Monday, July 28, 2008

Terry Fator brings comedy and puppetry to Bass Hall on Nov. 25

By Pegasus News wire

Over the past year, North Texas native Terry Fator has become one of the most in-demand entertainers in the country. Thanks to his 2007 win on season two of the NBC show “America’s Got Talent,” in which he scooped up the $1 million grand prize, Fator recently signed a five-year, $100 million deal with The Mirage hotel in Las Vegas, where he will perform – in his own self-named theater – beginning in February 2009. Fator has already been featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

The Las Vegas Sun recently proclaimed that Fator “will surely have you rolling in the aisles with laughter.” He has “brought ventriloquism to a new level,” The Dallas Morning News raved.

Affectionately known as “The Human Jukebox” and the man with “The Million Dollar Voice,” Fator can mimic up to 100 different personalities, from Garth Brooks to Etta James to Maroon 5. Using more than a dozen puppets, Fator filters his impersonations through his wooden sidekicks, making them perfectly mirror their real-life counterparts.

“A lot of people think all there is to it is not moving your lips,” Fator recently told The Black Hills Pioneer. “But is the art of writing and creating characters that people want to spend time with.”

Fator’s current success comes after years of struggling. Just over a year ago, the Mesquite native – whose janitorial parents moved around so much, Fator attended eight different high schools – was performing at a Texas county fair to an audience of exactly one. He also spent time as a band leader – in a local group called Texas the Band – in which he incorporated puppetry into the group’s live shows. Fator quit the band, but kept the routine, creating an act that combined singing, ventriloquism and impersonations.

At his family’s urging, Fator tried out for “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell’s talent show, “America’s Got Talent.” Upon seeing Fator with his puppets, show judge David Hasselhoff blurted out, “Oh, no, a ventriloquist.” Hasselhoff wound up eating his words, however, as Fator won the talent show – and the hearts of voters all over America. “It’s just incredible,” he says of his recent fame. “I don’t know what to make of it…but I’m loving every minute of it.”

Fator is currently finishing up his first book, Who’s the Dummy Now?, and he recently released a country music single on iTunes, “Horses in Heaven,” that benefits children’s health research.

To charge tickets by phone, call (817) 212-4280 in Fort Worth; 1-877-212-4280 (toll free) outside Fort Worth; or order online at www.basshall.com. Tickets are also available at the Bass Performance Hall ticket office at 525 Commerce Street. Ticket office hours: Tuesday through Friday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Source: Bass Performance Hall

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