‘You will believe in magic’: Ventriloquist Terry Fator reaches into a world of ‘Pure Imagination’

Enter a world of impressions, imagination and puppetry as Terry Fator’s “Pure Imagination: Once Upon a Voice” comes to Isleta Resort and Casino on Saturday, Jan. 31.

“My show is bringing people into my imagination and making it part of their imagination,” Fator said.

Fator began ventriloquism after finding a book in his elementary school library titled “Ventriloquism for Fun and Profit.” Over the years, he realized everything he does is straight out of his imagination, and he wants to draw people in and share it.

“It just really struck me about how that’s the beauty of this show, that we’re all going to use our imagination together, and by the end of it, you will believe in magic,” Fator said.

Fator said he makes the audience believe the inanimate puppets that make up his cast are real and are actually talking, singing and cracking jokes.

“I feel like my job on this earth is to just make you forget about whatever it is if you’re worried about the world,” Fator said.

“That’s really what I try to give my audience, is that respite,” Fator said. “Just that little bit of solace and a place to come and forget all of your issues and worries and problems.”

Throughout the show, Fator — via his puppets — sings, talks and performs a range of acts.

“I do 19 impressions, male, female, high high voice, high range, low range, every type — and I do it all in one song,” Fator said.

The show features puppets based on celebrities like Willie Nelson and Michael Jackson. It also features puppets Fator created himself, such as Maynard Thompkins, an Elvis impersonator, Vikki the Cougar and Winston the Turtle.

“I think all of them, in a way, are part of my own personality,” Fator said, “but I would have to say Winston, the impersonating turtle, is probably the closest to my actual personality.”

Winston the Turtle helped Fator win “America’s Got Talent” in 2007 and has been a member of the cast since.

“Winston is the child. He’s so innocent and that’s what’s so beautiful about him, he’s that innocent part of me,” Fator said. “He’s that part of me that came out of me being 10 years old and deciding I wanted to create a world where inanimate objects talk.”

While Fator relates most closely to Winston, he said, his favorite to puppet is Maynard Thompkins.

“He’s just so goofy and silly ... I just let him go,” Fator said. “It’s interesting how I’m able to separate myself from him, knowing I’m creating the character and I’m the one making him talk.”

The show will bring the audience together in this world of imagination, and Fator said there will be plenty of surprises.

“You’ll leave with your heart lighter for sure,” Fator said.

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow from the New Mexico Local News Fellowship program. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.