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I have never seen an episode of the NBC reality competition America's Got Talent, but watching comic ventriloquist Terry Fator's DVD Terry Fator Live in Las Vegas, it's obvious why he won the 2007 season. As ventriloquists go, Fator is incredibly gifted: he does multiple voices and characters, celebrity impressions and is even able to sing without moving his lips -- easily his most impressive feat and no doubt what won Talent for him.

Fator is a real old-school entertainer, and the Vegas setting suits him; he puts on a show filled with comedy, music, audience participation, costume changes -- the whole nine yards. He's a showman.

What he's not, in my estimation, is a very funny comedian. Yes, his is a comedic ventriloquist act (he's like Jeff Dunham, but without all the pandering and racial stereotyping), but I just couldn't find it all that funny. It's clearly funny to a lot of people, because there are numerous cutaways to the Vegas audience rolling in the aisles. Once again, though, I can only report my own reaction; while I found Fator to be a talented and genial guy, I can't recommend his Live from Las Vegas as mandatory viewing for stand-up comedy fans.

If I have one overriding issue with Terry Fator Live from Las Vegas, it's that it's far too repetitive. The structure basically breaks down like this: Fator brings out one of his characters (there's Winston the turtle, Walter the country singer and Emma Taylor, a lady puppet), does a little bit of banter with them and then has the puppet perform a song.

It's impressive the first time -- maybe the first two times -- but then it starts to become redundant. You can understand why it would work so well on a game show like America's Got Talent, where Fator had just a few minutes to make an impression; after the over 60 minutes of Live from Las Vegas, his act becomes overkill. Fator does try to mix things up about midway through the show with an extended (but dated and tired) Michael Jackson impression (Fator includes a note inside the DVD in praise of Jackson, stating the DVD was taped prior to the pop star's death in the summer of 2009) and a somewhat more inspired bit where he turns an audience member into a full-body puppet of Cher and performs "I Got You Babe" with him/her. For me, it was already too late, as I had worn out on Fator's act already. Fans of the ventriloquist are likely to eat it all up, though, and will likely enjoy Live from Las Vegas a lot more than I did. Such is the nature of comedy.

Terry Fator Special Features

If fans will enjoy the Terry Fator Live from Las Vegas special, they'll really enjoy the DVD's bonus features. There's a commentary track from Fator, joined by the special's writer and director; though I always enjoy hearing comedians talk about their craft (and commentaries on stand-up DVDs are a rare thing), the fact that a writer participates on the track is just another reminder that Fator is more entertainer than comedian. A second commentary track is included featuring Fator's puppet characters; fans of the puppets will get a kick out of it, but I always thought the appeal of the puppets was in seeing Fator perform with them. The commentary track is a little like ventriloquism over the radio.

Last up is the first chapter of Fator's autobiography, Who's the Dummy Now?. It's more teaser/advertisement for another Fator product, but (again) ought to please his fans.

DVD Details

• Release Date: 9/1/09
• Running Time: 71 minutes
• 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio (English)
• Not Rated
• Studio: Image Entertainment

DVD Bonus Featues

• Audio Commentary with Terry Fator, writer Rick Kerns and director Mark Goffman
• Audio Commentary from Terry's Puppets
• Chapter One from Terry's Autobiography Who's the Dummy Now?