las vegas, and now they're here. but don't paul them puppets. >> it's my christmas skirt, it's where i keep my christmas presents. >> larry: what you never knew about mickey mantle, from the woman who wrote the book on baseball's last boy, all next on "larry king live." tonight a very special edition of "larry king live." terry fater is with us. a skill which saw him win season two of america's got talent and now he brings his hilarious show to las vegas. joined by a few of his favorite co-stars. terry, it's yours. ♪ at laths ♪ my love has come along. ♪ ♪ my loin days are over ♪ and life is like a song ♪ yeah yeah at last ♪ the skies above are blue ♪ my heart was wrapped up with clover ♪ ♪ the night i looked at you ♪ >> thank you so much. >> that was emma taylor and now i have a guy who claims to be the best elvis impersonator in the world, his name is maynard tomkins. now maynard, you told me earlier that you are the best envision impersonator. >> that's right, and i could -- yes, i am. >> what elvis songs do you know? >> actually i don't know any elvis songs at all. >> you don't know any elvis songs? >> i do know a christmas song, do you want to hear it? ♪ ♪ i'll have a blue christmas without you ♪ ♪ i'll be so blue ♪ just thinking about you ♪ decorations of red on a green christmas tree ♪ ♪ won't mean a thing dear if you're not here with me ♪ ♪ i'll have a blue christmas snowflakes start calling ♪ ♪ and when those blue memories start calling in ♪ ♪ you'll be doing all right with your christmas of white ♪ ♪ and i'll have a blue blue ♪ christmas ♪ >> actually, maynard, that is elvis. >> i guess i do know some elvis. c t adththod easy-to-swallow petes. when we all become doers. when our mittens double as work gloves. and we turn every room into a project. but this year, let's trim the budget. get some help from martha stewart that we can't get anywhere else. and spread our money as far as our cheer. ♪ more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. we're lowering the cost of tradition, with fresh cut trees at fresh cut prices. now is the time to take action. are you reconsidering your medicare coverage? call unitedhealthcare medicare solutions today. you only have until december 31st to make sure you have the coverage you need. consider a medicare advantage plan. it combines medicare parts a & b, which is your doctor and hospital coverage and may include prescription drug coverage for as low as a $0 monthly premium. you only have until december 31st to enroll. call unitedhealthcare today. >> larry: we're back with the incredible terry fater, the ventriloquist. he's here with one of his characters, emma. how did emma learn to sing like that? how did you learn to do that. >> a lot of practicing in the shower. i want to be the next taylor swift. >> the next taylor swift? >> yeah. >> good luck. >> larry: how did you come to do this? you, terry. >> when we were kids, i started when i was 10 years old doing ventriloquism, my parents had a janitorial business. when we were emptying trash and vacuuming floors, i figured it was a good-time to practice ventriloquism. >> i remember those days. >> you're not even that old. >> then i don't. >> she doesn't. >> larry: do you remember why at 10 you wanted to do voices without moving lips? that's a strange occupation. >> i started doing magic when i was 8 and i thought being a magic johnsimagin imagine jigs was cool. i actually found a book at my school library on how to do ventriloquism. you're interested. >> oh, yeah, i have never heard this story. >> so i checked the book out, i started practicing with it. i found a puppet at sears, my mom paid for half and i paid for half. and i started doing shows for kids around school and my church and things like that. and i decided when i was about 13 or 14, that i wanted to be one of the top ventriloquists. >> larry: that was a goal? >> i think when i was 15, i decided, i want to be known as one of the great ventriloquists? >> larry: who's your favorite venn industri ventriloquist? >> it was all about character and everything, and to become as a household name like edgar bergen did, that was the old. of course paul lewis and jerry nelson were big influences on me as well. i decided when i was 15 or 16, when people thought of ventriloquism, i wanted them to put my name up there. >> larry: and "america's got talent" is what did it for you? >> yeah. i was in my 40s. i was doing fairs, festivals, little small town stuff. in fact what was funny about it was, since i was a ventriloquist, they always looked at me as a kids act so they would put me next to a bunch of clouds. it was always the worst stage in the entire fair. and then i was playing schools and i would play a lot of elementary schools. when i got close to about 40 years old, i thought to myself, i guess the whole thing of being rich and famous is a pipe dream. because nobody's ever going to want care about a 40-year-old