David Stephens

David Stephens is a puppeteer and musician who performed on Sesame Street starting with its 39th season. He also performed in two Sesame Street videos and a television special (puppeteering an AM version of Jerry Nelson to his voice). However, David mostly performed minor characters on Sesame Street such as a Muppet named after him and a cow. He did not have much popularity for that show, but he did have a more bigger role for a theater production. Stephens worked on a Goodspeed's live stage production of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, his bigger Muppet role. He started out as the performer of Yancy Woodchuck, did other rabbits/squirrels, and understudied Alan Campbell. David later got promoted to puppet captain and performs Yancy, Fred Lizard, and Pa Otter. It seems working on a stage show has made him officially a Muppet performer (more or less). Why didn't Stephens do any work with the Muppets? If he worked on Sesame Street and the stage show version of a Henson TV special, then he deserves a chance to be with the Muppets. Outside of Sesame Street and Emmet Otter, David Stephens founded a puppet company in 2002 called All Hands Productions. He received a Citation of Excellence from the international puppetry organization in 2005 for his unique project of the classic tale, Billy Goats Gruff. As a musician, Stephens plays the banjo with his own band that is known as Banjolicious. He also served as a musician on Jerry Nelson's own album named Truro Daydreams. David seems to be one of the few puppeteers to be a musician too, not only entertaining with puppets but also with country music. David Stephens, you're both creative and musical when it comes to entertainment. I hope you keep puppeteering and making music. When you get a chance, I want you to work with the Muppets for one project. Bring some melody to the Muppets Stephens!