Standup Comedy "Your Host and MC"

David Strassman "Ventriloquist Extraodinaire" Show #153

April 16, 2023 Scott Edwards Season 4 Episode 153
Standup Comedy "Your Host and MC"
David Strassman "Ventriloquist Extraodinaire" Show #153
Standup Comedy "Your Host and MC" + "Bonus" Shows
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Show Notes Transcript

Get ready to laugh out loud with R. Scott Edwards as he interviews legendary comic ventriloquist, David Strassman on this episode of Standup Comedy "Your Host & MC". They start by discussing how Strassman got his start in ventriloquism and how he became a successful comic ventriloquist with his own TV show in Australia and New Zealand. They also delve into his early days in the comedy world, sharing anecdotes about hanging out with famous comedians like Seinfeld and Eddie Murphy. 

The podcast covers Strassman's journey to success in the US, Australia, and the British Commonwealth, where variety acts are respected on par with musicians and actors. You'll get to hear about his unique techniques for bringing his puppets to life, including creating an animatronic Chuck, his famous character who smokes pot on stage. They also discuss his current show called "The Chocolate Diet", a massive production that's taking Australia by storm. 

But the podcast isn't just about comedy. Strassman's background in paleontology is also discussed, including his new podcast, "Paleo Nerds", which he hosts with preeminent paleontological artist Ray Troll, and the exciting dinosaur dig he's going on with his son. 

This episode also provides an insight into the world of comedy shows and the process of creating new characters for puppet shows. Plus, the guest shares his impressive skills in creating animatronic puppets and controlling their movements.

By the end of this episode, you'll not only be laughing but you'll also be left feeling inspired by Strassman's journey to success in the entertainment industry. Don't miss out! Listen to Standup Comedy "Your Host & MC" now.

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Announcer:

This is another episode of stand up comedy, your host and emcee, celebrating 40 plus years on the fringe of show business, stories, interviews and comedy sets from the famous and not so famous. Here's your host and MC, Scott and words.

Scott Edwards:

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of stand up comedy, your host and emcee and I have such a treat for you. We have not talked in over 25 years but this guy was one of my favorite variety acts back in the 80s. He is a comic ventriloquist has had huge success. His vertical figure chuck wood is famous in the world of ventriloquism, and he has done television stage all over the US but in New Zealand and Australia, he's like a megastar had his own TV show. Just one hell of a successful guy. Ladies and gentlemen, it's David Stross, man.

David Strassman:

Wow, what an introduction. Thank you, Scott. Well, go ahead. I'm not moving my lips. I'm not moving on my lips right now. I'm not gonna tell you where my hand is either. You have to understand I stopped doing American television and shows in 1992. Way back then, huh? Yeah. And by the way, it's been almost 35 years. That's the last time we spoke or saw each other. I'm pretty sure. The last time I played last unlimited in Sacramento was something like in the late 80s.

Scott Edwards:

Well, let's, let's use that as as a grounding base. I want to share with the audience, I know that you started your life and in entry into the show business, doing some classes in Chicago ended up stretching your legs in New York. Can you share with the audience kind of a short synopsis of how you got going and how do you pick Froelich wisdom?

Unknown:

Sure, you can read about it on my Wikipedia page. But other than that, I started ventriloquism, as a 14 year old. I took a class in junior high well ever, you're in junior high. And it was a class for an easy end. And this teacher was teaching ventriloquism and I thought well, I'll just you know, skate through this turns out, I was only good at it. But I was good at manipulating the puppet. This guy had professional ventriloquist doll. But he showed me how to advertise at a local newspaper to do kids birthday parties. So I started doing that and making money as like a 14 year old and getting free birthday cake. So

Scott Edwards:

well, that sounds like a perfect combination.

Unknown:

Yeah, it was great. And I went into theater in high school. My high school is nutria West High School from Winnetka, Illinois. It's the same place they filmed the Breakfast Club. It was a massive, massive high school with a huge Theatre department. Our theater was better than some of the Broadway houses that I saw later when I moved to New York. So I wanted to study acting. The ventriloquism was kind of on the side. I didn't magic as well. I was one of those kids who needed love. So

Scott Edwards:

that great way.

Unknown:

Oh, of course, all magicians were weren't loved as children. That's why they do magic. But so I went to New York and I performed or underperformed studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. And after the second first year, I got invited to the second year but I found street performing. And I would bring chuck wood my original puppet out on the streets of Manhattan. And I made a job I do. The central park on the weekends, Bleecker Street, the village in the Saturday nights, played Wall Street during lunch hour. The pre Broadway shows. I would I just made it a full job. I got 50 sets a weekend. Yeah, well you added plus, you know the din of traffic noise. You have to make people laugh. And you have to give them a great closer otherwise they won't put money in your basket at the end of your show. I was making up to$500 a week in spare change performing on the street and getting 50 sets a weekend.

Scott Edwards:

Well, so that's combination of two things. One, we want everyone to understand that $500 A week back in the 80s

Unknown:

was huge. Grand, like two or three grand now. Yeah,

Scott Edwards:

huge money and the trick to any art form in the variety arts, whether it's magic ventriloquism or even stand up comedy. It's stage time and getting that many sets in day after day, week after week is what made you a really good ventriloquist that is an awesome start. Was it scary being on the streets or just easier? Hard? No.

Unknown:

It was empowering beard. It was it was the ability, I realized that if there was ever a nuclear holocaust, I could earn money in the bomb shelter for food. That's another way. Yeah. And then I went to England in Paris, and I performed I did magic. I did good progress over England on the streets there. And then in Paris, I performed on the streets and they didn't speak French, I did magic. I ended up working in a nightclub in pegol. And in Paris in 1977, which was one of the most amazing experiences ever. What,

Scott Edwards:

excuse me for interrupting. So what gave you the idea to go to England and Paris. I mean, I've spent my whole life in the US always dreamed about it. But as a young man, you found your way over there using your

Unknown:

here's the crazy bit. My relative was Arthur Fromer, you remember those books from the 60s 70s 80s, Europe on $5 a day, and a travel agency. He was married into someone from my family, and he had a little rule on his books that if any family member wanted to travel on an empty seat on any of his charter flights, anywhere they flew around the world, all you have to do is show up and get on. And those are the days when you remember, you didn't need an ID to get on an airplane.

Scott Edwards:

Right. Right. And there was no restrictions. But what a great opportunity. Yeah.

Unknown:

So I went to Europe a couple of times. Yeah, sure. did. I went to Europe a few times and, and performed on the street. But when I got back from Europe, and the weather started turning cold, and I went, Oh my God, you can't perform on the street in the winter. So a friend of mine told me about catch a rising star and the comic strip. So I went down and signed up at five o'clock catch rising star, and I watched all the comedians go on. And I finally got on at two in the morning, in front of three drunk people who could care less who was on stage and I bombed every product. Every comic has a catch a rising star bomb story. And then I went over the comic strip, I got into there and I started performing. As during the winter, that was my that was my plenty. So we go to the comic strip, they didn't pay the comedian's. Then, if you were lucky, you could beg for French fries or beg a 50 cent Buck bus fare from Seinfeld or Eddie Murphy and all those guys were my peers that I started out with everybody. Joe Piscopo to oh my god, Peter bales. I don't know if you know these. These guys, Mark Schiff. He's all the guys that I hung out with every night, Larry Miller every night, night after night after night. Now, you know, Seinfeld and Larry Miller, those guys don't wait the best spots of the night. I still was late night or you know, like two in the morning one of the morning. But that's where I got my chops in the comedy world. And as you know, in 1978, there were only five or six clubs, the United States.

Scott Edwards:

Yeah, it was. It was, as my audience has heard when I opened I was the 12th full time comedy club in the country in 1980. But in the late 70s, you were really building the foundation of your comedy career is a stand up comic slash ventriloquist at some of the best rooms with some of the best people. I mean, you named off some of the best my some of my favorite,

David Strassman:

how many hours rip, you know, the hours I have sitting at the bar with Gilbert Godfrey. Oh my gosh. That's the intro then I move on to the improv and I started doing working out the improv. So I would say the bar would have as you go like five or six o'clock you put your name on a list, and then you'd wait around until whoever was the maitre d put ya. It was Lucien of the comic strip and it was who's the guy that ran HBO for all those years? I can't remember. Anyway, he ran it. He started pretty much HBO. But he was the maitre d that put all the comics on the improv. And so I would sit there at the bar and I'd say so Gilbert, where do you live? I live in a revolving door. So No really? Seriously? Seriously, Gilbert? Where's your apartment? I don't know about the door on Madison Avenue. I go No Come on. Just be serious with me I am being serious and that was literally the conversation I wouldn't have with the nonsensical every time but

Scott Edwards:

he was a great though and he definitely liked to connect with his peers other comics in in was was a great supporter of young talent at the time. Do you remember now you had everybody? Chuck Wood was your first in longest lasting ventriloquist figure Chuck was the one that you really built your act on was how did you find ventriloquism working in those early rooms in New York because not every club is welcoming to variety acts. I happen to have loved all the variety acts and would have them almost every week in the middle spot or something. But a lot of the clubs you know weren't that hot on it day. Did you find any resistance with the comics or with the clubs?

Unknown:

Not really because my show produced you know, I always got laughed. Even to this day. I claim my you have a laugh every 10 seconds. Some comics will do a paragraph or, you know, set up set up set up there was a punch line. My mining show has always been set up punchline setup punchline. So a laugh every 10 seconds. So I always produced when I was whether it was free at the Improv or the comic strip or I got on board with Jerry Stanley, who was the first one to kind of bring comics outside of Manhattan and we all would take the one to four, the Bronx, Long Island, New Jersey, and it will be three comics and I can't tell you how many times I spent in a van with two other comics going to do these one nighters. And I just I won't name names, but it's everybody. Everybody I hung out with, but I didn't get much pushback until I was a headliner in the late 80s. And I wanted to do the Yuk Yuk or the whatever the the Canadian clubs. Forgot the guy's name Breslin. I think his name was Mark Breslin see the one that ran the Just For Laughs and Canadian clubs.

Scott Edwards:

I'm not sure. But Yuk Yuks is a famous club in Canada the last year if there was a few places. Yeah, but what I wanted to slip into this. He was the only

Unknown:

one he was the only one that said, oh, oh, you're really funny. I saw your app so great. When can I do a show? When can I get on your gloves? You went? Sorry, we don't book variety as well, I guess you're racist.

Scott Edwards:

Well, I'm glad that that was the only experience you had because I'd heard from other magicians and jugglers and stuff that there was a few rooms that were not as warming to the variety acts. But I want to know why

Unknown:

Scott, you know why? Because with jugglers, magicians and ventriloquist either they're great, or they suck. There really is no in between. And a bad juggler. And a bad magician and a bad ventriloquist is cringe worthy that you really don't want to wait, you just don't want to watch it. You don't want to watch it. You want to be in the same room. So I get that.

