Five places that made me: Ventriloquist David Strassman

NEW YORK CITY

I was 20, fresh out of the New York American Academy of Dramatic Arts and straight into the job of starving actor when I turned to the streets of New York City to become a busker. I started performing six nights a week with Chuck Wood wherever I could. From Greenwich Village to Central Park, to the theatre cues on Broadway, I performed my comedy show. I ended up earning great money, ($500+ a week!), and, for the first time in my life I realised I could earn a living anywhere. I would never starve.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

In 1980, I performed my show in the Land of the Midnight Sun where I saw alcohol-fuelled bar fights, moose in backyards, and caught salmon the size of small children. I fell in love with Alaska; its spirit, the animals, the expanse of wilderness, and the hardy and amazing people. I had the humbling opportunity to hunt with Inuit (Eskimo) on the frozen Bering Sea and explore the treeless Alaska Peninsula complete with grizzly bears and crab legs the size of your arm. I now own a home in Ketchikan, Alaska, the "salmon capital" of the world.

BURBANK AIRPORT

I've always loved aviation and built my first radio-controlled airplane at age 14. In the 1980s, I began flying lessons and ground school at Burbank Airport, the historical World War II Airfield in Los Angeles that built many of the winning aircraft to turn the tide of the war in our favour. Getting my pilot's license in 1987 was a "boy to manhood" ritual for me. I've been flying ever since and even hold an Australian CASA license too.

HAGGERSTONE ISLAND

Situated 600 kilometres north of Cairns, privately owned Haggerstone Island is one of the most amazing places I've ever visited. It's Gilligan's Island meets five-star accommodation. Only a handful of guests stay in hand built cabanas or a jungle tree house, all built by Roy Turner, a world-class architect and a real "Crocodile Dundee" of the Great Barrier Reef. It's far North Queensland where I learned my seamanship navigating the reefs and uninhabited islands of deserted Cape York, fishing for my food, and managing to stay alive in tiger shark and crocodile-infested waters of the untouched Great Barrier Reef.

DUBLIN, IRELAND

I moved to Dublin in 2002 so my then wife and I could have our child in the country she was from. My son was born in September of that year and his arrival changed my life forever. Living in Ireland with a newborn was magical; the ancient streets and turf fireplaces, the green of the countryside, and the most lovable and friendly people in the world.

David Strassman brings his new show, iTedE to Victoria in September and October, with further New South Wales and Queensland dates in 2017. See davidstrassman.com