Jonathan Lyons, aka “Buddy the Rat” has been boring ‘seen-it-all’ subway riders a lot these days as he perches on seats in all his rodent regalia, including a full-face mask and a long pink tail.
Lyons, who wears a suit and nice shoes, plus gloves on his hands as he crawls, has posted about 30 other TikTok videos.
Lyons works in physical theater and puppetry, including a stint with the Blue Man Group, according to NYPost.
He said he created Buddy the Rat about 11 years ago, and posted a video on YouTube of a visit to Times Square that got about 70,000 views.
Lyons brought Buddy out of retirement last month to tape a short film with director Todd Strauss-Schulson, known for “Isn’t It Romantic” and “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.”
Lyons, a native of Arizona who moved to New York in 2005, enjoys the fact that the sight of a man in a rat costume doesn’t faze most people.
“Most New Yorkers are totally indifferent”, he said, though he added that some people do get excited and occasionally scared when Buddy appears.
Comments