What You Never Knew about Mickey Mantle
KING: We're back with the incredible Terry Fator. 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 people, more puppets from the act in a little while too. You'll meet them as well. How did you and Taylor hook up?</s>FATOR: She was my assistant in my show and when I became available, my sister actually became friends with her. And I was like, there's no way ever that she could possibly be interested in me. But it turned...</s>TAYLOR MAKAKOA, MODEL, WIFE OF TERRY FATOR: I don't think either of us ever thought about it at all.</s>FATOR: No, no, never.</s>MAKAKOA: His sister, Debbie (ph), was the one who kind of hooked us up, because we had a lot of similar interests.</s>KING: But you worked together before you fell in love?</s>MAKAKOA: Mm-hmm, yes.</s>FATOR: We did. And then once I became available, my sister was like, I think Taylor would go out with you. I said, there is no way, there is no way. She said, no, I think you could ask her. And I said, would you -- and before I even got it out, she said yes.</s>MAKAKOA: We remember the story differently.</s>MAKAKOA: Just a little differently.</s>FATOR: Well, maybe I heard it</s>KING: Do you get tired of just walking around being a showcase (ph) at night?</s>MAKAKOA: 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. It's amazing to be in a hit show.</s>KING: OK. We're going to meet some of the puppets that you'll be seeing him do in a little while when they sing. Let's bring up Walter T. Airedale.</s>FATOR: Walter. This guy...</s>KING: This was Terry's first puppet, right?</s>FATOR: Yes, well, this is -- it wasn't my very first, it was my first professional puppet. The story...</s>FATOR (as "Walter T. Airedale"): Yes, I'll tell you, I've been around here for a very long time.</s>FATOR: 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.</s>FATOR (as "Walter T. Airedale"): And I had a Minnesotan accent because Walter Mondale was from there.</s>FATOR: So that's what he originally was.</s>FATOR (as "Walter T. Airedale"): Yes, that's right.</s>FATOR: And then I started a band in 1987 or '88 and it was a country band and I put a cowboy hat on Walter and I thought if I put a "T" in Walter Airedale that it sounded country. And I turned him into a...</s>FATOR (as "Walter T. Airedale"): I'm a yodeler.</s>FATOR: That's right. He is yodeler.</s>KING: You can yodel. Go ahead, yodel.</s>KING: 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?</s>MAKAKOA: He does not bring them home. Everybody asks that. They stay at the Mirage. I think it's a little weird. I think the puppets are a little weird. But he is...</s>FATOR (as "Walter T. Airedale"): What are you talking about, weird? This is a side of you I have never seen.</s>MAKAKOA: It's just a little strange because they're so lifelike when he's puppeteering. But then when he's not puppeteering, it's the opposite.</s>KING: He's not a nutcase, right? Some ventriloquists are nutcases.</s>FATOR: Yes, you're right. Some are. Some are.</s>KING: And there have been some movies. There was a great movie written, a horror movie.</s>FATOR: "Magic."</s>KING: "Magic," whoa!</s>FATOR (as "Walter T. Airedale"): Anthony Hopkins.</s>KING: Anthony Hopkins, the puppet lives and the puppet kills and the puppet controls the master. You have never had that, have you, Terry?</s>FATOR: Never, never, never.</s>FATOR (as "Walter T. Airedale"): No, never. Unfortunately I try, but it just don't work.</s>KING: All right. Walter will be back in a little while and he will sing. Let's bring up Winston.</s>FATOR: Winston.</s>KING: The Impersonating Turtle.</s>FATOR: Winston. What's the history of Winston?</s>FATOR: Winston has...</s>FATOR (as "Winston the Impersonating Turtle"): I have a very interesting history.</s>FATOR: Yes, he does.</s>KING: Please tell us.</s>FATOR: I was originally -- when I was doing "America's Got Talent," I had this -- "What a Wonderful World" I wanted to sing that I did with Louie Armstrong and Kermit the Frog. And so I called up the Muppets when I was doing the show and I said, would it be OK if I did Kermit the Frog on "America's Got Talent"? And they said, no. And I went, well, what am I going to do now? Because 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 just wracked my brain, trying to think, OK, I've got to think of an amphibian, something besides a frog. And so I went through lizard and all of these other things, and came up with turtle. And I named him "Winston the Impersonating Turtle." And then...</s>FATOR (as "Winston the Impersonating Turtle"): Came up with this voice, because I'm really cute.</s>KING: So you could get away him doing Kermit, as you'll do...</s>FATOR: Yes.</s>KING: ... in the next segment.</s>FATOR: That's right. I even asked -- I even called and I said, is it OK, is it OK if I do Kermit's voice? And they said, you can do Kermit's voice, you just can't do actual Kermit.</s>KING: You can't have the puppet.</s>FATOR (as "Winston the Impersonating Turtle"): So I said: "Hi- ho, Kermit the Frog here."</s>FATOR: And I did Louie and -- Louie Armstrong and Winston.</s>KING: That's what we will see that in a little while when they sing...</s>FATOR: Yes.</s>KING: ... back to back. Is he -- do they ever -- I know you're not a nut. But do you ever start to really think of them...</s>FATOR: No, not really. No, I -- but...</s>KING: You can put them in a box and they're just in a box?