David Strassman

David Strassman with 'Chuck Wood'

David Strassman, (born September 6, 1957, Los Angeles, California) is an American ventriloquist who is best known for his ventriloquism act with the characters Ted E. Bare and Chuck Wood. He began performing magic at the age of twelve after a visit to the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

Biography

David Strassman^[1] is the second of four children. His father, Dr. Harvey D. Strassman (9/19/1922 - 1/30/2011, born in Chicago) was a psychiatrist and medical academic. His mother, Marjorie Mae Bell, 12/16/1926 - 7/4/1999, born in Colorado, was a nurse. David lived in West Los Angeles until age 8, when his family moved to Monterey Hills of South Pasadena.

Strassman's interest in magic and ventriloquism was inspired by a visit to the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, He asked his father to purchase some professional magic tricks which Strassman performed for kids in his neighborhood. In 1972, his junior high school, in Winnetka, Illinois, offered a ventriloquism class as an elective alternative, taught by local Chicago children's television host Steve Horowitz. Horowitz showed Strassman how to advertise in the local paper to give magic and ventriloquism shows for children's birthday parties, leading to his first paid performances. While attending New Trier West, in Chicago, Strassman took up acting and theater. He performed in plays and musicals and learned improvisation from New Trier West drama teacher Michael Routenberg, along with a masterclass from Chicago's Second City Improvisation troupe.

Strassman studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Instead of proceeding to the second year, he chose to be a street performer, performing in New York, London, and Paris. Unable to perform in French, Strassman got a job performing magic and mime at the now closed L'aiglon nightclub in Pigalle.

Strassman started performing in New York's comedy clubs, with late-night spots at the Improv and Comic Strip. Throughout the '80s, Strassman worked at comedy clubs throughout the United States, as an opening act, then middle act and headliner. In 1980 Strassman (along with Chuck) appeared in Roger Corman's horror film Humanoids from the Deep.^[2]

In 1986, Strassman placed robotics in his main ventriloquist character, Chuck Wood, inspired by his remote-controlled airplane hobby, and originated in the early 1950s by New York ventriloquist Stanley Burns. At the end of his act, Strassman would get into an argument with Chuck Wood and leave the stage. The puppet would then appear to come to life, using radio controlled robotics with Strassman speaking into an off-stage microphone.

In 1991, Strassman performed at The Comedy Club, Melbourne, Australia as part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Strassman has since performed frequently throughout Australia on national tours,.^[3] He also performs in theatres in New Zealand and the UK, performing a theatrical show with sets, lighting and special effects.

In 1996, Strassman performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. He received the “Critics Award for Comedy”^[4] and the Glasgow “Herald Angel”^[5] award. He appeared on British television shows, including his own one-hour BBC comedy special and an appearance on the Royal Variety Show, hosted by Prince Charles. He then performed a season at the Apollo Theater.

Strassman had an eponymous television talk show, Strassman, on Channel Nine, Australia, where his puppet character, Chuck Wood, interviewed celebrities. Subsequent series were produced in England on ITV, and in New Zealand on TV2.

Strassman has three DVD titles. His first release, Strassman Live, has sold triple platinum in Australia. The second release was The Chuck You Tour and the Get Chuck'd Tour is the third release.

In 2010, Strassman performed the play "Duality", written and directed by Steve Altman, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. "Duality" is a two-character play about a mentally-ill ventriloquist, Jack, who talks to himself through a puppet, Zack. Throughout "Duality", Strassman's character "talks" to his ventriloquist puppet as it sits lifeless in a chair, he operates it manually with his hand in the back, and controls the puppet through wireless robotics. Strassman received Five Star reviews for his world premiere of "Duality".^[6][7][8] In 2011, David Strassman is^[when?] working with Steve Altman on his new show, Chuck's Revenge, which will have its world debut in Australia, May 2011.

Puppet characters

Puppet character voiced by Strassman include:

• Chuck Wood - a talking puppet who dreams of becoming a real boy. Makes rude and crude jokes, makes fun of other characters, spits and vomits. Can also be remotely controlled. In Strassman Live, Chuck dreams of becoming a real boy, and tries to do so by summoning the blue fairy, but it is suggested by Dave, that Chuck's magical chant pissed her off. His second attempt, was to sell Ted E. Bare to Kevin, who loves teddy bears...with sauce. But Kevin gives Ted E. back, claiming he ate all the chocolates. Chuck finally attempts plan C, which is to contact Satan himself, but Satan reveals that he created Chuck and Chuck is the reason he was kicked out of heaven and turned evil, and besides, he already has his soul. Chuck attempts to kill himself, but wakes up to discover it was all a dream. In Strassman Live: Volume Two, Chuck is responsible for Ted E. Bare's disappearance. Chuck, and Ted E. both developed a habit of eating their pets. When Teddy threatened to leave, and thus get all the attention, he claimed that he was a homosexual, but couldn't get through a verbal word association Test.

