Paul Zerdin shares his excitement for Blackpool Comedy Festival

Blackpool Gazette

Comedian and ventriloquist Paul Zerdin chats all things Blackpool Comedy Festival ahead of his upcoming show.

Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm digital reporter Amy Serdin. On Thursday May 29th, the British comedian and ventriloquist

00:08Paul Serdin, who rose to fame after winning America's Got Talent in 2015, brings us acclaimed

00:14new show to Viva Blackpool. Called Paul Serdin and Friends, the show is part of the Blackpool

00:19Comedy Festival, which is in town between Saturday May 24th and Monday June 1st. In the following

00:26video, Paul shares his excitement with us about performing in Blackpool. So take a look at what

00:31he had to say next. I'm very excited to be coming back to Blackpool, firstly, and secondly, to be part

00:38of the festival. I've done a lot of festivals around the world, including the Montreal Just for Last

00:42Festival, Cape Town. Festivals have taken me all over the world. And so to be able to come back to

00:47Blackpool and be part of a festival, I think is terrific. And I've got a real soft spot for Blackpool

00:52because I've spent so many summers, you know, summer seasons there back in the day, as they say.

00:58And so also to be coming back to the Viva, the Viva show bar at Blackpool is fantastic. I love that

01:04venue. And so it's been quite a few years, actually, since I've been back. So yes, great to be part of

01:08a festival. And a few years since you've been back, and like I say, you were here doing the summer

01:13seasons. And I know a lot of people thought, you know, know you've probably seen your act as well.

01:17But, you know, the explosion of America's Got Talent, which was brilliant for you. But I suppose

01:22that's taken you absolutely everywhere, which was, you know, fantastic for you personally. But

01:27people don't know, you weren't an overnight success. This is a lot of skill, a lot of training

01:33in the making. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I mean, I did my first proper season in my career in Blackpool

01:41in 1997. And it was a split week with me, Bradley Walsh and Roy Walker. And then I came back and did

01:49the full season myself in 98. And then and I've been back, you know, on and off over the years a

01:55lot. And so I was learning my trade, you know, I started as a ventriloquist and a magician when I

02:02left school. And I'd been doing holiday parks, I've been doing working men's clubs, and doing

02:09literally every gig that that would come in, I'd take it. And I just think the more you do,

02:14the more experience you get, the better you get. And just the more you learn. And so I'd already

02:20done a talent show in this country on on ITV. And about I think it was about 1996, which led to me

02:26having my own show in Blackpool about a year later. And so it's the talent show seems to be quite a big,

02:35a big part of my life. And then like, how many years later was that? That's 2015. I then went and

02:43did America's Got Talent. And that that it's, you know, the whole talent thing is a massive thing

02:50around the world, as we know, but the American one is massive. And so the American one has a has

02:55an enormous reach. So not only did it open doors in America for me, but it also kicked my career up

03:01the butt back home in the UK. So it was kind of win win. And I never, I genuinely never thought

03:07I'd win it. I had hoped to get to the finals just to get the exposure. But when I won it, and I

03:12thought, wow, that's, you know, that was a real surprise. And you know, if you watch it on YouTube,

03:16you can see the look of absolute shock is just genuine. It's a mixture of shock and jet lag,

03:21because I was it. And we were doing the live shows at Radio City in New York. And so it was it was,

03:28yeah, it opened a lot of doors and, and helped my career. It was just trying to juggle being able

03:34to still tour at home. And and also, you know, I had a show in Vegas for a while I've got I'm going

03:39back to Vegas, I've just started a residency at Jimmy Kimmel's comedy club on the strip in Vegas.

03:45And I do selected weekends between now and August. And then I come back and I start touring the UK

03:49again. So it's it's a it's a real juggling, juggling game. A busy man is is what you are. And so it's

03:57great to have you have you in Blackpool for the comedy festival. So tell us about the show. What

04:02can we expect when you come to Viva? So this is my sort of current touring show, which I'm doing in

04:11Vegas. And the great thing about having a residency in Vegas, and that sounds like I got a residency in

04:16Vegas. Someone said to me the other day, who do you think you are Elvis? And I said, No, I'm a bloke

04:21with a puppet, but they seem to love a puppet in America. And they voted for three ventriloquists

04:25over the years on on a GT. And it's a great opportunity for me to try out stuff.

04:33While I'm while I'm there in in working in the same venue over the next few months. And so it gives me

04:40an opportunity to then come back. And when I do my shows in the UK, to put in lots of new material,

04:46so there'll be lots of new material for my show at the Viva. And it consists of Sam, my probably my most

04:54well known character. He's got the voice that sounds like that. I'm moving my lips, by the way,

04:58I'm off duty. And then I've got Albert, Sam's grandpa, I've got the baby. I've also got I'm

05:05bringing with me my bodyguard. And I basically the story goes that when I won a GT, things went a bit

05:11crazy. And they gave me a bodyguard. And even though that's a while ago, he's still here, I can't get rid

05:14of him. He's American, and he's paranoid. And he's my bodyguard. And here is and then Roger comes out and he

05:19wants to interrogate the audience. He's totally paranoid, and thinks that the there's someone out

05:25to get to get us. And he can't believe why there are people there. He says, somebody's obviously

05:30leaked the information I said, and I have to explain to him. Yes, I did, Roger, because I told people

05:34that I was going to be here. You told people you were coming to the Viva Blackpool. Yes, yes, that's

05:40what I've done. What kind of a nutcase would do that? Do you know any of these people? No. Why would

05:44you do that? So he doesn't understand the whole premise of doing a show on tour. I've also got an

05:51urban fox as well, who's come on tour by accident with me. And he's always hanging around the bins

05:58outside my house. And he's accidentally got into the car, because he smelt my packed lunch as I was

06:02packing to go on tour. So that's the kind of the story with the urban fox. And so it's kind of like

06:07a dysfunctional family. And I'm the babysitter. And so Sam wants to leave. He's also thinking about

06:13going on Britain's Got Talent, because he thinks that might give his career a lift. So I've got

06:19this sort of silly, crazy, mad family. And of course, it's a stand-up comedy show. That's the

06:25first and foremost thing. A stand-up comedy show with puppets. And I also talk about being a

06:30ventriloquist in everyday life and the fun that you can have, you know, throwing your boys.

06:34Imagine that. Yeah. I imagine you have a lot of fun with that.

06:37Yeah. And so, you know, it's a fun-packed couple of hours.

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