Max Fulham
A self-taught ventriloquist, Max Fulham has been working professionally since his early teens and has turned his passion for comedy and puppetry into a fulltime job.
He has been hooked on all things comedy and entertainment from a young age and as a child was often performing made-up shows to family and, quite frankly, anyone who would stand still for long enough!
His interest in puppets was sparked when he received a puppet for Christmas at the age of nine. Max then saw a ventriloquist on YouTube and started trying the artform for himself.
From early days at school talent shows and local events, Max now performs his solo show across Britain and the world, for holiday resorts such as Butlin's as well as in theatres and comedy clubs. Max says "It is amazing to be a variety act today because whilst the world of variety is not at all like it was years ago, I get to help progress an incredible artform and bring it to a modern audience. People often tell me after shows its the first time they have seen a ventriloquist live. It's so much fun to use traditional mediums such as puppetry and ventriloquism to bring laughter to people, they are still so effective and definitely not 'dying arts' as some people suspect."
Max is very passionate about the history of both ventriloquism and puppetry. A definite highlight for him then would be his performing at City Varieties in Leeds on The Good Old Days, where he trod the boards that many famous vents and puppets have before. In 2019 he headlined a Gala show at the VentHaven Ventriloquist Convention in America, and he is a regular attendee of the Covent Garden May Fayre. Max has also been lucky enough to appear multiple times on TV, appearing on both series of the recent reboot of children's classic Crackerjack! ("CRACKERJACK!") and also on Game of Talents for ITV, hosted by Vernon Kay.
Over lockdown when live performance was not possible, Max turned to filmed content and created lots of videos for social media. He found particular success posting ventriloquism sketches on TikTok, amassing 167,000 followers and over 1.5 million likes.
Max says "Adapting has been the key ability for me over the last few years; learning how to create good videos, camera angles, lighting and editing skills. Also, really putting time and effort into social media and finding that my puppet characters and ridiculous ideas can make people on the other side of the world laugh has been mind-blowing!"
As live performances become more possible again, Max has been busy with shows across the country and a few cruises too!
And he still really loves doing what he does: "It is amazing to look back and see how far I've come from being a kid playing with puppets - now I'm an adult playing with puppets! I love making people laugh but I think being a ventriloquist and having a puppet gives me a superpower, puppets are incredible as they can do and, more importantly for me, say things that we otherwise cannot!"
