The winner of "America's Got Talent" season 10 brings puppet favorites Sam, Albert and Baby to New Brunswick's Stress Factory Comedy Club.
It's weird to interview a ventriloquist like Paul Zerdin over the phone for the obvious reason: You can't see if his lips are moving. So you have to ask.
"My lips are moving like any other human being's lips would move if they were on the telephone like a normal person's. I'll tell you when they're not moving," Zerdin said in an interview with NJ Advance Media. Then his voice became more child-like, "They're not moving now."
Since winning the 10th season of "America's Got Talent" in 2015, Zerdin has completed a run on the Las Vegas strip and is currently touring the U.S., stopping at New Brunswick's Stress Factory Comedy Club for six shows March 23-26. His current show features Sam, a smart-mouthed kid or "cheeky lad" as Brits like Zerdin might say; cranky old man Albert; and whiny, demanding Baby, the same trio of puppets that helped him win him the variety show's $1 million top prize.
Zerdin's was the second ventriloquism act to win "AGT," the first being Terry Fator's in the season two. (In 2008, Fator began a 5-year, $10 million run in Las Vegas. He still headlines a show at the Mirage -- Las Vegas and tours regularly.) Decades after Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Shari Lewis and Lambchop and the heyday of "The Muppet Show," puppets are hot again. In December, NBC announced that it was casting a new competition show called "Top Puppet," which would feature competitors and their puppets performing in front of a live audience and three judges.
Asked if "dummy" was considered a politically incorrect term in his field, Zerdin was practical.
"Dummy, puppet, doll, I don't care. It's just a prop to me, which might sound harsh to a fan," he said. "When I'm on stage, I pretend they're real and talk to them as if they're real because that's part of the illusion. But after the performance, they go away and we don't talk again until the next performance."
What matters most is the comedy of the routine, Zerdin said.
"It's not just necessarily about not moving your lips, although you don't want to move your lips because that helps the illusion. It has to be entertaining. It has to be funny," he said. "You can be a brilliant ventriloquist, technically, but it's really about doing things in ways people haven't seen and find really funny."
Zerdin was already well-known in his native U.K as a stand-up comedian who dabbled in magic before focusing on ventriloquism. After this tour, he'll cross the pond again for another tour and to develop a show for British television. He's also working on a new act that will include two new puppets. He won't reveal many details, noting only that one will be an American -- his other three are British -- and one will be an animal. Both are under construction in London.
"I'm like a kid at Christmas, waiting to get my hands on my presents," he said. "When you still have that feeling, it means you're still loving it."
Paul Zerdin
Stress Factory Comedy Club
90 Church St., New Brunswick
Tickets: $32 - 41, available at www.laughstub.com. March 23-26.
Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at nataliepompilio@yahoo.com. Find her on Twitter @nataliepompilio. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.