With over 30 years in the business, David Strassman and his hilarious brand of puppet-based comedy seem firmly ingrained in the Australian cultural psyche.

Unleashing his rock’n’roll ventriloquism on major cities and suburban venues alike, he made the craft popular again, and will continue to push the envelope with his latest show, iTedE: About Chucking Time.

“The show takes place in my Hollywood workshop – I am concerned with everybody being obsessed with their smartphones and spending all their time online, including my puppets,” Strassman says. “I’m afraid that all of this technology is keeping us from using our imaginations and shows like mine could be in danger of fading away.”

I wonder what exploits the puppets may be getting up to online. “Well, Ted E. is using my credit card to buy Wiggles tickets and Chuck is doing online porn, so there’s a bit of a conflict right there, but in the show I’m rehearsing to give a Ted Talk on the subject,” says Strassman. “In the first act I introduce five characters that I’ve had in my shows for many years – Chuck Wood, Ted E. Bear, Kevin The Alien, Sid [Beaverman] and Grandpa Fred. In this act I operate them all with traditional, hand-up-the-bum ventriloquism.”

It’s after this where things get truly fascinating. One wouldn’t think that the art of ventriloquism could be modernised much, besides what Strassman has already done to inject new life and comedy into it. But this assumption is straight up wrong.

“For the second act, when I give the Ted Talk, I operate all the characters without touching them,” Strassman reveals. “They’re all sitting in their own chairs in a semi-circle and I’m controlling them live with a tiny handheld device, with each one of my fingers operating one of the puppet’s mouths as I throw my voice to them.

“It’s something I basically haven’t been able to do until last year, and it’s almost seamless. They’re all robotic, but you really can’t tell. No-one on the planet is doing anything like this and it’s a sustained, hilarious 20-minute discussion, argument and routine with me and five puppets live.”

Now that Strassman has spent so many years onstage with these characters and developing his shows, one has to question if the puppets have taken on a life of their own, or whether they remain scripted creations from the comedian’s mind.

“My show has a definitive, 105-page script, but every night I get to improvise and basically dance around the words depending on what the character responds to,” he says. “The show grows every time I perform it, and it’s unlike Cats or Matilda or any show where the actors cannot change the words. I do the voices for all the puppets, so not only can I do that, I can replace jokes that may not be getting many laughs with some improv. So over the years the puppets have grown in character, emotions, foibles, neuroses, dreams and hopes, so that each character is an evolving entity in itself.”

One of the most impressive things about Strassman is his constant drive – he always seems to be touring and working. It’s the simple secret to why his act has remained relevant for so long.

“I have so much fun doing it – I’m a grown man who gets to play with dolls,” he laughs. “Part of the success of the business model is that you come back after three years, you make sure you don’t wear yourself out and you come back with a brand new show. I couldn’t do the same show for decades; I would get bored out of my head. Pushing new boundaries is what keeps me alive.”

[David Strassman Photo by Adam Shane Photography]

David Strassman’siTedE: About Chucking Timetakes place atEnmore Theatreon Saturday March 12, David also appears in North Sydney, Windsor, Mt Pritchard, Penrith, Rooty Hill, Sutherland, Kingsford, Parramatta, Blacktown, Hornsby, Dee Why, Castle Hill, Chatswood, Revesby and Campbelltown.For more details head todavidstrassman.com.

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