Prepare for another twist of Fator. Beyond animating an impersonating turtle, a country crooner, an Elvis imitator, a lounge singer, a fifth Beatle and a crash-test dummy, among others, the man who makes his living doing what in the real world might earn him a punch in the schnoz—putting words in the mouths of others—is now giving life to … a Latin l-o-o-o-o-o-o-v-e-r. You can practically purr his name: Fernando V. Francisco. Heir to the amorous legacy of Pepe Le Pew. Expect new ventriloquism comedy along the lines of …

Come close, mi querida (“darling” to you gringos)—Mwah! Mwah! Mwah! … The cast newbie can’t keep his lips to himself. Nor can the bigger guy next to him with his hand up lover boy’s back.

“I didn’t have a character who could sing Julio Iglesias and Ricky Martin songs,” says Fator, who does—whoops, sorry, whose new character does—a fiery take on Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” among other Latin-style barn-burners. “I always look for something I don’t have represented in my show,” says Fator of Fernando’s talents. “I got the character from watching Puss in Boots in Shrek, (voiced by) Antonio Banderas. He’s the one the wee-men loooooove.”

Oooh-la-la! … Wait, sorry. That’s French. Anyway, Fernando’s entry coincides with Fator’s seventh anniversary at The Mirage in his self-titled theater, celebrated with an extension of his contract through 2021, solidifying—though it was already pretty solid—his status as a signature Las Vegas headliner. Come September, he will rewrite his show again to keep it so new that it could earn a seal of freshness from the Food and Drug Administration.

“All the routines will be rewritten for all the characters because every time you come to my show, whether it’s 10 or 15 or 20 times, I want you to see at least one new routine, or two or three new songs,” Fator says. “And my show is so much more than just ventriloquism. You’re not just seeing a guy get up and tell jokes with puppets. You’re seeing impressions, the best of the greats—Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison and Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole and the new ones here now. You even get Adele. It speaks to everyone because of the music factor.”

Coincidentally, ventriloquism speaks to increasing audiences these days, including in Vegas, where Jeff Dunham enjoyed success during his 2014-15 residency at Planet Hollywood Resort. Now Fator, the season two winner of America’s Got Talent, shares the Strip with the season 10 champ, ventriloquist Paul Zerdin. A neat comeback for an age-old entertainment form that once was widely dismissed as—to put it politely—quaint, especially as puppets and dummies became better known as psycho killers in cheap horror flicks.

“I do believe that my success has had something to do with the resurgence of respect for ventriloquism, but people don’t realize that ventriloquists have been around forever,” Fator says, citing acts such as Edgar Bergen, Senor Wences, Shari Lewis and even Soap’s Jay Johnson.

“Ventriloquism has never gone away; it just was not in the public eye. I’m not sure why ventriloquism started taking a backseat to other types of entertainment. That’s OK. Everything goes in cycles. Who would have ever thought back in the ’70s that mime would become internationally famous through Marcel Marceau? Sometimes it may be hard for really good ventriloquists to find a national audience but now we’re in that wonderful era where people are accepting.”

Terry, can you ask Fernando to slide his hand up your back so you can repeat that in Spanish?

The Mirage, 7:30 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., additional 7:30 p.m. show May 7, $59.99-$149.99 MVP Experience, plus tax and fee, 5+. 702.792.7777