Big bucks, big fans show ventriloquist’s no dummy

For many people, ventriloquism is a sideshow, appropriate for a children’s party at best. For others, it’s a faded memory of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy from decades of yore.

But along came Terry Fator last year on the summer’s biggest show, “America’s Got Talent” on NBC. He not only came on with delightful puppets and a sweet sense of humor, he could also do uncanny vocal imitations of Tony Bennett, Kermit the Frog, Nat King Cole and Garth Brooks without moving his lips.

Viewers voted en masse for the unassuming Dallas resident. His payday: $1 million. Then in May came the real whopper of a deal: five years at the Mirage in Las Vegas worth up to $100 million. That is not a typo. $100 million.

“Life,” he said this week in a phone interview, “is overwhelming in the good ways. My head is spinning!”

Before he starts his Vegas show, he is hitting cities around the country, including Atlanta Saturday at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

Fator, 43, is far from an overnight success. He spent 12 years as the lead singer in a band. Then he tried straight ventriloquism, struggling for any attention, sometimes entertaining crowds in the tens —- or less. So three years ago, frustrated, he decided to intersect his skills, mixing impressions, puppets and ventriloquism.

It clicked. Fator began getting decent gigs. “I’d do a corporate show and get standing ovations,” he says. He then tried out for “America’s Got Talent,” hoping a smidgen of airtime would help him get more jobs.

“I had no clue I could win,” he says. “But I got people intrigued. What could he do next week?”

What also helped Fator win votes was his “guy next door” appeal. He looks a bit like Tom Arnold or that congenial neighbor flipping burgers and sharing a beer in the backyard. “I’m still that guy,” he insists.

But he now gets recognized in airports. “I started carrying a Sharpie five years ago with the goal that one day people will want me to give them autographs,” Fator says. “Now I’ve gone through 20 Sharpies!”

His most unlikely fan he’s met? Nancy Reagan. “She told me she actually called in and voted for me,” he says. “A former first lady. How do you process that?”

Fator’s proud that this year’s “America’s Got Talent” winner, opera singer Neal E. Boyd, gets a guaranteed show in Vegas on top of $1 million. “I changed the prize,” he said. “It upped the stakes. It’s such an honor.”

He’s also earned respect from his peers. Ventriloquist Bob Abdou worked his craft in Atlanta from 1981 until 2001 as “Mr. Puppet” and now lives in Texas. He said Fator not only gave away copies of his DVD to every attendee at this year’s ventriloquist’s convention, but also donated $10,000 to a ventriloquism museum.

“He is simply incredible,” Abdou says. “When I first saw him, I was blown away. He’s a great showman.”

Dan Willinger, a ventriloquism fan and collector who runs www.ventriloquistcentral.com, says Fator and comic Jeff Dunham have given the craft a shot of adrenaline.

“Every generation, we seem to find a new ventriloquist to step up and continue taking the torch and keeping it in the forefront of the viewing public,” he said by e-mail.

FATOR’S TAKE ON FAMOUS VENTRILOQUISTS OVER THE YEARS:

> Edgar Bergen (with Charlie McCarthy): “He was a huge influence on me. I learned how to develop realistic characters by listening to his stuff and watching him in movies. His characters were lovable and real. I became obsessed with that. But in his later years after doing so much radio, he got very sloppy in his technique. You could see his lips move. That was such a distraction.”

> Shari Lewis (with Lamp Chop): “She was a spectacular puppeteer. She also had extremely good lip control. I always loved seeing video of her. She seemed very sweet.”

> Paul Winchell: “I read his book when I was 10 years old. That’s what got me started. He’s very clever. He could do humor for adults and kids. That’s what I try to do, too.”

> Willie Tyler (and Lester): “I’d see him on ‘Match Game’ and Johnny Carson when I was a kid. I think it was just a thrill for me to see someone on TV doing that.”

> Jay Johnston (on the show “Soap” in the 1970s): “I was too young for the show’s adult content. But I didn’t care about that. I watched for his ventriloquism.”

> Senor Wences: “He did a lot of Ed Sullivan. He could do an entire routine without a puppet. Instead, he’d have boxes and different voices coming out of them. I do a similar thing with puppets off stage. I can throw my voice, too.”

IN CONCERT

Terry Fator, winner “America’s Got Talent,” impressionist and ventriloquist, will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. $39.50 to $99.50, www.ticketmaster.com, 404-249-6400