By Mike Weatherford –  Las Vegas Review-Journals  Photo:PeterKramer/NBC 

There’s an old entertainer’s joke: Put three magicians in the same room and they’ll start a convention. Put three ventriloquists in the same room and they’ll start a fight.

The Strip proved to be big enough to hold the small niche’s biggest stars, Jeff Dunham and Terry Fator.

But even a three-night run by Paul Zerdin, the recent winner of “America’s Got Talent,” continues to draw objections to his victory from a ventriloquist who headlined Las Vegas for years.

“I feel very righteously ripped off and plagiarized,” Ronn Lucas said this week, echoing comments he has made since Zerdin won the NBC talent show Sept. 16. “He had some damn good material. I’ve been breaking it in for a while.”

“It’s a shame we all can’t get on and support each other,” says Zerdin, who headlines “America’s Got Talent Live!” Thursday through Oct. 24 at Planet Hollywood Resort. “There are loads of magicians, but there aren’t many ventriloquists, and we’re all doing stuff in our own way and we want to be friends.”  Read more at:  http://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/shows/controversy-follows-americas-got-talent-winner-vegas