Entertaining residents at Memory Care facilities

VentriloquistKevin

What has been your journey?

My Journey to Becoming TheRealBeardedSummerSanta™
By Kevin Driscoll

Entertaining residents at Memory Care facilities in New England is awesome…. especially dressed as Santa. It’s always an honor to wear the red suit. My journey as Santa didn’t start with a grand plan—it started with a comment from a friend back in 2011. He looked at my white hair and beard and said, “You should let it all grow out and be Santa.” At first, I laughed it off. But he persisted. He knew I was a former teacher, a graduate of Berklee College of Music, and someone who always tried to bring joy wherever I went. He told me I had a responsibility to use my gifts to bring a little more music and happiness into the world.

Around the same time, I had just purchased a 40-inch professional ventriloquist puppet. I dressed him up as Santa’s Elf-on-the-Shelf. That December, I booked my first Santa gig—as Santa the Ventriloquist—at a child’s birthday party on December 10. And just like that, the journey began.

Later that same month, a former music student reached out to me on Facebook. She asked if she could hire me to be Santa for her best friend’s baby, who was born with complications and was still on a breathing tube. Because the baby’s grandmother was a NICU nurse, the family was allowed to bring her home for Christmas Eve. All they wanted was a picture of their daughter with Santa. I told her there was no way I would charge for something so meaningful—it would be my honor.

We scheduled the visit for 6:00 PM on Christmas Eve. The grandmother carefully removed the breathing tube for just a moment so I could hold her granddaughter and snap a quick photo. That baby girl is now thirteen years old, living with autism, and to this day, she still believes I’m the real Santa. I’ve been there for her every single Christmas Eve since that first one.
Growing up in Nebraska, I was fascinated with ventriloquists. I wrote a letter to Santa asking for a Charlie McCarthy puppet—and I got it! I watched Ed Sullivan’s show and saw all the greats: Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy, Paul Winchell with Jerry Mahoney, Shari Lewis with Lamb Chop. I was hooked.

But as life often does, it moved me in different directions—into music, education, and eventually a high-tech career. Even still, my love for ventriloquism never faded. I admired every ventriloquist I saw, including the puppet on SOAP with Billy Crystal. Whenever Jeff Dunham came to Boston, I brought my son to see him perform.

Then, life threw me a curveball. On my 54th birthday, after 27 years of marriage, my wife sent me a divorce email. It was devastating—but it gave me time to stop and really evaluate my life. I realized that chasing more and more money didn’t matter much anymore. I wanted to do something I loved.

So, I bought a replica Jerry Mahoney puppet on eBay and started hitting Boston’s open mic comedy circuit. My first performance was… rough. But someone in the audience came up to me and said something that stuck: “Some people start strong and never improve. Others start out terrible, but they keep at it—and they become great.” I chose to be in that second group. I still have a recording of that first show, and I use it to remind myself how far I’ve come.
Performing as Santa the Ventriloquist has taken me to some amazing places—MGM Foxwoods, the Ritz-Carlton in Boston, The Comedy Studio in Cambridge. One of the most surprising gigs? A Hanukkah event hosted by the Boston-area Chabad community. As a young Irish Catholic kid from Nebraska, I never imagined I’d be entertaining at a Hanukkah celebration in a yarmulke. Needless to say, I left the red suit at home that night.
In 2017, I was working as a general manager for an international Internet company. The stress was overwhelming. One day, I went to my doctor convinced I was having a heart attack. After running the tests, he told me, “Kevin, I know you love high-tech—and probably the money—but if you keep this up, you might not be around much longer.” That was my wake-up call.
That June, I resigned. I walked away from the tech world and committed to becoming a full-time ventriloquist.

Sure, I wasn’t making what I used to, but both of my sons had finished college, and I no longer needed that kind of income. I was making it work—juggling Santa gigs and ventriloquism—until March 2020. When the pandemic hit, all my in-person events disappeared. But that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

I bought a green screen and launched “Weekly Wacky Wednesday,” performing live on Facebook and YouTube every Wednesday at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM. Performing virtually was a learning curve. You can’t hear laughter or see smiles. You don’t even know if anyone’s watching—except maybe by checking comments, which is hard to do while singing and working a puppet!

Because Facebook and YouTube automatically block copyrighted music, I had to compose my own holiday songs. As ♫♬ TheRealBeardedSanta™, I’d play a bass drum with my right foot, hi-hats with my left, piano with my left hand, and puppeteer with my right. And somehow… it worked.

Those free virtual shows opened the door to paid corporate gigs for companies like Deloitte, CBRE, and Upland Software. They wanted five to seven minutes of Santa magic to liven up their staff meetings—and I delivered.

By December 2024, I was working up to three gigs a day. One highlight was my Boston Santa appearance and the city’s tree-lighting celebration. For Hanukkah shows, I trade in the red suit and bring out Hanukkah Howie, my Mench-On-A-Bench puppet. At a big corporate event on December 16 at 200 Clarendon Street, I used both my Elf-On-The-Shelf and Hanukkah Howie to entertain a crowd of parents and kids—it was unforgettable.

At 74, staying healthy is a priority. I swim six days a week, lift weights on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and stick to a good diet (no ice cream… most of the time). I live by the motto: “Use it or lose it.”

https://youtu.be/wfTsfbU6-og

During the off-season, I stay active as TheRealBeardedSummerSanta™, complete with Santa pants, sandals, and a Hawaiian shirt. I also attend the annual International ConVENTion of Ventriloquists in Cincinnati every July. I’ve only missed one since 2015. It’s a blast, and I always look forward to reconnecting with fellow ventriloquist Santas from around the world.
I also stay involved in my local New England Santa association. The truth is, I’m still learning, and I’m having more fun than I ever imagined.

Every Christmas, I pull on the red wardrobe, let my beard flow, and step into Santa’s boots. My puppet becomes Santa’s wise-cracking elf, Doug the Talking Dog dons his red scarf, and we bring magic to every home, company party, and video screen we visit.

I may not have taken the traditional route to the North Pole, but I’ve found my sleigh. And I’ve never been happier.