Insult Puppeteer Brings Raunchy Act to Ridgewood Saturday

Though he’s made living with his hand up the … uh, rear of a puppet, Otto Petersen describes himself as a “pretty quiet” and “boring.”

But fans of Petersen and his puppet, George, will be able to see just how boring he isn’t this weekend at Blend. The event is billed as the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,” features Petersen — who performs as Otto & George — and comedians Johnny O. and Ted Daniels.

These days, Petersen says he has kept his life pretty low key.

“Recently, I have been playing with my dog and shoveling, that’s it,” he says during a recent phone interview. 

For the last three decades, Petersen — a native of Staten Island , N.Y. — has been playing with puppets. He was inspired to get into the art ventriloquism because of the show “Winchell Mahoney Time.” (Here’s some trivia for you: The show’s host Paul Winchell would later go on to invent the artificial heart.)

“Paul Winchell had a doll named Jerry Mahoney and I went out and bought a Jerry Mahoney doll,” Petersen says. “I did a little alteration to him, put a wig on him and called him Chester, and I performed with him.”

At 16 years of age, Petersen dropped out of high school and became a full time street performer. By his early 20s, he was hitting the comedy club circuit and he changed his act.

“After I got into the club scene and I had to change my act to something blue. I had to work dirty to keep up with the other comedians,” he says.

During a recent show in Hasbrouck Heights, he asked the audience how many people were from Jersey. After being met with applause, George began insulting them.

“They dug the Lincoln Tunnel so people could sneak out of New Jersey,” Petersen said through George. “New Jersey [is a place] where a fart is refreshing. If you fart in a car in New Jersey, they roll the windows up.”

Needless to say, his act isn’t for those who are easily offended.

Otto & George have garnered the attention of comedy icons, appearing on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” the Penn and Teller show “Bullshit!” and in the movie “The Aristocrats.”

Petersen also appears on radio shows like The Howard Stern Show and Opie and Anthony’s radio show on Sirius/XM.

“Opie had seen me in a club on Long Island and then Anthony had seen me at Caroline’s [Comedy Club],” Petersen says. “And they invited me on.”

“Doing their radio show is like hanging out with friends,” he says.
 
Petersen says that in addition to appearances and performing, he plans to work on keeping up his skills as a puppeteer.

“I still practice with George because I want to make sure I have the movements and the timing down right,” he says. “For instance, I will make sure George’s eyebrows are timed at the right moment … it makes all the difference in the world.”
 
George is a handcrafted doll made by the Michigan-based Tim Selberg Studios.
 
“Tim Selberg is one of the top dummy makers in the world,” says Petersen. “To get a dummy from him is like a violinist getting a violin from Stradivarius.”

Selberg hasn't met Petersen, the puppet-maker says during a phone interview, but he has spoken with one of Petersen's most famous fans.

"David Copperfield called me about making [Petersen] a new George," Selberg says.

Selberg has also made puppets for Jeff Dunham, another popular ventriloquist and comedian.

Petersen has met Dunham, and says he appreciates what the ventriloquist does to keep a "dying art form" alive.

"I consider myself to be the anti-Dunham," Petersen says. "I have nothing against him, but you can bring your grandmother to his act. I like being the disenfranchised angry guy with my act.”

Other inspirations for Petersen include comedian Lewis Black and the late George Carlin.

“I miss [Carlin] terribly,” Petersen says. “Carlin was an unfathomable genius. Every year he would have one hour of brand new brilliant material, I wish I could be that prolific.”

Although Petersen considers himself boring and reserved, no one can argue that he isn't an active performer. And if he keeps booking gigs across the country, he may just end up as prolific as his idol.

To score tickets to this weekend's event head to the Comedy Shoppe's website. The show is Saturday at 8 p.m. And, trust us, don't bring your kids.