As a star of the TLC reality series My Strange Addictions, April Brucker claims to be so addicted to ventriloquism that her fiance made her choose to between him and her puppets. But not all is as it seems!

New York comedian April Brucker appeared on The Today Show this morning to promote My Strange Addiction. She explained to the host that "I'm addicted to ventriloquism. Whether I'm going to get coffee at the corner store; whether I'm going to the diner I always have my puppets with me." Even though she's been able to parlay her addiction into a career as a performer, she says it's so severe that "my ex-fiance made me chose him or the puppets."

[There was a video here]

But is April Brucker really addicted to puppets? A fellow comedian emails:

Here's the deal: I know April Brucker all too well. She's been trying to make it as a comedian and ventriloquist for years now.... And while she is without a doubt mentally ill, she is not, repeat NOT addicted to puppets or ventriloquism. I've probably seen her two or three dozen times over the years, and the ONLY time she's ever had a puppet with her is when she's onstage. So basically, she has scammed TLC (and, by extension, The Today Show and other shows she's going to to promote this, including Joy Behar) into believing she has this addiction when in fact this is a typical and sad attempt on her part to get fame, fortune and above all, attention. Oh, and her breakup with her fiance, which she has discussed in painful detail on her blog, had absolutely nothing to do with puppets

The New York comedy scene being as back-stabby as it is, we at first thought this email was just the jealous spasm of some forgotten stand-up comic. But a quick Google does turn up plenty of videos of April sans puppets. And according to her blog, she broke up with her fiance not due to any puppet-related discord, but because "I found out he had been cheating with an ex of his who was giving him money."

Brucker seems no more "addicted" to puppets than any professional is to their tools-of-the-trade; seems she figured a reality TV appearance would be a good career boost. This is an affront all the people on My Strange Addiction who truly have strange addictions, like the woman who binges on toilet paper, or the one who compulsively blowdries herself! What did you have to do to get on this show? Just show up with a thing and claim to be addicted to it?