Terry Fator amazed the world when he appeared on America’s Got Talent. His incredible ability as a musical impressionist combined with flawless ventriloquism skills propelled him to win the program against some very stiff competition. The sudden fame helped him to land the highest paying contract ever for a reality television show winner. Today, Terry headlines his own theater in Las Vegas and performs to packed houses of fans.
What continues to amaze me about the ventriloquist community is how grounded the performers are. In other variety arts fields, the stars tend to stand above the throngs. Not so with ventriloquism. If you attend the VentHaven convention, you can walk up and talk to anyone in the room, and they are always friendly and helpful.
Even with Terry’s incredible success, he remembers his early days as a ventriloquist. His current status allows him to help others, and he remains extremely generous. Terry has made major contributions to the VentHaven Museum and promotes our art every time he walks on stage.
This year, Terry created a scholarship to help two people win a trip to the VentHaven convention. In addition to his generous scholarship, he teamed with VentHaven Convention, his web site design company, Bubble Up, and Steve Axtell of Axtell Expressions. Winners not only received a $2,000 scholarship to help them get to the convention, but free registrations and $350 toward a professional puppet from Axtell.
When I found out about the scholarship, it was already in place. The program tied in with the mission statement for this web site. My goal with the course was to create a tool that would help people become better ventriloquists and performers. In doing so, my hope is to further the art form and interest future generations.
I contacted Terry about the possibility of participating in future offerings of the scholarship. Terry checked out the course and called me to say he’d like to include the course this year. I was blown away.
I’d like to thank Terry for all he has done to promote ventriloquism. And I want to congratulate Arnis, Cole and Joshua for sending in their videos and being winners! To everyone who didn’t win, I salute you for putting yourself out there. I wish you all the best!
