You don’t have to work for the Henson Company, perform on TV or have years of experience to have a good demo reel. For example, I think Lesley Raybon’s demo reel is excellent. I’m unfamiliar with her work, but her resume seems typical of most puppeteers. She seems to have mostly done local or regional puppet theatre and the general public won’t have heard of any of the projects that she’s performed in (this is the case for most puppeteers).

What Lesley really does right in her reel is that she keeps it simple and doesn’t try to be something she’s not. She doesn’t try to overstate or misrepresent her experience. She includes her headshot so we know what she looks like (a really good idea). She provides a breakdown of her work (in her YouTube description) explaining exactly what it’s in her reel. The quality of the video itself could be better, but she’s easy to identify in each clip and we see can clearly see her technique, how she stands, how she holds puppets, etc.

In my opinion, this is exactly what you want to see in a puppeteer’s reel. A few clips of their best work, presented in a simple and straightforward manner. If I was reviewing demo reels and this one came in, it would go straight to the top of the pile to call for audition.