Worthing date as ventriloquist Paul Zerdin hits the road on latest tour

SussexWorld

Winner of America’s Got Talent 2015 Paul Zerdin has got a new host for his latest tour with the return of his TV and radio personality character Alasdair Rimmer who is eager to make a comeback with Paul’s help.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. It's always

00:06really lovely to speak to Paul Zerdin. Paul, you are on the way with your latest tour.

00:11Now you're talking about the roadworks, the potholes, the traffic, but the bit on stage

00:18absolutely redeems everything, isn't it? It must be a lovely connection you have when

00:22you're on stage, on the road. What makes it such fun from your point of view?

00:26Well, I love it. And I was just moaning about the traffic and the travel and the touring

00:32life that is exhausting. But as soon as the show starts, the house lights go down, my

00:39first character, Alistair Rimmer, who's this animatronic presenter character who starts

00:43to show off, who obviously I voice, but you don't see that, and control. I just get that

00:50buzz that I always had from the moment I started performing at a very early age.

00:56So knowing that people have decided to come and spend their evening watching my show makes

01:01it all worthwhile. And I genuinely, I mean that sincerely, because I love it. And I've

01:07got, I feel like I've got a new lease of life, because I have a new show, I've got new material,

01:13and I think that comes over. And sometimes you think, well, I've got to keep updating new

01:18material, because the audience saw the last show, they're going to come back, they'll remember

01:22that joke, they'll remember that routine. So this has got to be different. And it's not

01:25always the case of that, because sometimes people, when I speak to them afterwards, they'll

01:30say, oh, we've never seen you before. We heard about you from such and such, or this interview

01:36or whatever. And I assume that people have all seen me before, though, therefore, every

01:40joke's got to be different. Well, they haven't all seen me before, but they've seen, you know,

01:45new material, but they've seen that. But talking about mix, you mentioned animatronics, and

01:50that's, I guess, one of the fascinating things about what you do. What you do is a centuries

01:55old craft, but you can't bring in the modern technology, can't you?

01:59Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And I was lucky. I worked on a Muppet movie in the mid 90s, and

02:03I made a lot of contacts. I was a puppeteer on that show, on that film. And so I have a wonderful

02:09chap called Tim Rose, who is Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars, and another character called

02:15Salacious Crumb. And he worked on all the Muppet movies with Jim Henson. And he helped

02:19pioneer the animatronic characters that were used in the Muppet movies and the TV specials.

02:26And so he has, I come up with a crazy idea, and he makes them come to life. And he says,

02:32Paul, I don't think you can do that. I think that's just stupid, or that's crazy, or whatever.

02:37And then he'll go away and think about it. And then he'll come back and go, you know what,

02:40I think I can help you. And then we come together and he creates some kind of

02:45kind of Muppetry magic. So I'm very lucky. And I have another chap called Daryl Warby,

02:49who builds all the fleeces and the soft characters. And he built Yoda on The Last Jedi. So I'm lucky

02:56to work with these, you know, these brilliant people. And I love the fact that ventriloquism

03:01doesn't have to be a bloke with his hand up a doll. And that's it. There's so much more

03:06to it. It's about the comedy. It's about the characters.

03:09Absolutely. And you've got a fabulous range of characters. And you mentioned Alistair,

03:14your new guy, who kind of represents, well, he represents everything you love about the world

03:18of radio, doesn't he?

03:20Radio and television. Yeah, he's, he's, he's a nod to the, to the great personalities of

03:26yesteryear that I grew up listening to on the radio and also watching on television, because

03:30there would be radio, these DJs, presenters, they would then, you know, appear on a game show

03:35or something. And so you knew the voice from the radio didn't necessarily know what they

03:40looked like until you saw them presenting some morning game show or whatever it was.

03:43And Alistair is kind of a mishmash of all of that. He's got a bit of, you know, anchorman

03:48about him. He's, he's, he's a kind of caricature, a pastiche on a pastiche. And he just, I love

03:58that affected over the top voice. He takes himself very seriously. He's, he's, he's gone through

04:03several marriage breakups. He's been cancelled, but he's clawing his way back. He's determined

04:08to get to the, you know, the top of showbiz again. And I've decided to give him a, give

04:13him a helping hand because I feel, because I feel sorry for him. And I love this character

04:17because he's, he's desperate and he's sad.

04:20Oh, it sounds a fabulous addition. Well, Paul, good luck with the tour. Good luck with the

04:24breeze bolt pillows and the potholes and the traffic cones and all the nonsense and enjoy the

04:31time on stage. Lovely to speak to you as always. Thank you.

04:33Likewise. Thanks so much, Phil.

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