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Ventriloquist Terry Fator's got talent

By Sharon Kennedy Wynne, Times Staff Writer
In print: Thursday, April 17, 2008

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ADVERTISEMENT [NBC] Terry Fator’s puppets include Cowboy Walter, pictured, Emma Taylor, Johnny Vegas and Winston the turtle.

By Sharon Kennedy Wynne

When Terry Fator and his singing puppets won TV's America's Got Talent competition in 2007, he said he hoped to reignite interest in ventriloquism.

The victory certainly ignited Fator's career. Having been lauded on Oprah and declared one of the best entertainers Simon Cowell has ever seen, the comic impersonator has a gig standing in for Barry Manilow during the singer's off weeks in Vegas. He's coming to St. Petersburg's Mahaffey Theater on Friday as part of his national tour.

Though Fator, 42, and comedian Jeff Dunham, who has a double-platinum DVD, hold a lonely spot in popular culture, Fator still thinks ventriloquists can graduate from the kids' party circuit to become headliners.

Fator's act, in which his puppets impersonate famous singers like Garth Brooks, Etta James, James Taylor and Dean Martin, is jaw dropping. Not only is the guy not moving his lips, but that puppet sounds just like Natalie Cole singing Unforgettable.

It wasn't even Fator's idea. He was the lead singer in a band and often did impressions of Garth Brooks or Roy Orbison on stage. Ventriloquism was a comic side gig. His agent suggested putting the two together.

"I had one of my characters sing Garth Brooks' Friends in Low Places and the audience went bananas," the Texan said in a phone interview from a tour stop in Portland, Ore. "Boy, that was where my life changed."

"It took me six months and I completely rewrote the show . . . It was then that people really noticed and I started getting standing ovations at the end of every show."

"Vents," as the voice throwers call themselves, get a bad rap because of all the ones who perform poorly for kids, Fator said.

"They assume it's only for children and they don't need to be good, and they write stupid stuff the kids will like. You are really underestimating children when you do that."

"My show is written for adults, for the adult intellect," Fator said. "It's like a Pixar movie. It's appropriate for children, but the adults will enjoy it more than the kids do."

Sharon Kennedy Wynne can be reached at wynne@tampabay.com.