</s>FATOR: But what's funny -- yes, no, I mean, once the show is done, it's over. But there is -- they are an extension of my personality. They are an extension of me. And so I don't ever get lost, you know, like, oh, who's who? But what is funny is, I definitely am funnier when I have a puppet on my hand. But I think...</s>KING: Than you are as a standup?</s>FATOR: Yes, absolutely. And I think the reason is that I feel more free because when you're -- because, you know, 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 with...</s>KING: How do you regard the Muppets, because that's not ventriloquism?</s>FATOR: No, but without the Muppets, I definitely would not be where I am. I mean, without Jim Henson and the Muppets...</s>KING: Why?</s>FATOR: Because watching Kermit the Frog and the "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show" and all of that, showed me just how lifelike puppets can be.</s>FATOR (as "Winston the Impersonating Turtle"): Yes. Just look at me.</s>KING: I knew Jim Henson pretty well. And would never let the children who would come to see him see the puppet in a box.</s>FATOR: No, no.</s>KING: He always would hide them. They only could see them when they perform.</s>FATOR: That's one things that is very -- I'm really, really careful about. When I'm on stage, and it's something that I wish all ventriloquists would pay attention to. And that is that when the puppet is being seen by the audience at any time, they are alive. You never, ever, ever want them to see a dead puppet. And I see a lot of times a ventriloquist will -- you know, will go to get a puppet and the puppet is dead until it gets to the microphone stand. And that should not be how -- be how it is, so.</s>KING: You wouldn't put your puppet and lie him down here...</s>FATOR: Of course not.</s>KING: ... right?</s>FATOR: No, no.</s>FATOR (as "Winston the Impersonating Turtle"): Never.</s>KING: Let's meet the next one who will also be in the next act, Vikki the Cougar.</s>FATOR: Vikki.</s>KING: By the way, why do you call her a cougar?</s>FATOR: Well, it's because that term became popular with the, ahem...</s>FATOR (as "Vikki the Cougar"): What do you mean, don't I look like a cougar?</s>KING: She's a flimsy, loose woman, isn't she? She's a Vegas kind of broad.</s>FATOR (as "Vikki the Cougar"): What is that supposed to mean?</s>KING: I don't mean to put you down.</s>FATOR (as "Vikki the Cougar"): I call this my Christmas tree skirt, it's where I keep my Christmas presents, meow.</s>KING: How is the Christmas show doing? I saw it, it's a great act.</s>FATOR: It's wonderful. And I think I'm one of the only shows in Vegas that actually does a Christmas show. But I'm a big kid. We love Christmas. We decorated -- I think the day after Halloween, we decorated our house. So I love Christmas. So I change the show. I do about half of it is Christmas songs and Christmas jokes and things...</s>FATOR (as "Vikki the Cougar"): And of course we wear these Christmas outfits, mmm!</s>FATOR: You're going to be singing a Christmas song later.</s>FATOR (as "Vikki the Cougar"): I am.</s>KING: How do you -- do you ever have the occasion when you're going back and forth, as you do so quickly with the puppets, where your voice goes into the puppet and the puppet voice goes into you?</s>FATOR: That does happen occasionally, sometimes something will happen where I'll accidentally say the wrong line or -- 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. So it's a very funny -- people tell me it's one of their favorite parts of the DVD, in fact, is when the voices get all mixed up.</s>KING: Do you have any bad nights?</s>FATOR: You know, the only bad night is when I'm really sick and I don't feel well. But, you know, asked me earlier about not missing shows. I don't miss shows, I mean, I've literally had times when they were holding a bucket backstage because I felt so bad. The audience never knows it. But those are -- they're not bad shows for the audience, but the bad show is for me because you have to struggle through them. I just feel I'm one of those vaudevillian types, and I say the show must go on. It doesn't matter -- you know, people, they come there, they want to see it. It was my dream to have people come and see the show. And I'm going to do that show no matter what.</s>KING: So you do a lot with regard to charity. I know you're very involved. In fact, I attended an event that you were very involved with for various charities. You recently headlined a special concert during Veterans Day weekend. You're very involved with veterans.</s>FATOR: Very much yes. I feel that we need to show our appreciation to our veterans. They worked so hard to keep us free and they give up so much. They sacrifice so much. And I just want to make sure they feel appreciated and know how much we -- well, just how much we appreciate their sacrifices they make.</s>KING: And you're very involved in the Arthritis Foundation...</s>FATOR: Yes. My sister has...</s>KING: ... my wife and I attended...</s>FATOR: ... rheumatoid arthritis.</s>KING: ... and saw that. That was a wonderful night where you got to be honored.</s>FATOR: Well, thank you.</s>KING: Well, it's an honor knowing you. I will tell the audience you're going to see one more set with him back on stage with the three characters you just met, you got lucky.</s>FATOR: 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. So we want to co-host. And it's a really good idea. It's going to be a hit.