster wrestling with Kyra (played by Kimie Tsukakoshi), and he has been digitally removed from scenes where the stick is bouncing around. The movement is all puppetry rather than CGI. There were three versions of the pogo stick. Two of them were puppets with green rigging attached for Brett to manipulate it. The third had no rigging, and was used in close ups where Brett peeked it out from behind a tree, made it look both ways, jiggle and fall down.
Juiced TV – Kids’ TV series created by Juiced Enterprises. Produced by Pip Russell, in partnership with Children’s Hospital Foundation. Brett Hansen puppeteered Troggg throughout the show as host, and was interviewed about puppetry during the show’s final segment:
Tia Gostelow: That’s What You Get – Music video produced by Emma Giddins, and directed by Branden Wittchen & Luke Angelo-Roberts at Why Not? Films. Larrikin Puppets’ Brett Hansen and Elissa Jenkins puppeteered Rick and Louisa – two puppets built for the project by Scott Richards at Maxx Puppets. As well as Tia Gostelow and the puppets, the video also stars actor Ryan Hance:
5 for 35 – Short film written and produced by Richard Bell. Co-Produced by Josh Milani. Directed by Brad Lindenmayer. Brett Hansen puppeteered Lil Gary Foley Psychiatrist, Lil Death (Moss) and others throughout the film. Screened in 2015/2016 at the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT8) – Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art.
Kev – Short film written by Branden J Wittchen, directed Luke Angelo-Roberts & Branden J Wittchen, and produced by Emma Giddins of Why Not? Films. Brett Hansen performed the puppetry for two characters in the film – Kev (a bigoted Aussie orange monster played by Frizzby) and a bumbling puppet Police officer who has his priorities all wrong:
Heart of a Thousand Souls – Short film written and directed by Luke Walker, and produced by Jessica Magro. Along with Troggg (who has a minor role), the film stars Tahlia Jade, Ben Taylor, Charnstar Anderson, Kaushik Das, Cory Simpson and Rachel Partridge. Brett Hansen puppeteered Troggg in a few scenes:
http://vimeo.com/98850096
Vox Poppin’ – Troggg’s street interviews video by Greg Kelly at Creative Clones:
The Puppeteer – Larrikin Puppets documentary by Gabor Kukucska from InspireFlix:
https://inspireflix.com/docos/the-puppeteer/
The Late Nite Show – TV show on 31 Digital, created by Scott Black. Troggg appeared as a guest a few times:
Showreel – TV show on 31 Digital, written by Matt Clayton, Clare Abbotts, Dani Bachinger, John Ryan, Catherine Tucker, Kristy Walker, and produced by Dan Randall. Production coordinator Brooke Matthews. Interview with Brett Hansen and Troggg:
CLUCK! Episode 1: The Cockblock of the Century – Web Series written by Lucy Nicklan, produced by Stephanie Walsh, and directed by Vincent Chen. Brett Hansen provided puppetry training, assistance and supervision on set for the two puppet characters (played by Jake Ashton and Kitty Gatling), puppeteered the main character in one scene, and puppeteered a tie being pulled into a paper shredder:
CLUCK! Episode 2: Fowl Behavior – Web Series written by Lucy Nicklan, produced by Stephanie Walsh, and directed by Vincent Chen. Brett Hansen provided puppetry training, assistance and supervision on set for the two puppet characters (played by Jake Ashton and Kitty Gatling), puppeteered the main character in one scene, and puppeteered a tie being pulled into a paper shredder:
CLUCK! Episode 3: Poultry in Motion – Web Series written by Lucy Nicklan, produced by Stephanie Walsh, and directed by Vincent Chen. Brett Hansen provided puppetry training, assistance and supervision on set for the two puppet characters (played by Jake Ashton and Kitty Gatling), puppeteered the main character in one scene, and puppeteered a tie being pulled into a paper shredder:
CLUCK! Behind The Scenes: The Puppets – Footage of Brett Hansen and Jake Ashton working with the puppets made by Lierre Beutel and Gemma Keliher:
