WHEN you think about it, who better to ask about the discomfort of a prostate exam than a ventriloquist’s puppet?

It’s just one of the questions Paul Zerdin got via the web for the Ask Albert section of his new show, Puppet Master, at Felixstowe’s Spa Pavilion on August 4.

“I’ve an interactive part on my Facebook and my website where people can e-mail in questions for Albert to answer on the night of the show they’re coming to. I’ve had quite a lot already which are really making me laugh. I just suddenly thought this is a fantastic idea because the audience get to write half the material; I just have to try to think of some funny answers,” he laughs.

Paul’s also upping the ante when it comes to audience participation.

“I get a man and a woman up on stage and and there’s a whole twist, but they end up singing and dancing. That’s partly why the show is called Puppet Master because it’s not just the puppets I’m controlling; the audience have got a lot more involvement this year.

The show will feature favourites like Sam, his forever 85-year-old grandad Albert and Baby. Audiences will also meet new character Alasdair Rimmer, the former host of game shows like Pick my nose, Float or Sink and Alasdair Rimmer’s Cock or Ball who’s been forced into voice-over work and who takes over my interview part way through.

You can listen to that by clicking the link here.

“There’s lots of new stuff with Sam, the cheeky little s*** whose always having a go at the front row. I’m trying to steer him away from everyone and being so confrontational so there’s a bit of a thread.”

If anybody gets Paul in trouble it’s him.

“I was doing a gig at Jongleurs some years ago and was doing this thing where Sam called someone ugly in the front row. I could see the guy I was aiming all this abuse at and could see he was looking more and more unhappy as the act went on. I thought ‘well, I’ll stop taking the p*** out of him now because he might get up and thump me’.

“I finished the show and as I left he was waiting for me at the door. As I walked past with the bag on my shoulder with the puppet characters in it he stopped me and said ‘oi, you better tell your little mate to watch his mouth’. I laughed and went ‘yeah, yeah, okay’ and he went ‘no, seriously have a word’. This guy was serious, I just couldn’t help laugh, but that’s also like the ultimate compliment really isn’t it,” he laughs.

As well as the new tour, Paul is preparing to record a sit-com pilot in September. He describes it Seinfeld meets The Muppets, looking at his life as a gigging ventriloquist as well as what goes on at home between him and his characters.

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