We had the good fortune of connecting with April Brucker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi April, what’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?

From the time I was 13 years old, I dreamed of becoming a professional ventriloquist. Several years later, as I was attempting to chase my dreams I met my former fiancé Sean. Right away I thought I found my knight in shining armor. Then out of the blue one day he said, “April, I don’t like your puppets, my friends think they’re stupid and you spend too much time with them. It’s either me or the puppets.”

This was a punch in my gut. Sean was the man of my dreams. Yet I knew becoming a professional ventriloquist was a pipe dream and a reach whereas being a good wife to the man I loved was an attainable goal. So with a heavy heart I chose Sean and put my puppets under my bed.

We lived crappily ever after. From there the relationship escalated from bad to worse. Sean became a controlling, manipulative gaslighter who was mentally, verbally and physically abusive. I was miserable, alone and afraid.

Tired and at the end of my rope, I had no idea what to do. My anxiety and depression were at an all time high. So one day I decided to do what I used to love most, working with my puppets. I went under my bed, dusted off their little faces and began to make them talk. For the first time in forever I was happy. Suddenly I knew what I had to do: I had to choose my puppets and leave Sean.
Of course he didn’t take this well. Sean said, “You have a lot of problems and no one will want you anyway. Oh, and you suck as a ventriloquist and will go no where.”

While both the fear of failure and the thought of being alone forever caused me many sleepless nights, I knew I had to spend every moment possible becoming the best ventriloquist I could be. I practiced endlessly, learned all I could about comedy and studied other famous ventriloquists. I performed wherever I could with my puppets whether it was at open mics, comedy clubs, burlesque shows, bars, flea markets, etc. To pay my rent and support my puppet children and myself, I worked as a singing telegrammer, promotional model and political canvasser.

About a few months after I left Sean I was performing on the street of Brooklyn. A young man with a camera asked to snap a photo of May Wilson (gold digging Valley Girl puppet) and myself. We started to talk and I told him about my fiancé. He said, “Well if it’s any comfort my girlfriend doesn’t always understand my camera.”

A few months later I got a call from a casting producer at TLC who said, “Is it true you left your fiancé for your puppets? A girl on our team’s boyfriend took your picture a few weeks ago.”
I said, “Yes.”

She said, “Would you like to be on a new show we are developing called “My Strange Addiction?’” Next thing I knew, my children and I were on TLC.

Since that time I have been profiled by “The UK Daily Mail” twice. I have also appeared on film, television, comedy clubs and headlined in NYC, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Most of all, my puppet children and I have had the opportunity to make people laugh. Leaving an abusive partner is hard, but none of this would be possible if I would have stayed with Sean.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am an actress, TV ventriloquist, comedian and writer. After cutting my teeth for ten plus years in NYC, I am now on the West Coast cause it’s the best coast. I have been seen on “My Strange Addiction” (TLC), “The Today Show” (NBC), “Entertainment Tonight” (NBC), “Inside Edition” (NBC), “Layover with Anthony Bourdain” (Travel Channel), “Chef Roble” (Bravo), “Wendy Williams Show” (Fox), “What Would You Do” (ABC), “John Tobacco Show” (Newsmax), “Videos After Dark” (ABC), “CBS Sunday Morning” (CBS), “What’s My Secret?” (MTV), “Judge Jerry” (NBC), and “Secret Restoration” (HISTORY). I was also a company member, playing Cookie, the mistress of Johnny the Mob Boss in “Murdered By The Mob” the longest running Off-Broadway dinner theatre show in NYC. I have three books available on Amazon (“I Came, I Saw I Sang: Memoirs of a Singing Telegram Delivery Girl,” “April Unwrapped” and “Don’t Read My Lips”), and my writing has been seen in “The Huffington Post,” “xoJane,” “The Good Men Project,” “Elite Daily,” and “Modern Day Pinup Magazine.” Currently, I host “April in Vegas,” my streaming TV chat show from the poolside of The English Hotel in Las Vegas. Watch for “I Came, I Saw, I Sang: Second Edition” coming soon!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Planning a trip would be fun! I would start by taking them to TCL Chinese Theatre to see the stars on the Walk of Fame. Then we would have dinner at The Warehouse in Marina Del Rey. The next day we would go hiking in Topanga Canyon then do dinner in Malibu because nothing beats the view of the Pacific Ocean at night. The following day would be Hollywood Forever Cemetery to see the graves of the stars (I’m a history buff so I love that stuff) and then dinner at the famous Hollywood hang out of Smoke House Restaurant. The next day we would hit the Santa Monica Pier and then a comedy show at The Crow. Because LA’s expensive, we might be short on funds and because it’s only five hours across the desert, ROAD TRIP TO VEGAS! And that means The English Hotel in The Arts District, The Pepper Club, Fremont Street and The Golden Nugget to win that jackpot to continue to pay for our fun!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give a few shout outs. The first is to my mother-Anne Brucker-my biggest fan who has always believed in me. My second is my manager Clinton Ford Billups Jr. The third is The NYU Tisch School of the Arts and The Lee Strasberg Institute as well as Stonestreet Studios-two places that taught me not only the importance of craft, but how that functions as a road map so one can access and use their talent. And finally to my Antioch University Los Angeles MFA family. I have a Master’s Degree in both creative nonfiction and screenwriting. My faculty mentors not only taught me how to be a better novelist and screenwriter, but also the importance of being a storyteller and advocate in all of my work. And last but not least to my fans who I not only consider fans but friends I have yet to meet. Thank you, your love and support mean more to me than you will ever know.

Website: www.AprilBrucker.TV

Instagram: www.instagram.com/theaprilbrucker

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/aprilbrucker

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/aprilbrucker

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/AprilBruckerfanpage

Youtube: www.YouTube.com/AprilBruckerComedy

Other: www.tiktok.com/aprilbrucker https://m.imdb.com/name/nm3296134/

Image Credits
CFB Productions Laurent Valasquez Barry Morgenstein

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