Paul Zerdin was waiting for Nick Cannon to call Drew Lynch’s name as the winner of “America’s Got Talent.” Instead, the ventriloquist heard his own name and his heart nearly stopped beating.
“When it was whittled down to myself and Drew, I thought Drew would win it, definitely. I thought he was an amazing comedian,” Zerdin told reporters in a conference call shortly after his win in September. “So I was preparing in my head what I would say to him before I got told to get off the stage... And then when they said my name, my heart skipped a beat. It took a moment to sink in really.”
Crowned the season 10 champion of the NBC talent competition show, Zerdin will headline his own show at Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino for three nights starting on Oct. 22. He’ll be joined by fellow finalists Lynch and comic magician Piff the Magic Dragon.
“The fact that I’m going to be headlining my own show at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas next month - I’m totally blown away by it,” Zerdin said. “I say bring it on. You know, I’m ready for it. I want to go out there and do my full show.”
Zerdin will stick to his three puppets - the prepubescent boy Sam, the old man Albert and a baby - in the Vegas show, but he may add a few more adult jokes that would have been a little too dirty for a family show like “America’s Got Talent.”
“I have to speak to the producers of the show and find out what the audience is expecting. I’m guessing that because ‘America’s Got Talent’ is a family show they’re going to want me to do a family show for the live shows in Vegas because they’re appealing to the ‘America’s Got Talent’ audience,” he explained. “It might be slightly cheekier than anything you would have seen on TV… I would hope it will be a little bit naughtier, but not, obviously, not too rude.”
Another stunt Zerdin plans to execute is turning someone into his human dummy like he did with judge Howie Mandel during the semi-finals. For his Vegas show, he’ll ask for volunteers to play his dummies and hope their as game as Mandel, who had no prior knowledge of Zerdin’s act that night.
“I’ll get a couple out of the audience - a married couple is what I usually do - and I turn them into dummies,” he said. “I get them doing crazy things and it’s great being able to sort of control them. But, of course, you’re not really in control. You control their voices. But it’s very much up to the individuals how they react. And everyone reacts differently.”
Zerdin was the second ventriloquist to win “America’s Got Talent.” Terry Fator, who boasts his own Vegas show, won in season two and performed alongside his fellow puppeteer in the finale. Despite their similar talent, Zerdin stressed that the two put on very different shows.
“If you’re in Las Vegas you should go and see Terry Fator’s show because he’s fantastic and he’s totally unique. But I think if you came to see my show, you would also love that because we’re just totally different and we’ve got completely different styles,” he said.
If you’re in Las Vegas this week, be sure to check out Zerdin’s ventriloquist stylings in the PH Showroom at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on Thursday, Oct. 22 through Saturday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m.