Scott Edwards:

Stay with us. We'll be right back. Hey, regular listeners to this podcast. Before we start this week's special show, I wanted to let you know on a new program. It's a subscription service that allows you access to all the early episodes, the first 100 shows, along with all the bonus shows. It'll be lots of fun. Seriously, it's just a way to help support the show and help me cover the cost of this entertainment format. I hope you're enjoying listening to it as much as I am enjoying creating it. Of course, if you have any comments or questions, be sure to email me direct at Scotts comedy stuff@gmail.com Scott's comedy stuff@gmail.com. But in the meantime, if you enjoy a lot of the quality content interviews and stand up comedy sets, become a subscriber and we'll make sure to have some extra fun stuff for you. All right, here comes this week show well, I wanted to slip in something that you did have success at the big clubs in like catch and stuff in New York. But it wasn't like you were starting off like an open mic or you had those years on the streets that you already had spent, you know, like 50 Shows a week honing your craft.

Unknown:

Yeah, still was a late night or at comic strip. I didn't play catch. I only played the comic strip and then I moved to the improv. I was a late night er, but I was a I wasn't the last guy on but I wouldn't I certainly wasn't you know, in the prime spot.

Scott Edwards:

So for from a respect point of view, there's there might have been a little distinction there. What brought you out to California or do you remember how you came to work for laughs unlimited.

Unknown:

I served you. I came out because my girlfriend moved to New York, moved to LA she was an actress in New York. She moved to LA way to get more Hollywood parts and, and I kind of moved along. I had grown up in Southern California, I lived in West LA and South Pasadena and I moved away to Chicago when I was 12. So it was like coming home. And this is 1979 ad. I came to LA and I went to the Ice House. And I auditioned to be an opening act with Bob at the Ice House. And he goes, Dave, you're great. That's fantastic. I can. This was in October of 1979. He goes, Oh, you're great. I can get put your spot as an opening act in February what that's great three months from now. He went no, no. February 1981. I went and walked over a year from now. He was well, yeah, the I'm all booked up. But what I realized many years later, what he did was, he saw that I had potential but needed more time on stage. So he basically gave me a spot in a year, so that I would obviously be much, much better. By the time I graced the stage at the Ice House. And I think that was a

Scott Edwards:

Yeah, that's funny. We want to explain to the audience, you're talking about Bob Fisher, who I actually just interviewed for the podcast. So folks keep an eye out for that one. Yeah. Bob Fisher was one of the original rooms in Southern California, and was working a lot of this talent that was coming out of New York, you know, the Seinfeld's, the Larry Miller's, and the lot, giving you a gig a year ahead, so that you refine yourself as a comedy club stand up, which is different than the streets. I mean, maybe you

Unknown:

get off the streets, but it was it's different than a late night or in a free club in New York City where your workout material that space I drew. I didn't come out of the improv as one of the top acts. I came out of the improv as someone who who got spots at the improv. But I was not like the main act. But let me tell you how we met. I moved to LA, and I have no work. And I've got only a crappy 20 minutes as a ventriloquist. So I saw that there was no Comedy Nights in LA in any of the university. So I went around to UCLA, USC, Northridge University and Loyola University. And I said, Hi, I can bring you three comedians, I put on my producer hat. I'm going to bring you three comedians from the Comedy Store. And the law, I'll charge you 200 bucks, I'll pay each comedian, everybody gets 50 bucks, including me all emceeing and all the universities bought it. So the UCLA is still going on today. By the way, it still has a comedy night in their kickoff Coffee House, which I started in 90

Scott Edwards:

days, I mean, produced as well.

Unknown:

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. All the universities bought my show. And I hired everybody. I had I paid 50 bucks to Michael Keaton, I paid 50 bucks to Jim Carrey. You name them, I had them. And I went to the Comedy Store and say, Hey, I've got this university gig. And it's only 50 bucks, everybody gets paid 50 bucks. They why would I do that? I said, because it's the best audience in the world to try out material. And you're not on stage at the Comedy Store where there are agents, and you're not on stage at the Improv, where there are agents and managers to judge you. And so that ran for two, three years. But in exchange for that stuff. I got all these comedians to recommend the local clubs, as me as an opening act. Oh, that's yours. Yours is one of the first clubs because it was the worst one in California. But you're one of the uses one of the first clubs that I heard about. And if I'm not mistaken, I don't know how I ended up getting there. But I remember when I was an opening act and, and your club I'd worked with Leno, I worked with Bob Saget. I worked with so many great comedians. And I thank you for having faith in me. And you know what? I love the old west and where your club is in old Sacramento or where it was. I love the idea that that whole downtown look like the wild west of the 1890s with Boardwalk was so much fun. Yeah. So much fun to be there.

Scott Edwards:

It's it's great that you have those memories. He's talking about my original room and old Sacramento which had cobblestone streets and wooden sidewalks. We were in a building that was built in the 1800s with old brick and it was we were underground in a basement where there was a lot of atmosphere Your low ceilings. It was one of the best rooms I've ever seen for comedy, and want to hear

Unknown:

a Jay Leno story about from your club? Sure. Like I was middle of the middle act. And I was working with Jay and we're in the dressing room between shows. And I go, I said, Hey, Jay, how was that was resetting. Okay? Are we okay? Yeah. I put out an automatic pilot and I started any columns of numbers in my head. And what what goes, Oh, yeah, when I put my show on automatic pilot, I start adding numbers, columns of numbers in my head. And then we just explained that to me again. He basically I'm pretty sure he was bullshitting me, but I believe I believed him, because I was the middle and he was a great Jay Leno. And this by the way before he did it tonight show

Scott Edwards:

Oh, yeah, no, a lot of people know he worked my room, but it was yours before he was famous. But I think he was pulling your leg, but I'm never sure you never know. Because Jay really had his set down. The reason I would disagree with that presumption was he was really good to interacting with the audiences, you know, he would do it like, yeah, 10 minutes, 15 minutes of material. And then he'd go to the audience and talk and just make some comedy. And he would close with 1520 minutes of material. So you couldn't do that and add numbers. But I think that's funny that the headliner was kind of pulling some crap on the on the opening thing. So now, real quick as a ventriloquist. Can you explain to the audience how you came up with Chuck wood and how that relationship came about? Or is Chuck there? Maybe he can tell

David Strassman:

us Chuck's just a puppet Scott.

Scott Edwards:

Yeah, but he's a terrific character. And he gave me a lot of shit over the years. So I can only

David Strassman:

chuck wood was a mail order puppet was basically the angry part of my personality, which I got laughs by him being caustic, and insulting. And when a puppet insults a big huge guy in the front row. Everybody knows the puppet is not real, but the guy but everybody also sees the threat that's there, from the puppet to the human. And there's a dichotomy where you think, Oh, my God, this big guys getting threatened by this little guy, and we find that funny. So the fact that he gets to say the things we wish we could say that's the psychology behind the classic little boy, nasty ventriloquist puppet. But if you remember, back in those days, I had a routine where I carved a hand that held a joint and he lit a joint little joint and he smoked pot, and it was tobacco, obviously. But do you remember he smoked pot on stage and got the munchies and dry mouth and everything?

Scott Edwards:

Well, well remember that what was amazing about you, Dave, is that you were never stagnant. It seemed like I mean, first off, I booked you year after year, because you always gave your all to the audience. You're very funny. You're a talented ventriloquist. But I also appreciated the fact that you always were working on things. Yes, I remember that bit. But it led to in what I think is one of your famous one of a kind is that you created chuck wood in an animatronic way, where you could you it, ladies and gentlemen, that you have to go to YouTube and use the Googler and find Dave crossman's videos, because you will see where he and chuck in an argument, and you would literally leave the stage and there was this great, long pause you were so this is where your talents and acting came out because you knew just amount of time. And then all of a sudden, Chuck would would come to life, in essence without you turn his head, blink his eyes and start talking. And it always, always got to Oh, from the audience, and I as producer, love that moment, no matter how many times I saw it was that's, to me, the most memorable part, I know your career's gone on and on and on.

David Strassman:

Well, no, no. That would be the defining moment of my career because prior to that, I was I was a middle act. I was starting to headline but I wasn't a very high paid headliner. And after a drunken night with a friend of mine, we decided on strike play Raider control airplanes. I still do. I actually just finished another plane and I fly them all the time and I used the robotics, the servos and the receivers to stick in shock. Would we have this thing what We had this night what happens if he comes to live? Wouldn't that be cool? We're all drugged. And the next day we said, well, let's get going. He had a friend that worked in the NASA Ames Research Facility in Oakland, California in Berkeley, California. And this guy machine me a clutch and allow me to work Chuck regular with manually with my fingers. And then engage the clutch and have Chuck work robotically in his head turn right left in his eyes look right and left in his mouth open and close. And when I first did that on stage for the very first time, in 1987, I think it was a dude in a cellar in New York City. The audience were they freaked and we're ready to run for the door. Oh my god, here's a ventriloquist puppet coming to life. And when that

Scott Edwards:

happens, same time as Chucky two came out from the movie

David Strassman:

a couple of years later, but I'm pretty sure yeah, it was it a little

Scott Edwards:

bit later. But maybe, maybe you inspired him, Dave.

Unknown:

Well, you know what, believe it or not two years before that movie came out, I was running around Hollywood saying we got to help me do a movie about a puppet that could kill people. But I don't know if I have any influence. So once that happened once I had this hook, and I'm the first ventriloquist, not to put robotics in their puppet, but the first ventriloquist, to add the element of theater like that. Now, again, I have to quantify that there were guys in the 1880s that had theatrical shows where they were literally on stage and they were dramas and comedies with ventriloquist dolls and puppets. But this was using robotics, and this element of theater to blow the audience away. And that suddenly got me on all the TV shows comic strip live in our city hall and Sunday night funny. And then I started playing Vegas and Reno, and I played the sands and not as an opening act, but as a feature that are not in the improv comedy show, but actually at Caesar's Palace started opening for all these acts at Caesars Tahoe, Caesars Vegas. And it really my career really started taking off and television commercials

Scott Edwards:

had to be an exciting time for you, Dave. I mean, that's, that's the golden ticket, you know, when you created something that people weren't used to seeing, you know, I worked with Jay Johnson, Willie Taylor, and Lester, a lot of ventriloquist, but Chuck would come into life seemingly, by himself on stage, and talking to the audience and that whole thing, really, I mean, I understand from a producer's point of view, why that puts you on the top of the heap at the time, and getting all those TV shows and then Vegas. I mean, you really your career took off, and not only success in some fame, but I bet the money was pretty good, too.

David Strassman:

Yeah, it was pretty good. But the other thing is, I was always pretty much a be act. It was never really like a Seinfeld or I didn't I didn't reach any kind of great notoriety in the United States. I would just say it was mediocre, but it was good. I did Chevy commercial. I did local grocery store commercials here. I did grocery store called Ralph's here, which is part of the whole Safeway. I was the spokesman for that with a we had a puppet in that show. And I started doing episodic and it was a pretty intense time in my life late 80s. And then, I think as a ventriloquist, no one wanted to ever take that next step and propel me further. Because of the fact I could just see someone going to their boss and going, I found this great act. Let's make a sitcom. What did he do? He's even true. Before they can say the word Quist. Out, they'd get a no, because there's a stigma. There's a stigma attached to Geek acts like ventriloquist jugglers, and mine well, and magicians because I suspect what I said they either suck or they're great.

Scott Edwards:

Well, a great reference point would be Jay Johnson, who's another terrific ventriloquist, who had great success on the TV show soap. And yet despite his notoriety, despite his humor, and his is really solid characters. His monkey character is has been seen a lot. He never got offered a show, right? He reached a certain level as a backup character on soap, but and he had a certain amount of same excuse me fame and notoriety, but he's not a Seinfeld or a Leno. So it wasn't just you like you said it's the variety arts are taken quite as seriously and I'm not sure why I always respected them but

Unknown:

that's where the that's where the British Commonwealth comes into play. And I'll go there in a second they do. Exalt variety acts as, as as valuable as a great musician or a great actor or a great movie star. And it's because of the musical and pantomime conditions is part of their cultural psyche, that they have talent shows, and these local they have these local talent shows and shows pantomimes, you familiar with the pantomime, it's pretty much a Christmas show where there's always a villain, and there's singing and dancing, and some men wear women's clothes. And it's just, it's fun. And it's great for the whole family. It's a bit naughty. And everybody is treated with respect regarding on regarding how how they're presented in the show that makes it so a ventriloquist would be just as valuable and respected as the best dancer, or singer or dramatic actor in the show.

Scott Edwards:

And I think that's interesting to share with the audience. Because that is not something that I think we as Americans are aware that in Hollywood, in New York and in the bastions of entertainment, that there is a hierarchy in that the variety X don't get the same respect. But

David Strassman:

who's already action America are ridiculed, and they're done. So and you can start with The Gong Show. The Gong Show was the one that said, variety acts are silly, let's not only take the good ones and praise them, but let's take the bad ones and Gong the hell out of them.

Scott Edwards:

The Gong Show for all you young people was a really as if it was set up as a contest, but it was really just a lot of bad acts, and every now and then there'd be a jam. It's kind of the early version of America's Got Talent. So this is a great bridge to what led you to Australia, New Zealand, which we want to let the audience know, you've had huge success, you're still doing sold out shows in these two countries. You've done some television, explain how that came about.

David Strassman:

1991 I got a call to play Melbourne, Australia comedy festival and I went down there and the budget but by the way, I already had a solid hour headlining act at the time I was playing the improv of the funny bones in the United States and commanding pretty much top dollar plus airfare and hotel at the comedy clubs, and not having done the tonight show or Letterman. So I was which I never have, by the way.

Scott Edwards:

In what the reason you're explaining this is it was unique for somebody to reach high pay headliner in the club level without some, like you said Letterman or Tonight Show TV. So it was really to put it plainly you earned your way from the streets to the stages to the headlining spot, kind of the hard way. I mean, you

Unknown:

do attrition, yeah. through attrition. And the plus I always bought a different show whenever I came to any Comedy Club, even though I played so go to Australia, it was a three week tour. And at the time, I had chuck wood, my teddy bear character and my three dinosaurs which were robotic, that thing was getting it sang Bohemian Rhapsody you as I conducted them, which is an amazing feat of robotics, and my alien character Kevin, and I arrived in Australia for three weeks and I sold out. And I did all the local television shows, or the national television shows in Australia. And this teddy bear character, which I had no idea resonated with the Australians because the British Commonwealth Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Scotland and South Africa all have teddy bears in their culture. It's something like it's crazy. They build fanatical over teddy bears. There's teddy bear picnic, Cambridge, chocolate teddy bear this teddy bear that everybody had one everybody loved them. And my teddy bear character who is a sad little depressing almost a Charlie Brown character just always depressed. I

Scott Edwards:

think more of him as an ER.

Unknown:

Yeah, kind of like your Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that would work as well.

Scott Edwards:

And gentlemen, we want to explain that Chuck Wood was your main ventriloquist figure but early years you created it's Ted e bear. Yeah, it's very important to have the separate. You have Angel alien. I didn't know about the dinosaurs.

Unknown:

There's so many so many puppets and then half of them are rotting away. In trunks in my garage,

Scott Edwards:

but the point was is, is I mentioned it earlier in this interview, what as a producer and as a club owner, I appreciated the always brought something different for me in my shows back in the 80s. It was all chuck wood and the animatronics and what you were able to do there, that as you go into the 90s, you're now stretching your ventriloquism talents and doing all these different characters. So when you get to Australia, you had your you'd already developed Ted e bear.

Unknown:

Yeah, yeah, well, just barely. But he wasn't really, there was Chuck that was loved in America. And Teddy was almost an afterthought. And he didn't get good responses when I was performing in the clubs with teddy bear. And the alien character was really not very well fleshed out, the test scores are just IKV of pretty much singing the greatest song on the planet as I conducted on beginning Rhapsody. But what happened was, Australia went off and through the roof. And from all the national television shows I did, I did everything from cooking shows to fishing shows to so many different shows with all my characters, that I became a kind of an instant celebrity, which they offered be a a TV series in 1990, or no, I'm sorry, that I went to Edinburgh in 1996. And my show won several awards, I was pretty much the darling of the comedy. All the comedy submissions of that year,

Scott Edwards:

well, I just want to let the audience know being a champion at Edinburgh Comedy Festival is monumental. Congratulations. That is that is something that comics would strive for, and most didn't achieve. And to get that kind of recognition. And I wasn't aware. And now that I think about it, and you've explained it, it makes sense. But I wasn't aware how strong the variety acts were in England and that part of the world. And the celebrity in Australia sounds very familiar. Because we recently interviewed I recently interviewed Arj Barker, who has a very similar situation where he he kind of went over there on a lark, and got on the late night talk show in almost overnight celebrity. Yeah. And he's melt that for the last 20 years. You turned teddy bear, and created this monster show that you're still selling out theaters to this day. Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah.

