I’m a New York City based puppeteer, director and teacher.
I have had the great fortune of traveling the world with many renowned shows and companies. My life in the arts has been such a gift and I’m humbled whenever I think about it.
I have been profoundly influenced by the work of The Handspring Puppet Company. I met them when I was cast a puppeteer for the head of Joey in the North American and Japanese tour of the Olivier and Tony award winning show, “War Horse”. I then toured Asia, Europe and the USA with the Handspring’s collaboration with the director and artist William Kentridge, "Il Ritorno D'Ulisse".
I am also a regular collaborator with Australia's Olivier Award nominated company Dead Puppet Society. I performed in their show “Argus” in at the IPAY conference in Philadelphia, The Kravitz Center in West Palm Beach as well as a run at Lincoln Center Theater. I was featured as “The Black Sheep” in DPS’ collaboration with the artist Tim Sharp, “Laser Beak Man”. We developed the show through The New Victory Labworks and proceeded to have a season at La Boite Theater Company as well as a tour to Melbourne, Cairns, and the Sydney Opera House.
Recently I have found myself working in both television and film. I had the great privilege of being a puppeteer and a puppet captain for the new TV show "Moon and Me" from Andrew Davenport (the creator of "Teletubbies") which is currently airing on the BBC and NBC Universal Kids and was nominated for a BAFTA award for “Best preschool series-live action”.
I spent the summer of 2019, as a puppeteer for the new feature film adaptation of “Clifford The Big Red Dog”. I performed all of the on set reference puppetry for the title character. You can also catch my work puppeteering the robots on all the episodes of “Hello Tomorrow” on Apple TV+
I am an adjunct teacher at my alma mater, New York University, where I’ve taught puppetry to the students at the Experimental Theatre Wing. I have also taught various workshops and school residencies with Shadow Box Theatre Company as a teaching artist for students with learning differences.
This is just some of my experience in the many years I’ve been a working artist. I hope you enjoy learning about these projects and much more as you peruse my website.
To contact me send an e-mail to jon.riddleberger@gmail.com