ventriloquist. but yeah, just like everybody else, i went and stood in line with a bag full of hopes and dreams and hoping that something would happen. what i thought would happen is that i would get on "america's got talent." i would get on two or three episodes and then it would raise people's awareness of what i do. i never in a million years thought i would win it. i thought there was no chance in anything that a ventriloquist would win "america's got talent." i just said it's not going to happen. but my goal was to get on and do things that would make people say, you know, i want to see what he's going to do next week. so i opened with "at last" etta james. i thought it was unusual for a guy to sing etta james without moving his lips. and then i had a whole plan, i was going to do tony bennett, dean martin, louie armstrong and kermit the frog. and i thought if i can get people to say i want to see what he's going to do next week and vote for me. >> larry: what did it for you? >> singing "crying" as roy orbison. the guy who came in second was a really great regge singer, and i would see youtube. my youtube only had like 100,000 hits. and his had over a million. so i thought this guy's going to win this thing, but i was happy, because i felt like i had done a million dollar performance. i felt like i had done a winning performance. >> larry: is maynard down there? >> yes. here is maynard. >> can you throw your voice? >> i can. >> how do you do it? >> i'll do an echo. >> ladies and gentlemen. >> how do you do that? >> lets set maynard right here. >> is that larry king? >> that is larry king. >> i do not believe it. >> larry: who designs the puppets? i'm sorry, maynard. >> i'm not an atheist, i know somebody designed me. >> this guy was a guy that a guy that many, many years ago, probably, 15, 20 years ago, i decided i wanted to have an elvis impersonator in the show. i could do an elvis voice. so i called up a guy, clinton detweiler in colorado. he's kind of the uber ventriloquist. he was the guy that ran a ventriloquist studio for years and years and years. >> larry: and he makes puppets? >> he makes puppets. and i called him up and said i need an elvis. i found out that i had to like own the rights to every single puppet. and i had this guy, and i had just bought him from clinton so i called him up and i said what do i do about this puppet? he said luckily, he's the only one i have ever sold. so i actually bought the rights from clinton -- it wasn't clinton, it was another guy up in -- i can't remember his name. but it was another guy. >> larry: so you own this? >> yes. >> yes. >> larry: do you feel like you're owned? >> not at all, because i have a lot of fun and that's all. >> but i got this idea that it would be funny to have an elvis impersonator that didn't know any elvis songs. what he actually does in the show, he sings an aaron neville song and he doesn't know that it's aaron neville. >> larry: i hate to put you on the spot. do aaron neville. ♪ look at this face ♪ another year is showing ♪ look at this life ♪ i still don't know where it's going ♪ ♪ i don't know much ♪ but i know i love you >> so he does that in the show. >> larry: it's amazing. are there some people you can't do? >> i'm sure there are. i'm having a really difficult time with franke sinatra. but i'll get there. i just feel like if i work hard enough on something, i can get there. but one of these days i'll do frank. >> larry: you also have a great voice. you sang the national anthem at yankee stadium. you're a singer in your own rite. >> i do a song and most people on tv don't realize i can sing. and it's true, because after the show, i'll go out and talk to people and meet them. and people would say, you sang that song, i didn't know that you could sing. well, i'm a ventriloquist and the puppets can sing. so i guess that's a sign of doing a good job. >> larry: you have every missed a performance? >> i have never missed a performance in 28 years, i think. >> larry: you have worked through larn jityngitis? >> i have the best doctor in the world. he works with mick jagger and axl rose. >> larry: from america's got talent, you got the mirage contract? it's $10 million a year for 10 years, is that true? >> i'm not supposed to talk money, but that's what i have heard. >> larry: when we come back, we'll talk to his lovely wife and find out how he nabbed her. she felt lost... until the combination of three good probiotics in phillips' colon health defended against the bad gas, diarrhea and constipation. ...and? it helped balance her colon. oh, now that's the best part. i love your work. [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. >> larry: we're back with the incredible terry fater, his new wife is with us as well, who's one of the features in the act. in fact we're going to see more puppets from the act. how did you and taylor hook up? >> she was my assistant in my show and