VENTRILOQUIST Paul Zerdin made his first puppet out of a teddy bear as a child but his current sidekicks are a lot naughtier.

Zerdin will control a potty-mouthed teenage puppet, a gangsta rap-loving senior citizen puppet and even real-life human beings at his forthcoming show in Wimborne.

In the new show, his old man puppet, Albert, is determined to find a girlfriend in the audience, his teenage puppet, Sam, wants to get on Britain’s Got Talent and his baby puppet becomes a rap artist.

Zerdin says: “Sam was built for a kids’ show I used to present on GMTV. I play games with my three-year-old nephew now and observe him. He gives me great ideas for Sam and the baby.

“I love people watching generally, so I get a lot of inspiration from that. Sam is basically me. A really, really immature version who gets away with a lot more than I could.”

  • You can see Paul Zerdin at the Tivoli theatre in Wimborne on Wednesday night.