Matthew J. "
Matt"
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. Vogel has also, occasionally, operated the Big Bird puppet to a vocal track by Spinney in scenes where Big Bird is in the same scene as
Oscar the Grouch, letting Spinney perform Oscar.