when i became available, my sister actually became friends with her. and i thought there's no way ever that she could actually be interested in me. >> neither one of us ever thought about it at all. but then his sister hooked us up. >> larry: so you worked together before you fell in love? >> my sister said i think taylor would go out with you. i said no way. she said i think you could ask her? and i said would you -- and before i even got it out, she said yes. >> we remember that story a little differently. >> larry: do you get tired of walking around a show place at night? >> not really. i'm a dancer, so i kind of miss dancing a little bit. but i'm so proud to be in his show. >> larry: we're going to meet some of the puppets you're going to be seeing him do. let's bring up walter t. airedale. this was terry's first puppet, right? >> it wasn't my very first, it was my first professional puppet. >> i tell you, i've been around here for a very long time. >> that's right, he has. my mother knew that i had made this commitment to myself to become one of the top ventriloquists. and so she started saving when i was 15 and took three years and for my 18th birthday gave me walter. and it took years for me to create the character of walter and actually he was originally a political puppet. the reason his name is walter airedale is because it was when walter mondale was running against ronald reagan and i named him walter airedale. >> and i had an accent because it was walter mondale. >> so that's what he originally was. and i started a band in 1987 or '88 and it was a country band and i thought if i put a t. in walter airedale. and he can yodel. >> larry: go ahead yodel. what do you think of what he does? because you look at these puppets like it's a little weird, right? >> does he bring them home? >> he does not bring them home. they stay at the mirage. >> this is a side of you i have never seen. >> they're so life like when he's puppeteering. >> larry: there's been a great movie, a horror movie. >> anthony hopkins. >> larry: the puppet lives the puppet kills and the puppet controls the master. you have never had that, have you? >> i try, but it just won't work. >> larry: walter will be back in a while and he'll sing. let's bring up winston. what's the history of winston. >> i have a very interesting history. >> yes, he does. >> larry: please tell us. >> when i was doing "america's got talent." i had this "wonderful world" that i wanted to do. so i called up the muppets and i said would it be okay if i did kermit the frog and they said no. i felt like it was one of those impressions that would really get me through to the next level. so i'm sitting there thinking. i was racking my brain, i said i got to come up with an amphibian, and i came one a turtle. and i named him winston the imimpersona imimpersonating turtle. i said is it okay if i do kermit's voice. they said you can do kermit's voice but not the actual kermit. >> larry: we'll see that in a little while. i know you're not a nut. but u do you ever start to really think of them -- >> no, not really. once the show is done, it's over. but there is -- they are an extension of my personality. they are an extension of me. i don't ever get lost, like who's who? but i definitely am funnier when i have a puppet on my hand. >> larry: as a standup? >> absolutely. and i think the reason is that i feel more free because when -- i'm a person who just -- i want everybody to have fun. i just want everybody to enjoy themselves. i don't want to hurt anybody's feelings or say something that might be offensive and so i have always got that filter going on in my head, whereas a puppet can get away with a lot more. so a puppet can say and do things that a person can't. so i think i'm just a little more free, my brain is a little more free. >> larry: how do you regard the muppets, because that's not ventriloquism? >> without the muppets i would not be where i am. >> larry: why? >> because watching the muppets and "sesame street" showed me just how life like puppets can be. >> jim henson would never see the puppet in a box. he always would hide them, he would only show them when they perform. >> that's one thing that i'm really careful about. when i'm on stage, it's something i wish all venn industri industri ventriloquists are being seen they -- they will go to get a puppet and the puppet is dead until it gets to the microphone stand. that's not how it should be. >> larry: you wouldn't mutt your puppet up here and lie them down. >> no. >> larry: let's meet the next puppet that will be in the act. peggy the cougar. why do you call her a cougar. >> what do you mean, don't i look like a cougar? >> larry: she's a flimsy, loose woman, isn't she? she's a vegas kind of broad. >> what is that supposed to mean? >> larry: i don't want to put you down. >> i call this my christmas skirt, it's where i keep my christmas presents. >> larry: how is