Recently, an original long lost manuscript resurfaced having been discovered in an ancient bookshop in the back waters of the southern states.
Being A Ventriloquist Is Great Fun
Among civilized races ventriloquism has long since ceased to be anything except a source of entertainment, and for that purpose it has a legitimate mission. In this strenuous age of money getting, public amusements are necessary, as they afford welcome relief and relaxation from the constant hurly-burly of modern conditions. So long as the entertainer, whether he be an actor, a ventriloquist, a magician, a monologue comedian or what not, amuses his audience without corrupting them, so long is his mission a beneficent one and his place in the world of men as important in its way as that of him who devotes all his attention to more serious affairs.
Merely as a source of amusement, however, a practical knowledge of ventriloquism pays well for the time and effort spent in acquiring it in the amount of fun and glory one gels out of it, the relaxation it affords from the sterner duties of life, and the welcome pocket money which it brings to its successful exponent, which in a city, where one can be in touch with amusement agents, often amounts to considerable. Even though the ventriloquist has daily employment of a clerical or mechanical nature, there are always remunerative evening and holiday engagements to be obtained, especially if he is a little energetic in “drumming up trade” by keeping himself constantly in the minds of the agents, by sending out circulars and doing some advertising on his own account, and by watching the columns of the daily papers for announcements of future entertainments where outside talent might be wanted.
Ventriloquist Art
A half-hour’s exhibition of ventriloquism with the aid of mechanical figures, which carry on a bright and amusing dialogue with the performer and possibly contribute a song or two, varied by conversation with invisible people or imitations of various tools and musical instru¬ments after methods which will be explained later, will often be eagerly accepted as an agree¬able departure from the monotony of readings and vocal and instrumental music usually given at local entertainments. Variety is the spice of life they say
In concluding this introduction on the ventriloquist art, I do not hesitate to say that if you possess a voice of at least moderate range and power, and an ear that is fairly accurate in sensing sound impres¬sions, you will have no difficulty in becoming expert enough in the art to give an exhibition similar to that mentioned above—just when, will of course depend entirely upon the amount of at¬tention you give to it and the degree of aptitude you display. Time and experience are all that you then require to become perfect at the art of ventriloquism. The road lies before you and is not especially hard to travel; follow it faithfully and the goal will soon be reached.
A ventriloquist is not born, unlike a poet. It takes practice and application to master the art. The following posts will give the explanation needed to become proficient in the art of ventriloquism.
This just a small fraction of the information contained in Ventriloquist Secrets Revealed. Click here to find out more about this comprehensive ventriloquism resource
Ventriloquist And The Audience
The audience stood so close to the platform that I could almost touch the foremost persons, and I felt that under such conditions I could have very little success. But even here, a bright young lady who stood among those in the first rank of the crowd and directed her attention entirely to my face and lips in order to test the matter, after-ward assured me that the illusion of ” the man
Under the floor ” was perfect, and that the voice did not seem to proceed at all from myself. This may sound egotistical, but I simply relate the incident to show the perfection which may be obtained, and for the encouragement of those among my readers who desire to take up the art.
Unlike the magician, who requires an elaborate” fit-up” to properly perform his illusions, the ventriloquist always has the mysterious at his command. From a haystack by the country roadside or from behind the closed portals of an empty store or the depths of an open sewer in the city, he can evoke ” spirits ” to amaze and mystify the hearers, which yet exist in nothing more substantial than his own voice. The art is an old one, and there is no doubt that in earlier times it was used by unscrupulous priests to terrify ignorant people and keep them in subjection. It has been practiced on the banks of the Nile and among the Esquimaux in the Arctic Circle, and probably has its exponents in those regions today.
