I have a few times. I always let my figure handle it. One time a fellow who obviously had a little too much celebration kept interrupting us. I had Larry turn to him and say, "Please sir, I only have 10 minutes to make a fool of myself and you have all evening, so, could you please stop interrupting me?" The audience LOVED it, and he was one of the ones who laughed the loudest. One time I was performing in an old theater. Larry told a REALLY bad joke (deliberately, of course) and someone in the audience hissed! Larry asked what that was, and I asked what was what? He said he heard a hissing sound. I said it was probably one of the old air hoses or steam pipes back stage. Larry said, "I think it was both!" I asked, "How do you figure?" He said, "It sounded like hot air escaping!" Again, the audience ate it up. It's always good to have a few bits of business ready for times like that. It's called "Prepared improvisation." Old timers used to call it, "Calculated Theatrics." If you're prepared for situations like that you won't get side-tracked and forget lines and such. It also makes you look like a quick wit to the audience. I've heard audience members say to one another, "Boy, he's quick!" Like the Boy Scouts motto, "Always be prepared."

Terry Fator has had similar comments. In his programs he'll usually sing a song solo. People have actually come up to him and said, "I didn't know you could sing, too!"

My primary figure, Larry Lack-O-Witz, is a hard figure. He was made by Clinton Detweiler in 1972, and about 11-12 years ago rebuilt by his son, Kevin. I learned through the Maher Course while in college back in 1977-78 on a hard figure and it's what I'm most comfortable with. Only lately have I started using soft figures to add some variety to my shows. My very first figure was actually a Simon Sez figure I got from Sears. (Where else would a young beginner vent get his first "dummy" back then?) Since I was in Bible College at the time I called him Simon Peterson. I worked with him for a few months then got Larry and we've been together ever since. So, yes, I like hard figures.

I once did a Christmas show at a local coffee house. "We" had a LOT of fun. About a year and a half later I was in our local grocery store around 9:30 in the evening, looking for some snacks to bring to a CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) meeting the next afternoon. All of a sudden I heard a little girl's voice shout out, "Mommy look! It's the magic dummy man!" I turned to look and up the isle was a little girl pointing at me. Of course everyone else was looking at me, too. I went to speak with her and found out her name was Cathy and she was at that Christmas show I did. She couldn't remember my name or any of my figure's names (I've been called "Bro. Larry" more than once), but she remembered I worked with "dummies" and did magic, so she called me "The Magic Dummy Man". She even remembered the acrostic for L.O.V.E. I did. I gave her an autographed business card (at the time they had a picture of Larry and me) and I did a pocket trick for her that I always have with me. I shared the story the next day at the meeting and our director said that's exactly what I do from a child's perspective, and I needed to utilize it somehow. So, I use it on my business cards and as a "business" email address ([email protected]). Like Art Linkletter used to say, "Kids say the darnedest things!"

I have a portable screen that I keep my figures behind when I'm not using them on stage. I often have one of my figures behind the screen make a comment or two while I'm performing with a different figure or doing magic. Several times I've been asked if I had a remote recorder behind there.