April Brucker is an American actress (SAG-AFTRA), author, comedienne, and television personality. Billed as "America's foremost female ventriloquist,"[1][2][3] April Brucker is notable for her appearances on cable and network television shows, including My Strange Addiction (TLC (TV network)),[4] Judge Jerry (NBCUniversal),[5] "Secret Restoration" (History (American TV network)),[6] The Layover (TV series) (Travel Channel),[7] "Videos After Dark" (American Broadcasting Company),[8] What Would You Do? (2008 TV program) (American Broadcasting Company)[9] and What's My Secret (MTV).[10] April hosts April in Vegas, a streaming TV chat show produced on location at The English Hotel in the Las Vegas Arts District.[11][12]
April grew up in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, where at the age of 13 she was inspired by an Edger Bergen television performance to pursue ventriloquism as a hobby. Her new hobby became an obsession, and by 15 she'd performed her first paid show.[13] April hosted "Storytime with April and Friends" airing on Bethel Park’s BPTV, plus public access stations in 36 states and six countries.[14][15]
April Brucker attracted international notoriety after a British tabloid claimed in an April 2015 article that April had dumped her fiancé for her 16 puppets.[16] The story went viral on lifestyle[17][18] and news websites from Ireland[19] to Nigeria[20] to Russia.[21]
In 2010, April starred in an episode of My Strange Addiction on the TLC television network in which the professional ventriloquist claimed to be addicted to ventriloquism and that she had trouble going anywhere without at least one of her puppets.[22] Following that broadcast, celebrity gossip websites alleged that April Brucker had faked her addiction and "scammed TLC" to get "fame, fortune and above all, attention."[23] Despite that controversy, TLC has been using a photo of April Brucker and her puppets as the header on the website homepage for My Strange Addiction.[24]
In 2016, April Brucker was the celebrity spokesperson for Stand Together against Trump (STAT), a group of Cleveland medical professionals protesting Donald J. Trump at the Republican National Convention.[25] Ms. Brucker and her puppet Donald J. Tramp attracted news coverage from U.S.[26][27] and international media.[28][29]
Brucker performed for more than ten years in New York City cabarets and comedy clubs as well as in off-Broadway productions such as the well-known “Murdered by the Mob” dinner theater show.[30]
In early 2020, April Brucker relocated to Las Vegas for a residency with her one-woman show April Unwrapped. After two preview weekends, her show never opened due to the COVID showdown of Las Vegas casinos and resorts.[31] On August 19, 2020, April Brucker appeared in a motorcade of entertainment workers on the Las Vegas Strip during an event to raise awareness about the plight of the local entertainment community caused by the coronavirus pandemic.[32] Later that year when Las Vegas venues reopened, she was booked as the special guest star in BurlesQ, a classic Las Vegas all-female revue.[33]
In May 2022 April launched the first season of “April in Vegas,” a streaming TV chat show focused on entertainment and the Vegas industry, from The English Hotel in the Las Vegas Arts District. Hotelier Steve Dennis serves as co-host as Brucker brings in local artists, producers and “cultural renegades” for compelling conversations.[34] Her television appearances in 2022 also included Judge Jerry (NBCUniversal)[35] and 'What's My Secret (MTV).[36]
In 2023, April Brucker appeared on "Secret Restoration," a new series on History (American TV network).[37]
April holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, earned at New York University’s Tisch School. She was also awarded a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing & Screenwriting from Antioch University in Los Angeles.[38] Along with actress Barbara Feldon, April Brucker was inducted in 2019 into the Bethel Park High School Alumni Hall of Fame.[39]
April Brucker has authored several books, including:
Don't Read My Lips!: America’s Foremost Female Ventriloquist Reveals the Secrets of How to be a Successful Vent (CFBP Bestsellers, 2021, ISBN 978-0984208586).[40]
April Unwrapped: My Naked Dreams Revealed (CFB Bestsellers, 2017, ISBN 978-0984208579).[41]
I Came, I Saw, I Sang: Memoirs of a Singing Telegram Delivery Girl (Infinity Publishing, 2012, ISBN 978-0741477934).[42]
↑Zimmerman, Sandy (10–16 Feb 2021). "The exciting life of April Brucker a female ventriloquist". Las Vegas Tribune. p. 19.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)