"I enjoyed Paul Zerdin’s No Strings comedy puppetry show but only just...!" 😂

“Every now and then you stumble across a finished article, a show so polished it shines. Paul Zerdin: Sponge Fest is one of these shows. A ventriloquist at the top of his game, Zerdin is so sure of his skills and so in control of his material that he isn’t just performing – he’s showing off, clearly having as much of a laugh as his audience."

“Paul Zerdin is in a league of his own. That he's the UK’s most accomplished and well-known ventriloquist is beyond doubt. What's most impressive about his latest show is how rich a canvas he creates from his honed skill. You can’t help but to be won over with this set which is not just polished but very well-constructed. What this show does is to invoke a precious, childish sense of joy. The conclusion is pure audience-gratifying magic.”

“With a mix of well written script and improvisation, Zerdin provides a show of non-stop mirth, including the first spate of uncontrollable laughter I’ve experienced this festival. In an explosive opening few minutes, he not only has the audience laughing, clapping and cheering, but he’s also picked his main victim for the night.”

“Just to underline that the big names were not going to have it all their own way, the loudest applause went to Paul Zerdin who is reviving the unfashionable art of ventriloquism”

“Paul Zerdin and his ginger – nut sidekick Sam™ didn’t so much steal the show as pull off the Light Entertainment equivalent of the Brink’s – Mat raid”

“Zerdin confirms my thoughts that if anyone is to take the genre’s recent renaissance a step further it is acts like his. Simply put, Zerdin is the man who can make ventriloquism look cool.”

“Yes, ventriloquists can be funny too. Zerdin’s puppets are sharp – tongued, malicious little bastards. Avoid the front row, especially if you’re ugly”

“It is almost inevitable that the telegenic Paul Zerdin will soon be coming at ya from the box in the corner, he is so fast you will believe you hear him and the dummy speak simultaneously”

“The one time magician has the pop star looks to attract a whole new audience to the much maligned speciality of ventriloquism”

“If you think the words ‘brilliant’ and ‘ventriloquist’ have no place in the same sentence, go and see Paul Zerdin for some brutal re-education”

“Zerdin is the one who can make it look cool, leaving many of his contemporaries in the genre behind.”

“Zerdin has a sense of comic timing that other comedians should take note of, and an amazing skill which seperates him from others. When you are not laughing you are simply in awe.”