Age: 55
male
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Matthew J Vogel II (born October 6, 1970) has been a Muppet performer for the Jim Henson Company since the 1990s. On Sesame Street, Vogel served as the assistant puppeteer for Ernie, performing either one or both hands while Steve Whitmire performed the head and vocal. Eventually, Vogel's ability to mimic the sound and performance of Caroll Spinney's Big Bird was put to use. As of 2006, Vogel's primary performances as Big Bird are the "Journey to Ernie" segments. He's also taken over Jerry Nelson's characters, by the recommendation of Nelson himself. Vogel is, as of 2008, the voice of Floyd Pepper, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Robin the Frog, & Camilla the Chicken. He has also taken over the puppetry of Jerry's most famous character, Count von Count, but Jerry is still providing the voice. Vogel performed the muppets that were used in Kenneth the Page's view of the world in the 30 Rock episode, "Apollo, Apollo." Description above from the Wikipedia article Matt Vogel (puppeteer), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
In a plot somewhat similar to 1984's The Muppets Take Manhattan, the Muppets travel to New York to stage one last Muppet Show, one that, according to Kermit, "first, celebrates the history and lore of the Muppets, and second, panders to Muppet geeks like Walter and the nerds who run Muppet Wiki." Along the way, the Muppets reunite with several friends from their past, including several retired characters from The Muppet Show, several characters from Muppets Tonight, Kermit's old friends from Sam and Friends, the cast of The Jim Henson Hour, Kermit's childhood friends from Kermit's Swamp Years, the characters from Saturday Night Live's "Land of Gorch" segments, and even Scooter's twin sister Skeeter from Muppet Babies (in her first official appearance in puppet form, and as an adult). Meanwhile, the original Muppet Show sign has gone missing, and it's up to a search party of Muppets (Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, Rowlf, Walter, Rizzo, Animal, Pepe, Robin, Sweetums, Camilla, and Uncle Deadly) to find it before it's curtains up on the show. Will they find the sign in time?
