Puppets taking over the show

Ventriloquist Dave Strassman will have people in stitches with his new show Careful What You Wish For, which sees some of his favourite characters disappear to a parallel universe where they adopt evil alter egos.

Audiences will witness a host of different characters on stage, but behind the scenes one man calls the shots.

Ventriloquist Dave Strassman uses personalities such as Chuck Wood, Ted E Bare, Angel, Alien, Theodore and Grandma Fred to deliver his witty one liners, but at the end of the day "they're just puppets," he says.

"I wouldn't call them my friends, they do the show and go back in a suitcase - yesterday I put Ted E Bare in a plastic bag."

The well known American comedian, who brought ventriloquism into the 21st century, returns to New Zealand with his Careful What You Wish For tour - stopping off at Napier Municipal Theatre on Saturday and Hawke's Bay Opera House on Sunday.

Touted as "a mind-bending journey into a world where nothing is as it seems," his latest performance works on many levels, creating alternate realities in a parallel universe.

The show is visually stunning - featuring state-of-the-art robotics, special effects and three large video screens.

It also sees Strassman testing the limit of his talent - holding a seven-way conversation where he creates all the voices at the same time.

"You will be hurting, I promise, it's a laugh a minute every 10 seconds, there's something new happening," he said. "It's my most complicated and amazing production to date - it really is jaw dropping."

Careful What You Wish For shows what happens when Strassman becomes exacerbated with having to behold to his puppets and wishes they never existed.

His wish comes true as the puppets are sent to a netherworld where they turn to the dark side.

Chuck becomes even more evil, shaving his head, getting a "Maori style" tattoo and generally causing chaos, while mild-mannered Ted smokes a cigar and gets abusive.

"It's very rare to see these characters step outside their comfort zones, you don't see Bart Simpson just switching it up, he just sticks to the routine, I think that's why this works."

Strassman first visited New Zealand in 1995, has lived in Petone for a time, and toured extensively including previous shows in Hawke's Bay.

Strassman says he never intended to make ventriloquism a full time job, but found he had a knack for acting.

"I wanted to be a Nasa astronaut but I caught the acting bug."

Napier Municipal Theatre, Saturday 7pm or Hawkes Bay Opera House, Sunday 6pm. Tickets from Ticketek 0800 TICKETEK (842 538) www.ticketek.co.nz