the show doing? >> i think i'm the only show in vegas that does a christmas show. the day after halloween, we decorated our house. i love christmas. so i change the show, i do about half of it is christmas songs and christmas jokes and things. >> and of course we wear these christmas outfits, mmmm. >> you're going to be singing a christmas song later. >> i am. >> larry: do you ever have the occasion, as you're going back and forth, where your voice goes into the puppet and the puppet voice goes into you? >> that does happen occasionally, sometimes something will happen where i'll actually say the wrong line. in fact on my dvd, there's a point where i'm doing michael jackson and i get the voices all mixed up. and we left it in. people tell me it's one of their favorite parts of the dvd in fact, is when the voices get all mixed up. >> larry: do you ever have any bad nights? >> the only bad night is when i'm sick and i don't feel well. but you asked me earlier about missing shows. i don't miss shows, there were times when they were holding a bucket backstage because i felt so bad. but they're bad shows for me, not for the audience because i just struggle through them. i'm one of those vaudevillian types, the show must go on. the people came to see that show and i'm going to do that show no matter what. >> larry: you're very involved in charities. you recently headlined a veteran's program. >> our veterans work so hard to keep us free and they sacrifice so much and i just want to make sure they know we appreciate their sacrifices. >> larry: and yit's an honor knowing you, i will tell the audience you're going to see one more set with him back on stage. you got lucky. >> and we are writing a tv show together. we're actually creating a television show that we're going to be pitching to the networks. so me and taylor, my wife. we want to co-host. it's a really good idea. it will be a hit. >> larry: it will get you on "american idol". wasn't me. you think i could do something... that awesome? enter the "tron: legacy" get on the grid sweepstakes, at disney.com/getonthegrid. this film not yet rated. ♪ when i'm walking through the room ♪ ♪ passing out $100 bills ♪ and ill chills and it thrills ♪ ♪ and i order another round of crown ♪ ♪ and everybody's getting down in this town ♪ ♪ ain't never going to be the same ♪ ♪ because i saddle up my horse and i ride into the city ♪ ♪ i make a lot of noise because the girls they are so pretty ♪ ♪ riding up and down broadway in my old study roy ♪ ♪ and the girls say save a horse ride a cowboy ♪ ♪ they said save a horse ride a cowboy ♪ >> walter t. airedale. >> in las vegas, of course, you need more adult humor, so i would like to introduce vickie the cougar. so vickie, you're going to do something? >> if you haven't laid out your kri christmas list, ladies, here's a few ideas. ♪ santa baby just leave the sable under the tree ♪ ♪ i've been an awesome good girl ♪ ♪ so hurry down the chimney tonight ♪ ♪ think of all the fellas that i haven't kissed ♪ ♪ next year i could be just as good ♪ ♪ if you would check off my christmas list ♪ ♪ santa baby i want a yacht and really that's not a lot ♪ ♪ i've been an angel all year ♪ santa baby ♪ so hurry down the chimney tonight ♪ ♪ hurry down the chimney tonight ♪ ♪ >> and the character that actually won "america's got talent" for me, winston is impersonating turtle. ♪ i can't see you loving nobody but you for all my life ♪ >> winston, that's a beautiful outfit. >> it's not an outfit, i really am santa claus. >> i'm assuming that since we have a christmas show at the mirage. >> it's called a very terry christmas. >> do you want to do a christmas song? >> i do. >> what do you want to do? >> i can't do it i have a frog in my throat. kermit the frog here. ♪ have yourself a merry little christmas ♪ ♪ let your heart be light ♪ from now on our troubles will be out of sight ♪ ♪ here we are as in olden days ♪ happy golden days ♪ of your ♪ faithful friends who a gift to us ♪ ♪ through the years we all will be together ♪ ♪ and your shining star above the highest bow ♪ ♪ and have yourself a merry little christmas now ♪ >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> larry: thank you, man, what a show. he's at the mirage, he's incredible. we want to thank terry, his lovely wife and of course the great man himself, terry fator and his co-stars, walter and vickie and winston, you can see them at the mirage casino and resort in las vegas, terry fator. do my voice. >> ventriloquism inconcert. >> larry: for more information go to terry fator.com. jane levy, she's written the number two best seller in america, "the last play, the life of mickey mantle". as a manager, my team counts on me to stay focused. so i take one a day men's 50+ advantage. it's the only complete multivitamin with ginkgo to support memory and concentration. plus it supports heart health. 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