Terry Fator has spent much of his show business career surrounded by dummies. They steal the spotlight onstage even though Fator often carries them. A true pro, he prefers the audience focus on his co-stars while they sing. Those co-stars got Fator to where he is now, at New York-New York Hotel & Casino with a second Vegas residency that seeks to answer the question put forth by its title: Who’s the Dummy Now?

Surely Fator is not the dummy, although a few members of his ever-evolving supporting cast may beg to differ. Who’s the Dummy Now? is a double entendre, possibly a triple, that strikes to the core of the art of ventriloquism while inviting the audience to suspend disbelief and imagine Fator’s pint-sized celebrity likenesses have been possessed by the spirits of their inspirations.

Those inspirations are invariably Fator’s and include David Bowie, whose presence allows for a rendition of Bowie’s classic collaboration with Queen, “Under Pressure.” Fator’s respect for Elvis Presley and the legacy of Las Vegas entertainment is embodied in Maynard Tompkins, the world’s greatest Elvis impersonator whose resemblance to The King makes up for the lack of focus that has prevented his from learning any Presley songs proper.

Fortunately, Fator has Walter T. Airdale on hand to add Nashville knowhow to the proceedings. The country star has been married eight times and does dead-on impressions of Garth Brooks and Toby Keith that have caused many tears to fall into beers during his storied career. Fator’s own career would have turned out very differently were it not for his sidekick, Winston the Impersonating Turtle. Who’s the Second Banana? may be a more descriptive title as winsome Winston demonstrates chemistry with his boss, a key factor leading to Fator becoming the second-season champion of America’s Got Talent.

Fator’s singing career started long before his 2007 AGT win, and his interest in ventriloquism began during his adolescence. He can trace his artistic ancestry to Edgar Bergen, who established ventriloquist standards in popular culture such as having multiple dummies with contrasting personalities. Contemporary dummies had to be memorable as Willie Tyler’s Lester and Wayland Flowers’ Madame were in the ’70s.

Airdale joined the act first. Other characters were gradually added to the cast, and some such as Vikki the Cougar and Wrex the Crash Test Dummy became integral to Fator’s stage show. Fator got more comfortable doing more direct impressions of singers with respective dummy likenesses as he became a veteran Vegas headliner and added versions of Elton John, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Dean Martin, Willie Nelson and Justin Timberlake to his ensemble.

With all that impersonating, the singer found a way to get back to where he once belonged by scheduling a series of semi-monthly Terry Fator After Hours Thursday night performances inside New York-New York’s The Bar at Times Square.

New York-New York, 866.606.7111

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