Ventriloquism is an act of stagecraft in which a person speaks in such a way that it looks like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ventriloquizing, and in English it is commonly called the ability to "throw" one's voice.
In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game, or other entertainment product that was unpromising on release but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have little promotion or lack a successful launch but gradually develops a fandom following media attention, which in turn increases its public exposure and public interest in the product. As Variety puts it, "A 'sleeper hit' can be defined as the kind of show that catches us by surprise—programs whose popularity grows over time and can ultimately outshine the preordained hits." A sleeper hit often lacks star performers or high production values, but prevails, at times against its own makers' expectations, on the strength of such qualities as narrative, approach, or novelty, as well as market accidents. Sleeper hit films benefit theater owners because the owners keep a larger percentage of money from ticket sales.
Jarlath Regan is an Irish comedian and podcaster. A former graphic design consultant, he began his stand-up comedy career in 2003 and by the end of 2004 was a finalist for three major UK comedy newcomer awards: So You Think You're Funny, BBC New Comedy Awards and the Chortle Student Comedian of the Year. While attending University College Dublin, he was auditor of the Literary and Historical Society.
Spin Master Corp., formerly known as Spin Master Toys, is a Canadian multinational toy and entertainment company. Spin Master employs over 1,600 people globally with offices in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.
"Tik Tok" is the debut single by American singer Kesha, who co-wrote the song with its producers Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco. It was released on August 7, 2009, as the lead and debut single from her debut studio album, Animal (2010).
Leslie Scott is a Tanzanian-born British board game designer, author, and businesswoman, best known as the inventor of the game Jenga. Despite initial challenges, Scott transformed a family wooden block game into the classic Jenga, achieving worldwide success after licensing to Hasbro in 1986. Recognized for her contributions, she received accolades such as the 2010 Wonder Women of Toys Inventor/Designer Award and the 2012 Tagie Award for Excellence in Game Design.
Travon Free is an American comedian, actor and writer. He has written for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The Daily Show on Comedy Central, and Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons on HBO.
Darcy Michael is a Canadian actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his stand-up comedy, his viral tiktok account @thedarcymichael and his role in the Canadian television sitcom Spun Out.
Rick Siegel is a former stand-up comedian who is best known for his legal efforts that made the California Labor Commission change their interpretation of how the California Talent Agencies Act ("TAA") is enforced. Siegel created LaughTrack, a national magazine about stand-up comedy, and later became a personal manager for comic performers, actors and writers. Most recently, he has created several environmentally-friendly products focused on the dry cleaning industry.
TikTok, whose mainland Chinese and Hong Kong counterpart is Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes. It can be accessed with a smart phone app.
Loren Gray Beech is an American singer, songwriter and media personality. Gray rose to prominence in 2015 on the video sharing app, Musical.ly. In 2018, she released her debut single "My Story" under Virgin Records, whom she was signed to until February 2021, when she became an independent artist. Forbes reported she earned $2.4 million in 2019, making her the fourth highest-earning TikTok star. In 2020, Billboard ranked her among TikTok's top 10 music influencers with over 50 million followers.
Ajey Nagar, better known as CarryMinati, is an Indian YouTuber, streamer and rapper from Faridabad, India. He is known for his roasting videos, comedic skits and reactions to various online topics on his channel CarryMinati. His other channel CarryisLive is dedicated to gaming and live streams. With over 43 million subscribers as of September 2024, he is the most-subscribed individual YouTuber in Asia.
Eddy Goldfarb is an American toy inventor. The creator of over 800 toys, he is best known for inventing Yakity Yak Talking Teeth, Battling Tops, KerPlunk, Stompers, and Vac-U-Form. He is the subject of the award-winning short film Eddy's World.
Joshua Kenneth Richards is a Canadian social media personality and businessman. He has a following on a number of social media platforms and serves as the CEO of CrossCheck Studios.
Brittany Alexis Tomlinson, known professionally as Brittany Broski, is an American social media personality, YouTuber, and comedian. She initially gained fame after a video of her tasting kombucha for the first time went viral on TikTok in 2019. She signed to United Talent Agency later that year and has since hosted the TikTok-produced podcast For You (2021), the pop culture-focused podcasts Violating Community Guidelines (2022–2023) with Sarah Schauer, The Broski Report (2023–present), and the YouTube talk show Royal Court (2023–present). She has frequently been referred to as one of TikTok's biggest stars and noted for her meme-focused humor.
Khabane "Khaby" Lame is a Senegalese-Italian social media personality. He is known for his TikTok videos, in which he silently mocks overly complicated "life hack" videos. As of 2024, he is the most-followed user on TikTok. In 2022, he was listed in Fortune's 40 Under 40 and Forbes' 30 Under 30. He also served as a juror on the 2023 edition of the television show Italia's Got Talent.
Tom Cardy is an Australian comedian, musician, songwriter, and actor. He became known in Australia for his "Song Sequels" segments on the radio station Triple J in 2020, and achieved more international recognition when he began posting comedy songs and videos on TikTok and YouTube. He has composed music for the comedy series The Feed and The Moth Effect, as well as the animated web series Helluva Boss. His debut EP, Artificial Intelligence (2021), peaked at No. 40 on the ARIA Albums Chart. He was shortlisted for the AACTA Award for Favourite Digital Content Creator and the Craft Award for Writing at the Streamy Awards.
Squishmallows is a brand of stuffed toy that was launched in 2017 by Kelly Toys Holdings LLC and is owned by Jazwares, a Berkshire Hathaway company. Squishmallows are round and come in a variety of colors, sizes, animals, and textures. The brand has created over 3,000 Squishmallows styles.
Matthew (Matt) Nuccio is a toy designer co-credited with designing Creepy Crawlers, Tickle Me Elmo, Nintendo Power Glove, P.O.G's, Laser Challenge and Barbie Sparkle Kingdom. Products he designed have been embraced by American society, and been nominated for, or won, many of the toys industry's most important awards, such as the TOTY, the TAGie Games 100, Mensa Select, Origin, and Family Fun award.
Lisa Beasley is an American actress, comedian, and writer based in Chicago, Illinois. She is known for her original comedy videos shared on social media, including her satirical impressions of Margaret Thatcher and Lori Lightfoot, and for the original character Corporate Erin.
