ENTERTAINMENT: Ventriloquist has his finger on the pulse

THE America’s Got Talent 2015 winner, British ventriloquist and comedian, Paul Zerdin, is bringing his Spongefinger tour to Dublin’s Olympia on Wednesday, April 13.  Ahead of his visit here we ask him a few questions about his current hit show. 

Q. What can audiences expect from your Spongefinger 2016 tour? Are many of your characters featured on America’s Got Talent coming with you on tour?

A. All the characters that helped me win AGT are coming with me on the tour plus maybe one new one! 

Q. How has your life changed since winning America’s Got Talent last year? Are you considering moving across the pond or will you be staying in London? 

A. I’m a Wimbledon boy through and through and love being at home when I can. I get homesick when I’m away too long but yes, winning AGT has opened up some big doors in the US. I’m going to make the most of the possibilities but I will be at home for as much time as I can. I’m greedy and I want the best of both worlds, on both sides of the pond!

Q. Why did you decide to go on America’s Got Talent and who was your favourite judge? 

A. Having done the Royal Variety Show three times already I thought it would look a little odd rocking up on Britain’s Got Talent when part of the prize for winning it is to appear on the RVS. So I thought I’d try a different market and as it was so far away in the States I figured that if it didn’t work out nobody would be any the wiser. I forgot about social media!! Luckily it turned out alright!

Q. Where did the idea for your characters Albert, Baby and Sam come from? How would you describe them to audiences that haven’t seen them before? 

A. All my characters are kind of like human caricatures. Sam was designed and built by me for a kids’ TV show I presented in the 90s for GMTV. He’s a sort of muppety Bart Simpson type. Albert came next as I needed another character for a show I was doing in Blackpool and I thought an old man could be good with him seeing the funny side to growing old. I decided that a baby would kind of complete my weird little family. Baby is cute but looks to Sam as his mentor, so he has a very cheeky streak! And I see my role as the kind of babysitter in this dysfunctional spongey family.

Q. Your performances on America’s Got Talent have received millions of views online. How much of this material is reflected in your new tour? 

A. There’s some of the material in the new show but because the actual spots on AGT are so short I’m able to do the proper version of the routine or gags I had to re-write for the TV show. So the spots were like a commercial for the full live show.

Q. You have recently completed a headline show at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Have you found that American audiences react differently to British ones? If so, how?

A. I’ve been entertaining US audiences on and off for the last 25 years on cruise ships so that gave me a head start and, to be honest, I find they laugh at much of the same stuff as the Brits do. I’m just aware that maybe I slow down a bit for the US audiences as I do speak quite quickly and to the Americans I do have an accent!

Q. You have been performing for quite a long time now, how do you think your act has evolved throughout your career? 

A. I’ve been performing for 25 years! I think my live show has become more sitcom-like over the last few years and it’s not just a bloke standing on stage with a puppet doing gags. I like to think there’s a structure to the show. And I like to think I’ve improved over the years.