Paul Zerdin - British Comedian and Ventriloquist from London and the Winner of America's Got Talent Season 10

I knew I was doing well and that the audiences were enjoying my kind of humour but I never expected to win it. It changed my life for a while.

1. How and when did you choose comedy as a career?

Always was a show off when I was a kid. I used to do Magic and puppets from around the age of 8 and was obsessed with anything to do with Sesame Street. I knew I wanted to do something that involved puppets and making people laugh. Didn't realize I wanted to be a ventriloquist till I was around 14.

2. What type of content do you enjoy producing the most and is the most challenging?

I love the variety of work I get to do. I produced and presented my own TV show for YouTube last year during the lockdown which was challenging and yet very satisfying when we made it work especially in the studio all having to distance.

I am currently writing a brand new live show which I tour theatres with towards the end of the year and that I process I really love as I can just think of the most ridiculous ideas and then try and make them work for an audience.

3. How did you feel about being in and winning America's Got Talent? 

I loved the whole process of AGT and I really had such fun being on it. I think because I have been doing this for around 30 years now I felt very comfortable on the show and being live on stage at Radio City Music Hall for the live shows didn't phase me at all I just went for it.

I knew I was doing well and that the audiences were enjoying my kind of humor but I never expected to win it. It changed my life for a while.

4. People, who are interested in taking up stand-up comedy as a profession, do they need a funny bone or they can develop one?

Difficult to say really. I was always funny as a kid but never really wanted to be a stand up as such just knew I wanted to do something on stage that involved showing off and making people laugh. Stand up comedy has had a real boom over the last 20 years and I think it's something that’s probably instinctive but you have to learn your craft.

I spent years and years working comedy clubs, social and working men's clubs and having people heckle and throw things at me in the early days and I think  you have to learn to cope quickly. It can be an incredibly hard business and only a few make it and they are the people who have worked incredibly hard on it and never given up despite all the odds sometimes.

5. How stable is being a stand-up comedian as a profession? And what is the future of this profession?

Its a very unstable profession but the same anything in show business there are no guarantees. But I do think if you work hard at it and you really believe you can do it then you will.

6. What impact do you want to make in this world?

I’d like to tour the world with my shows and make people laugh or at least smile a bit!

7. Which is your favorite book and why?

It’s an autobiography by the late comedian Bob Monk house who I became friends with towards the end of his life and his memoirs are so honest and interesting that I find it a book I can go back to time after time when ever I need a dose of inspiration.

8. What are your future plans?

I’m currently developing 3 different TV projects one of them is a Street Vent show which involves me pranking members of the public out and about using my voice throwing skills to fool them.