America’s Got Talent 2015 winner, British ventriloquist and comedian, Paul Zerdin, is returning to the UK in the autumn of 2017, with a 45-date tour of ‘All Mouth’, kicking off in September. 

What can people expect from your brand new 2017 ‘All Mouth’ tour?

My dysfunctional sponge family consists of Grandpa Albert, Sam and the Baby, plus 2 brand new characters I’ve been working on. Grandpa Albert has decided to take up ventriloquism himself and has been working on a whole new act for the audience. The Baby is growing up fast and has a much bigger vocabulary than your average 18-month-old and Sam needs to learn that he is partly responsible for screwing up the Vegas show we had!

You’ll be featuring two new characters as part of the show – what can you tell us about them?

I’ve been wanting to do an animal puppet for some time now so I have a new road kill fox character. He makes you think he has been run over, when he really hasn’t so that he can scam you out of money. The other new character is an American FBI agent who was recently revealed on ITV’s This Morning. After all my recent experiences in the States I thought it was time to bring something back from across the pond and it also gives me the opportunity to have a bit of political fun. He’s currently on the hunt for terrorists, but unfortunately, he’s a bit slow so he’s looking for terrorists that have already been caught. Albert has also been learning ventriloquism while we were in Las Vegas, so he has a new ventriloquist doll too.

And what do Baby, Sam and Albert think of the new additions?!

Sam is rather disgruntled that he might no longer be the star of the show. The Baby absolutely loves puppets so he’s excited and Albert hasn’t really got a clue what’s going on in the world anyway.

2016 was such a busy year for you - how was performing in Cinderella at the London Palladium over Christmas?

To come back to the UK after spending over half of last year in the US was the absolute perfect way to end the year. It was even better knowing half of the cast personally, and playing my favourite part Buttons. The show even got Olivier Award-nominated, which was pretty exciting and makes Panto quite cool!

You’ve also recently finished a headline residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas – that must have been a dream come true?

I loved having my own show in Vegas and it was a great experience, but it took me a while to get to grips with how to make it really work for a Vegas crowd. I’d say that they were the hardest audience I’ve ever played to – you’ have people staggering in drunk half way through, or people coming in to the show in a bit of a mood after they’d lost lots of money in the casino, or people from different nationalities sitting there staring at you because they didn’t understand English. It was quite a challenge but I got the hang of it eventually!

You won America’s Got Talent in 2015 and have had a Las Vegas residency – what is it about British audiences that you love coming back to perform for?

You know, I’m from London and this is very much my home. I’ve enjoyed the whole US experience and AGT gets shown all over the world so it’s helped my career enormously back here in the UK and around the world. I did a festival in Doha, Qatar, a few months ago and got recognised everywhere I went! I absolutely love travelling but there’s nothing better than coming home. You just cannot beat a British audience and Americans just don’t understand the word b****cks!

You worked with Bruce Forsyth on Tonight at the London Palladium in your early career – that must be one of your greatest highlights?

I had the honour of performing an act with Sir Bruce on the last Palladium TV series that Bruce hosted for ITV. I made him my dummy and we had a special Brucie chin built for him so that I could make him talk. It’s one of the absolute highlights of my career he was such a perfectionist we rehearsed and rehearsed as he just wanted to be the best dummy for me, and he was! He was an absolute gentleman to work with him. I’m very lucky to have worked with a true showbiz legend.

When did your interest in ventriloquism first start?

I had always been interested in puppets, and in particular ‘The Muppets’. However, when I was growing up, I really wanted to be a professional magician. I remember being in my school talent competition and someone read a poem, somebody else did a tap dance and I levitated my sister! I got such a great reaction it really gave me enormous confidence, so when I left school with virtually no GCSE’s I somehow wasn’t worried and began a career as a professional magician, doing close up magic in restaurants, kids’ parties: the lot. I was given a book on how to become a ventriloquist by Ray Alan and at about the same time I saw him perform on the ‘Paul Daniels Magic Show’. He absolutely blew me away. I also saw a magician called Wayne Dobson on TV who used ventriloquism in his act and made people in the audience talk, so I was hugely inspired by these two performers and I think that’s really how the ventriloquism came about. I got more and more into the comedy and the ventriloquism & the magic eventually got phased out.

What else does 2017 have in store for you?

I’ve been working on a sitcom idea for myself and the puppet characters for quite some time and I think I’m close to getting it in to a workable state! So, I’m busy writing the script for that with a couple of friends of mine and hope that that might find its way on to TV sometime in the not-too-distant future. It’s like Seinfeld with the Muppets!

What the puppets say:

Sam: What do you like most about being a child star performer?

The drugs!

How are you finding life as a teenager?

Well, the truth is I’m actually 24 years old but playing the part of a 13-year-old. I’m like a sponge version of Janette Krankie!

Is there any sign of your voice beginning to break?

My voice has always been squeaky. I think it was touring with Joe Pasquale some years ago that led to me sounding like this.

Albert: As an older man, what are your top tips for keeping sharp when touring the country as a performer?

Rest is the most important thing when you reach 90 because your hearing goes, your memory begins to fade and your memory begins to fade.

Do Sam & Baby play loud music in the tour bus?

I’m terribly sorry you’ll have to speak up I’m a bit deaf.

Are you looking forward to the ‘All Mouth’ tour in September? Any places in particular you’re looking forward to visiting?

I very much like Eastbourne I once met a woman from Eastbourne she had everything, only thing is I think I’ve got it now……...I’ve just found