April at one of her shows. Photo by Bob Schaffer

April and May, by Robert Schaffer

• APRIL BRUCKER
• That Chick is Crazy!

April Brucker (http://www.aprilbrucker.com/index2.html) came to NY to pursuit her dream of being a comic and ventriloquist. April tells me she started doing ventriloquism when she was 13, and stand up she was 19.

“Comedy is an art form that you don’t find, it finds you,” she tells me. “I was always making people laugh, and it just made sense to start doing it on stage.” April came to NY when she was 18, to attend New York University for acting. “I thought I’d be a comedic actor, but I fell into the comedy scene because of my ventriloquism, and from there started doing straight stand up, since not every venue wants a ventriloquist act. I’m still interested in acting, but stand up is really my home.”

April is originally from Pittsburgh PA. She decided to come to NY to “realize my dream.” “Other places have schools with great acting programs, writing programs, etc., but they aren’t the epicenter. New York is the epicenter.”

April draws her material from her life, her experiences and the things that have moved her or hurt her. “I’ve made some bad decisions in my life, including getting engaged when I was 21 and thinking it would last, and getting hooked on prescription diet pills, dysosin which is in the oxycontin family. Plus I had eating disorders, and word to the wise: bulimia is not a good dieting tactic. I’m okay now. I also use family stories. I have a cousin who was struck by lightning not once or twice, but three times. I have a family that would give the Coney Island freak show a run for its money.”

April says seeing an Edgar Bergen TV special got her into ventriloquism. “I was watching with my family, and afterwards, we all tried to throw our voices, and I was the most successful, so it stuck.” April says her mom is her enabler, getting her a dummy to play with.

April also had a childen’s show, “Storytime with April and Friends,” which she was broadcast in 35 states and 6 countries. Her cohost was a puppet named Sweetie Pie. “This show is the first American show to be entered into the puppet library in South Korea.”

The show lasted a few years, but April says she got “tired of doing it, no one picked it up. I used to read stories to Sweetie Pie, and I did all the voices in the show.” You can see April perform her show, “Allergic to Ambition,” at the Broadway Comedy Club (318 W. 53), Jan. 17, at 7:00PM.