Unknown:

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I think what Edinburgh did for me was it gave me the Royal Variety Show. I got offered a television series in Australia, which led to four years of of TV series in England, New Zealand, and Australia, my chat show called Strawson, where I interviewed celebrity guests in all those countries. And while Chuck, ask the questions we all wish we could ask. For example, in England, I interviewed interviewed Lorena Bobbitt. And Chuck, as I said, he didn't by the way, you can find snippets of this on YouTube somewhere, but I said, the reign of millions of men want to ask the men share in in me asking this one question. And Chuck goes, cut me good debts lately. So that's the kind of stuff that I would do. And I would I would ask serious questions and Chuck would come in and, and, you know,

Scott Edwards:

what's the common it's, it's almost like an Abbott Costello or Laurel and Hardy. You're the straight guy and Chuck could throw out the zingers. I think it's genius. And it wasn't till I read your bio that I had realized and learn that you had gotten your own shows. But as I said, before, we turned on the recorder. What a huge amount of success. Dave and, and not given to you. You earned it from the streets aren't up. I mean, that's just amazing. So so, so happy for you.

Unknown:

Yeah. And I'm unknown here in America. And I like to keep it that way. Because when I go,

Scott Edwards:

Well, this part when I go to won't change that.

Unknown:

No, oh, well, thankfully. But no, I'm very well known in the British Commonwealth. And I just came back last week. From a show I'm doing now it's called the chocolate diet. And it's a massive set. Showing I just did 25 performances in 30 days. We traveled over 2200 miles in Australia. This is the post pandemic all the happenings gigs by the way people held their tickets to yours, because I had all these tours that were canceled for from the pandemic. And so I'm selling off 1500 See theaters and it's some most of the places are two shows a night. That's how crazy it is. But I bring a massive stage show with, you know, 180 lighting cues, I've got a crew of five we have everything fits in a six ton truck of massive set and sound equipment and, and robotics and music and it is truly a show, you know, like a musical not I mean, like the type of production guy you'll find in musical with massive sets.

Scott Edwards:

Well, are you being Are you for walling their own shows and producing your own shows? Or is there somebody yet for all this?

Unknown:

I am co producing with my producer, David Foster from foster entertainment. He's based in Vegas. He started in Australia, he was the one that hired me at the Comedy Club in Melbourne, Australia back in 1991. We've been working together ever since almost for how many years now? almost 40 years?

Scott Edwards:

Well, and I want to share with the audience that is being self produced, you are actually able to cash in better than somebody that's just getting paid to do a gig.

Unknown:

Oh, yeah. I share in the profit, but I also share in the expenses as well.

Scott Edwards:

Well, yeah, I get that. But I just know from a producer's point of view, that yeah, is even when I was paying it back in the day, which was big money, 1000 or 1500, to somebody to work for a week. As much as that was expensive back in the 80s. As the producer selling the beers and the drinks and the food and getting the ticket at the door. Obviously I was able to make money.

Unknown:

You must have made so much money. I remember I did the I did the math at the Newport Beach laptop. And I figured out that there was a two drink minimum. There were three shows on a Saturday night I was making maybe 50 bucks for that three shows. Oh, geez. Yeah, and the other comics problem punk comics, were probably making a total of 500, including the headliner. Be like, Great Scott, the magician, me and some other acts. And I figured the three shows to drink minimum at I don't know, 250 300 people. It came out to something like$60,000 gross for the night just an alcohol and cover charge for the night. And I went I'm in the wrong side of the business.

Scott Edwards:

Well, I No comment. Okay, no comment. All right. So you're you're you've really taken off in Australia, New Zealand and England, you're you've had your own shows, you've reached this level of success that you can self produce, sold out concerts around the world. Huge success. I want to get into paleo nerds. But before we do, can you explain to the audience that after working with Chuck wood for you know, two decades, and he's still a major part of your show? How does a ventriloquist create, you know, Angel, teddy bear these different characters? Is it is a long process. Is it something you feel like you have to do? Or do you do it because you're motivated to always improve your shows, maybe share with the audience what you go through to do that?

Unknown:

Sure. When I, I had a show that evolved over 10 years from 1990 99 to 2000. And it was pretty much the same show that just got better and better and better. And by the by the success I had in Edinburgh, and then my own TV show in the three countries. Then I played the West End of London, I had a run there, which was very successful. My show moved from comedy clubs of fear. And when it moved to theater, that means I had attentive audiences not a stinking smoking drunken jerks or heckling the whole time, you're literally had people are paying to come see you. And with their hands folded in their lap and their programs. And it was a new paradigm as far as being able to be subtle, being able to have comedy, but also add music and lighting cues and special effects and bring a full on production to what you can't do in the comedy club. And with that, I started performing Australia is about a four or three year tour, running nine months over three years and I would perform I had a child I would only be gone for a month, three times a year. So I would perform three non consecutive months a year. So after that three years I would have played Melbourne, Sydney and all the other towns in between New Zealand and England. I have to come up with a new show. So I could either take the existing puppets from the last show, and just rewrite a new episode like you do for The Simpsons, or I could create characters and over the years, I could just create characters based on whatever the show was about, for example, teddy bear had, he wanted to leave and farewell and go away and run away. And we had a talent show to replace him. And that created like seven new characters, which only ran in that show and they're now in Trump's in my garage. Except Angel, I believe was this robotic woman who is now she no longer in my show anymore. But she She lasted for two two shows. But, you know, basically what I've been doing the last few shows is giving my puppets new goals, new foibles, new dreams, new hopes, new dramas to explore and they're very culturally relevant. For example, my show now the chocolate diet is about addiction. And teddy bears addicted to chocolates. And when he was I convinced him to go on a diet. He comes back as impossibly thin anorexic ly thin so he went too far, then we need to put them back on a better bit more healthier diet, and he comes back on the show as so fat as that rolls, rolls, and then they actually had two other puppets built to represent him in those states of, of dietary distress. Chuck wood comes out in a blonde wig with a girl power t shirt, and he's pretty sure he's transgender, that he was carved out of the wrong piece of wood.

