David Strassman

Early life

Strassman, the second of four children, was born and raised in Los Angeles, California on September 6, 1957. His father, Harvey D. Strassman (September 19, 1922 – January 30, 2011), was a psychiatrist and medical academic.

Career

A visit to Disneyland with his family prompted a young Strassman to ask his father to purchase some professional magic tricks that he performed for local neighborhood children. Strassman took a ventriloquism class in junior high school as an elective, taught by local Chicago children's television host Steve Hart. Strassman discovered he was good at it and could make money from his performances.

Strassman studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York but returned to ventriloquism, busking in Central Park in New York, Leicester Square and the Marble Arch in London, and a brief stint in Paris.

Strassman performed in New York's comedy clubs, including the Improv. In 1980, Strassman (along with his main ventriloquist character Chuck Wood) appeared in Roger Corman's horror movie Humanoids from the Deep.

In 1986, Strassman added remote control to his puppet, Chuck Wood, using transmitters, motors, and servos, from his hobby flying remote control model airplanes. He discovered a remote clutch system in a NASA facility that could be integrated into his own dummies. At the end of Strassman's act, he gets into an argument with his dummy, Chuck Wood, and leaves the stage. Chuck then appears to come to life with Strassman speaking into an off-stage microphone. He debuted this routine on The Late Show with Arsenio Hall in 1989. New York ventriloquist Stanley Burns, used remote-controlled dummies in the 1950s.

In 1996, he performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. He received the “Critics Award for Comedy” and the Glasgow “Herald Angel award.” Strassman continues to perform frequently throughout Australia, New Zealand, and Britain.

Strassman had a television talk show called "Strassman" on 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 5 DVD titles. Strassman Live (1999) – Volume 1, The Chuck You Tour (2003) - Volume 2, The Get Chuck'd Tour (2007) – Volume 3, Ted E's Farewell Tour (2010) – Volume 4, and Careful What You Wish For (2014) - Volume 5.

In 2010, he performed the play, "Duality," written and directed by Steve Altman, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in Los Angeles, CA. Duality is a two-character play about a mentally-ill ventriloquist, Jack, who talks to himself through a puppet named 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 regularly visits children's hospitals with his characters while on tour, including hospitals in Wellington and Melbourne.

Strassman's show, Careful What you Wish For ran in Australia through April 2014.

Characters

Puppet characters voiced by Strassman include:

Television shows and appearances

Australia and New Zealand radio appearances