• Ted E. Bare - Naive, inquisitive, often the butt of Chuck's jokes and pranks. Ted E. Bare, in Strassman Live, was ashamed of his appearance, because of a traumatic dream he had. He later reveals to Dave that he ate his pet turtle after Chuck tricked him into it, but later on developed a liking to it. He went missing in Volume Two, because of Chuck's rudeness towards him. Chuck also was a big part of him deciding to leave in "Teddy's Farewell Tour."

• Sid Beaverman - Aspiring stand-up hack comic who continually gets Strassman's name wrong. Variations include: Mr Stinking Human, Mr Slippery Nipple, Mr Stresselman, Mr Stetzenhat, Mr Sizzlestick and Mr Sicklehyer. He also auditioned for both Chuck and Teddy's replacement on two occasions. When auditioning for Teddy, he began to furiously insult Dave, ending it with "So do I get the job?" He was also his own judge (and still failed).

• Kevin the Alien - Similar in appearance to Crazy Frog, Kevin is from outer space and has an unpronounceable name. He thinks he is wiser than humans and makes slip-ups that his race will take over the planet. His planet of origin seems to change from Orgog to a variant of his name. He believes he can tell a human's future using Astrology and tells of an obscure apocalypse (In your last days, there will be flying jellyfish...You actually believed that? How stupid could you get? They'll be walking, duh!)

• Vinny The Dolphin - A private detective who Strassman hires to help find Ted. E. Bare in The Chuck You Tour DVD but for some reason only thinks of himself & has no clues so he ends up getting sacked by Strassman. No longer in Strassman's show.

• Grandpa Fred - Ted E. Bare's long lost grandfather (who is featured on the Chuck You Tour DVD) seems to be the exact opposite of his grandson. After his first appearance, Grandpa Fred's voice makes a complete change.

• The Crows - Strassman's robotic puppets who are aspiring musicians and when commanded to begin can't seem to stop sneezing or belching. They have also been substituted by a trio of dinosaurs who actually sing.

• A.N.G.E.L - Strassman's first female puppet A.N.G.E.L is a robot. A special mechanism is required to make Strassman's voice sound female, and is currently appearing in Strassman's show.

• Little Ricky/Baby - A baby that Strassman picks up when its parents go to the casino. He also auditioned to be Teddy's replacement under the name Baby. His explanation for his parents leaving him this time was, "They're out getting pissed." He is an innocent young boy who Chuck repeatedly attempts to manipulate and corrupt. Luckily, Ricky has a tendency to mishear Chucks words.

• Mr. Invisible - An auditioner for Teddy's replacement. Dave requires his stage hand to put on what would be assumed as a complex puppet. In fact, the segment was made up entirely of Dave talking to his hand (Chuck: Strassman's finally lost it, Strassman's finally lost it). Dave accidentally frustrates him by asking, "Do you have any special talents?" This prompted him to say, "...I'm invisible."

• Guido the Teddy Impersonator - A sleazy character who looks almost exactly the same as Teddy, but with a misshapen head. He was apparently put in jail for impersonating Teddy (and other crimes, such as drugs and prostitution). He also attempted to replace Teddy when he tried to leave the show.

• Mumbles the dog - Another potential replacement for Teddy. Strassman was quite happy to give him a shot, but realized that he forgot to make him a mouth and had to fail him.

• Charley - Though not actually a Puppet, Charley is the commercially available programmable robot, Robonova, from Hitec. Dave brought out Charley, a small toy puppet. just for kicks while the auditions were taking place. At first Dave pretends to shoot Charley and he reacts in the expected way and other such cheap tricks. Chuck then instructed him to do several difficult tasks (stand on one leg and act like a chicken, do a cartwheel, do a handstand), which he accomplished with ease. Chuck, as it turns out, hacked Strassman's computer to made Charley do that. His final instruction: Kill the Audience. Dave scoffs at the idea when he is forced to get rid of the approaching robot.

References

1. ^ http://www.ventriloquist-david-strassman.com/
2. ^ David Strassman at IMDB
3. ^ http://www.chuckwood.com/popups/tourdates.php
4. ^ http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewpreview.aspx?id=1500
5. ^ http://www.theheraldangels.co.uk/
6. ^ http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/27855-david-strassman-ventriloquism-taken-to-a-whole-new-level/
7. ^ http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/festivals/2010/08/strassman-duality.html
8. ^ http://www.festmag.co.uk/reviews/524-strassman_duality

External links

• Strassman's Website, Puppetronics
• Facebook Page
• David Strassman's site
• Duality The Show

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Name	Strassman, David
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Date of birth	September 6, 1957
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