Scott Edwards:

No way. Yeah. So

Unknown:

it's a completely awesome transgender pro LGBTQ plus routine. It's culturally relevant. I had people in the LGBTQ community approve the routine, and Val, validate it so that it's not insulting, and that it actually is pro women and pro culturally acceptable, and I'm actually making statements. So wow, that's awesome. Yeah, it is awesome. And grandpa Fred and addicted to heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, downers, uppers, and marijuana, because the home gives that to him to keep him sedated?

Scott Edwards:

Well, you've given us the motivation behind it, but I know there's more than that you have to actually develop the ventriloquist figure. But then how do you come up with the different voices is that do you see the character and then find the voice or create the voice and then build the character to meet it?

Unknown:

Well, I show now contains really five characters, which are my family of puppets I've had now for about 20 years. And it's Grandpere. Fred. He's the beaver. So the beavers like the Catskills, comic, Chuck Wait, hello, Kevin. The alien is is this character? And then he bears this? And check what is this? And in my last show, I Teddy. I did a 20 minute routine where I did six voices for 20 minutes. And it was this amazing dialogue about well, not dialogue, but a six alog of 20 puppets in a six way conversation for 20. Sorry, I'm all confused. So I have five puppets and myself in a 20 minute conversation that I do all the voices live, but I did their mouths robotically with a handheld device that control each one of their five miles

Scott Edwards:

away. How's that? Possible? I know it was a lot of rehearsal. I mean, I had to quit drinking.

Unknown:

I quit drinking for the show. No, I haven't drunk in 20 yet. I'm 10 years sober now. And I quit drinking because I had to. I could not do it with any time I had to have this mental acuity to do this. If you go up on YouTube and look up, I think it's five puppets is in 20 seconds, something like that. Strassman five puppets in 20 seconds. is there's a there's a snippet of me doing the voices. But that was a 20 minute long routine. That was pretty crazy.

Scott Edwards:

Well, I've what I want to make clear to the audience because this is a podcast and they can only hear they can't see it. So definitely go to the Googler check out YouTube. There's a lot of videos of Dave, you can also go to his website, David strassman.com. But just to explain that the challenge of creating one animatronic puppet David Wood, I'm sorry, chuck wood and being able to control that, to me, was amazing. The fact that you were able to I just can't even imagine

Unknown:

I had a computer control. I had a computer control, pre program, arms and ahead, and I write for 20 minutes, but I live with a live device in my hand control all the mouths. And what happened was, these routines are in sections of about one minute. So if I started getting faster, I could slow it down as I started doing the routine slower, I could speed it up. That makes any

Scott Edwards:

sense. I mean, again, my hat's off to you, Dave, in you're such an artist, but to take the time, and the ingenuity to create that kind of situation is in the fact that you keep topping yourself. That's what's amazing. You know, a lot of people find a certain level of comfort, and they just stay there.

Unknown:

Yeah. And why do you need to shout out to comics. First of all, rich shiner was the one who I hired back in 1999, to write my my first real show in that would go in the theater. And I kind of owe that to him to putting me on a much higher level of creativity and cleverness with my show. And then subsequently, I hired Steve Altman, who pretty much does mostly music and film, and he had a stand up show for a while. But he has been my co writer for the last 10 years, almost 15 years. And he's co written all my shows, which have gone to DVD and YouTube and all that good stuff. So I wanted to shout out to those brilliant collaborator, yeah,

Scott Edwards:

it's great to have a support team, but you're still the the creative leader of the group, and what you've accomplished is amazing. Now, before we get too late in the show, we're wrapping it up. You also have outside interest and I want everybody to understand that not only is he a world class ventriloquist and the creator of amazing characters in animatronics to make things work and using computers. I mean, it just goes on and on. Dave, you were not satisfied? Is a hobby. You're a paleontologist and you and rate troll. Is it? Toll? Yeah, yeah, Rachel, I have created a podcast. So everybody out there in podcast land. You want something different and interesting. Check out paleo nerds. I've listened to a couple of shows. It's fascinating. Although I was disappointed in your latest show, you kind of denounce your ventriloquism. I'm done with that for now. I want to talk paleontology. Yeah. But nerds came about.

Unknown:

Sure. I have always had an academic interest in the earth sciences. And I am a voracious reader of that everything from history to cultural anthropology, to astronomy, to paleontology. And back in the 80s, I started reading all the books that academics paleontologists were bred, rather than just anyway, I dove deep into it. And when I moved to Alaska, which is another story back in the 2000s, I became friends with Rachel who's one of the preeminent paleontological artists. And he's also an amazing artist, whose works graced the covers of books and T shirts and museums. And we became friends and in a pandemic. Before that, he invited me on a trip with 24 paleontologists with the head of Sony Museum of Natural History down the Amazon. Know, I spent two weeks on the Amazon with 24 paleontologist. And because of my years of studying earth sciences and paleontology, I was able to walk the walk and talk the talk on these academic levels. And I know my age is I know my terms, and I know my why evolution

Scott Edwards:

is so cool. You went down. Yeah. Ah, that must have been exciting and scary.

