Ted E Bare is the inquisitive bear the crowd loves but he's finally had enough of Chuck Wood, writes VAUGHAN MAYBERRY.
It seems David Strassman’s most popular companion Ted E Bare is through with his showbiz career thanks to the annoying and crude little 12-year-old boy Chuck Wood.
After years of torment from his wide-eyed stage nemesis, the shy and curious bear has had enough.
"He wants to get away from it all – get away from Chucky," Strassman tells me from his home in Los Angeles. "He doesn’t know what he wants to do now.
"Maybe he just wants to have fun, you know jump out of a train and things like that."
Ted E Bare is just one of the amazing alter-egos Strassman has created during his brilliant 25-year career as a ventriloquist.
The sarcastic, human-hating Chucky was the first of his inventions and is meant to be the star of the show, with his quick wit and aggressive jibes at everyone and everything around him.
But the adorable bear has slowly stolen the limelight over the years.
"I actually invented Ted E Bear to offset Chucky’s rudeness in about 1986 – almost 22 years ago now," Strassman says.
"He has some serious emotional and dysfunctional issues.
"He is so dysfunctional and pathologically screwed. But he works because we see a bit of ourselves in him."
Strassman has been to Australia so many times now he can’t remember the exact number.
This includes numerous stopovers in one of his favourite places in Oz, Cairns.
His latest tour is called Ted E Bare’s Farewell Tour and will allow worldwide audiences to pay homage to one of their favourite performing bears.
The real question is will Ted E Bare really be retiring?
"He’ll keep trying to leave the stage about 10 times but keep coming back," Strassman says.
"He really wants to retire. I’ll be conducting auditions during the second half of the show to replace him."
Joining Strassman and the star of this tour is a host of other weird and wonderful puppets. Kevin The Alien (who looks more like the Crazy Frog) returns along with Ted E Bare’s long lost and completely senile grandfather, Grandpa Fred and the female robot A.N.G.E.L.
Strassman will also introduce a Hitler puppet, two clams who are actually husband and wife and constantly argue about their relationship, an invisible puppet and one named Mumbles that he "forgot to put a mouth on".
It’s one of the biggest casts – that only includes one human – ever assembled.
"There will be more puppets than I’ve ever had on stage," he says.
"They’ll be doing stuff I’ve never done like doing a four and five way conversation all at once between me and Chucky and some of the stage guys.
"There’s some really weird stuff in this show."
David Strassman performs Ted E Bare’s Farewell Tour at Cairns Civic Theatre on Saturday, May 17 at 7pm and 9.15pm and Sunday, May 18 at 6pm and 8.15pm. To book phone 4031 9555.