Ventriloquist Has Many Voices
An actor impersonates only one role at a time, but the ventriloquist who uses figures must speak the lines of several different characters in as many different voices, and must at the same time be ready to question, argue, re-prove or interrupt in his natural voice. In fact, he assumes the attitude of an interested spectator to whom everything said by the figures is as new and unexpected as to the audience itself; and al-though he is carrying on the whole conversation and constantly changing from one voice to another, he must be so thoroughly trained that no effort is apparent and no confusion results. The tyro is likely to make some amusing mistakes such as making Tommy talk with the voice which has been associated with Jerry, or interrupting with his natural voice when he should have done so ventriloquially. Because of the fact, however, that this branch of the art is more easily learned and not so difficult to practice, most professional exhibitors confine themselves strictly to it, but a more interesting entertainment can be given by combining figure working with feats of natural ventriloquism.
The farther removed a ventriloquist is from his audience, the greater the illusion he creates, and yet it is remarkable how near the auditor can stand to the performer without being disillusioned. During a performance given at a fair in Masonic Temple, Boston, several years ago, I had for my stage only a round dais at one end of the hall, raised scarcely two feet above the floor
Edgar Bergen – Lessons In Ventriloquism Part 4
In this session Edgar Bergen discusses how to act with your ventriloquist dummy.
Edgar also summarizes the steps to getting started in being a ventriloquist.
Edgar Bergen – Lessons In Ventriloquism
Part 3 of Edgar Bergen’s Lessons In Ventriloquism – how to use humor and where to get jokes to use in your act.
If you want more information on how to be a ventriloquist, vist ventriloquist secrets revealed
Lessons In Ventriloquism Part 2 By Edgar Bergen
Here are more lessons from Edgar Bergen with Mortimer Snerd and Charlie McCarthy – the secret of speaking without moving your lips.
Learn Ventriloquism With Edgar Bergen
Some great lesson in ventriloquism from Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy and with Mortimer Snerd. It will make you laugh but also teach you how to be a ventriloquist from one of the best. Enjoy it and let me know what you think.
Ventriloquist After A Few Lessons
After taking a few lessons the student may find that he has a hitherto unsuspected talent for the ventriloquist’s art, which only needs proper cultivation to be made a source of amusement and profit. As in music, there is a certain technique which must be thoroughly mastered before one can become proficient, and certain exercises conducing to voice production and culture which must be faithfully gone through with before one can give an efficient exhibition before the public. One must learn how to use the mouth and tongue to achieve certain results, how to speak interiorly with entirely motionless and almost closed lips, and how to make each of the sounds or voices used distinctive in tone, pitch and character.
The successful ventriloquist must also be cool, confident and something of an actor. The voices
to him present no illusion, and he can judge of his success only by their effect upon his audience. I say no illusion, but this is not quite true; for though he knows that he is creating the sounds, if he is thoroughly proficient, there seems a sort of isolation between himself and the voice which discourses with him. If he is talking with “a man on the roof ” and his performance is perfect, the voice almost seems even to him to be that of another person and he enters into argument with it with as much earnestness as if this were so.
In one respect the ventriloquist’s work is more difficult than that of an actor.
Most People Can Become Good If Not Great Ventriloquists
There are very few persons, however, whose ear is so imperfect that they cannot sing a little or imitate something, and it is safe to say that eight out of every ten could, with practice and perseverance, become acceptable if not great ventriloquists. There is nothing really wonderful about the art, although the effects produced by the successful performer may seem so, and if one has the qualities mentioned, or at least can develop, by intelligently directed exercise, those which he does not already possess, he can soon become a ventriloquist. The progress made will depend of course upon the fitness of the student and the faithfulness with which he pursues the study.
The feminine voice does not so readily lend itself to the uses of ventriloquy as does the masculine, but it is not impossible for a woman to become a good amateur or even a professional performer. A few years ago a female ventriloquist presented an excellent act with four or five mechanical figures in the vaudeville theatres of the country, and once I met an old lady who informed me that in her younger days she possessed natural ventriloquial ability which had more than once enabled her to completely deceive her brothers. Some one, however, has had the audacity to remark that ladies should not learn, “as their voices are heard in too many places already.” Of course this is a base libel on fair womanhood, and ought not to deter any lady from taking up the subject if she feels a desire to do so