Peter Hefty is an award-winning ventriloquist and comedian, featured alongside the likes of Jeff Dunham in the comedy anthology I Killed: True Stories of the Road from America’s Top Comics.

On the strength of that, Paramount Pictures hired him to help promote Dinner for Schmucks — taking his ventriloquist act out to publicize the film. Many of his characters started life as hand-drawn sketches before they ever climbed onto the stage.

He performs two completely different shows — a clean, all-ages family set and a no-holds-barred adult show — whichever fits your crowd. With a cast of characters that keeps growing, no two nights are ever the same.