Unknown:

No, it wasn't scary. But it was a game changer as far as understanding the diversity of life on this planet. But back to this, the paleontology so I would go and every summer I'd go up to Ketchikan, Alaska where Ray lives and we all go out and look for fossils in southeast Alaska. And I'd always be alright, what's this? He goes, Well day that is the Devonian coral 430 million years ago. You know, this was once an ancient sea, and it was a warm shallow sea and infield and, and so he was always this kind of mentor, an explainer to me. And during the pandemic. You know how I was literally about three months in I was going crazy. I was scrolling Facebook and I was watching squid game. I'm like, What am I gonna do? But I thought what We started a podcast and I have audio editing capabilities. And I've been editing stuff for my show for many years. So I said, ready, let's do a podcast. And he has the connection to the top paleontologist on planet Earth, just to his is networking. And our first guest is the head of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Kirk Johnson. He's, he's the host of all these Nova shows. And he's right hand man with David Attenborough. And from there, we started interviewing the most amazing scientists, nature writers, Academy Award winning directors all have to do with deep time, paleontology, dinosaurs tribal by. And it's culminating, by the way, we've just did our 55th episode where I'm editing the 56. As we speak, we're on five or six NPR stations around the country. So we're getting a little bit of notoriety on NPR. And two weeks from now I go to Montana, to dig for a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex, with the Museum of the Rockies. So I'm going to the dinosaur day. Yeah, with my son. Yeah, we're going on.

Scott Edwards:

Man, that's incredible. You are definitely a paleo nerd. And from listening to the shows, what I think is interesting dynamic is that a lot of podcasts are garbage. And the ones that have teams sometimes figured out and sometimes don't. But what I like about yours is that ray in you have distinctive roles. He's obviously the knowledge, that book of knowledge, but you know, enough to ask the right questions, and you know, how to kind of punch it up a little bit. So it's not this droll, scientific,

Unknown:

oh, no, I put in sound effects. And then we're talking about the ocean. Sometimes you hear the ocean in the background. And I always make sure we have music as interstitial breaks. And it's really a lot of fun. And one of your some crazy, you know, you have a podcast, you do the editing, I am editing in Sound Forge on Windows seven. Know what I mean, a virtual machine on my MacBook Pro that I'm using SoundForge. Windows seven because I know it like the back of my hand.

Scott Edwards:

You're basically using ancient software to do this. You know this paleontological podcast, it's so funny. I know. Well, you had such a diverse life and career and having something fun like that to share with your son and to take you away from show business. Well, I've

Unknown:

got to thank you, Scott, I have to thank you for being one of the first clubs to book me believe in me, and to hold me back from becoming a middle act until I really deserved it. Even though at the time, you know, when you're opening act, or you're doing 20 minutes, you're getting paid. I don't know what it was a week, 150 bucks or something a week. I remember I used to fly PSA up there. I think I was drove there a couple times. But the fact that a club owner asks you back means they believe in you. And that belief is what keeps you going. When you can't, when you don't have enough money for rent. And you don't have enough money for gas. And you look at your calendar with back then we have these day planners, I look at my calendar and be empty. And you go where am I? How am I going to eat? How am I going to how long have you had to pay rent. But I have to thank you, Scott, you were one of the first clubs to give me the validity that kept me going.

Scott Edwards:

Well, you're welcome. But I also took advantage of your talents. And I remember I would sit down with my planner and I would give talented guys like you, you know, three, six weeks a year. And a lot of times the comics would say that that would would be the foundation that would build other bookings on because when I found somebody like you that could really entertain my audience was always working was always being creative and bringing something different, then it's my job as the producer to kind of take advantage of that but but to also encourage it so that you become the headliner, that I'm going to be able to start my shows long before anybody else. And the fact that you took that along with all your street work on to having your own shows in England and Australia is just been such an amazing career and just that if I had a small part of it makes me proud and I know you have to be extremely proud of everything you've accomplished. And to top it off, you're smart. And you're you've got paleo nerds where you have a chance to talk about something that is kind have a hobby but that you really enjoy. i Congratulations, David. And you

David Strassman:

know what, we're this close to interviewing Attenborough. So we're almost we're almost there.

Scott Edwards:

Yet. Yeah, that would be that would be the gift of the lifetime. For people that aren't aware. He is like the host or the voice of almost every sign,

Unknown:

boy. You're having sex with creatures.

Scott Edwards:

Well, Dave, this has been such a terrific and interesting interview. I'm so glad that we're able to connect in some time together. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not kidding, you gotta go check out all his videos on YouTube. David Strassman is his name. He's a top world class ventriloquist. You can also go to David strawson.com. And for all the podcast listeners, be sure to look up and listen to paleo nerds. P A L E O separate word nerds. We all know how to spell that. Check it out. Because it's not only entertaining, but very interesting. Some terrific interviews.

David Strassman:

Clean. It's clean. Yeah.

Scott Edwards:

Your shows now. When you work for me, it was all clean. But I've been watching some of your recent videos. It's a little edgy with

Unknown:

people. Yeah, well, it's Ricky Gervais. Dirty. How about that?

Scott Edwards:

There you go. And anyway, Dave, thanks so much for being on the show with me. Ladies and gentlemen, be sure to check out his podcast, check out his videos. And if you get a chance to see a show, which is unlikely in the US. But if you're traveling and you get a chance to see any of his shows, don't miss out on the king of ventriloquism, Dave Strassman. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us, David. Thanks for being on the show.

David Strassman:

Thanks for having me, Scott.

Scott Edwards:

All right. Stay tuned next week, ladies and gentlemen, another great show. We'll be back to entertain you and educate you, I hope. Thanks for listening. Bye.

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