One popular figure worker has his Old Lady arranged behind a table at the back of the stage, while the Old Man sits in a chair near by, and the Irish and Colored figures are given a settee just back of the footlights.    Another has his Old Man standing and his Old Woman sitting, while still another arranges his figures, which are all of full length, in a row on a covered divan or sofa behind which he stands.

With all his modern improvements the Old Man is fearfully and wonderfully made, like unto no living creature of the heavens above, the earth beneath or the waters under the earth. His nose pulls out and is illuminated by electricity from the interior, as is his scarf-pin, and the pulling process is accompanied by a terrible squinting of the eyes. On occasion his hair raises in fright or amazement, not like ” quills upon a fretful porcu­pine,” but like a hirsute trap-door. His eyes wink at so much per wink per eye. His head turns completely around and when remonstrated with at such an unnatural proceeding, it makes the circuit again in the opposite direction while he casually remarks that ” one good turn deserves another.” His arm lifts and plucking his hat from his head with jointed fingers he waves it jauntily about. Not only does he smoke a pipe, but places it in his mouth himself, and lighting a match on the side of his own face holds it to the tobacco and puffs away contentedly, occasionally adding realism to the action, if not refinement, by expectorating a fine stream of water over the stage. When anything occurs in the audience to attract his attention his neck stretches to a frightful length, while he blithely gives utterance to the warning, ” Danger,” with a rising inflec­tion on the ” ger ” which proves intensely amusing. He also crosses his legs and uses his hand­kerchief; and, in fact, with all his accomplish­ments he must be as difficult to work as a loco­motive.

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There are two ways to make the arms look muscular. One is by means of rings sewn inside the sleeves, as is done with marionette figures. The other is to have underneath the outer cloth­ing an inner suit of silesia, with arm and leg shapes stuffed with excelsior. For the smaller figures the hands are made of wood with enough of a wrist to permit the end of the stuffed arm shape being drawn around it and tightly secured. The stockings are brought up over the leg shapes and fastened with thread, and the shoes (which are ordinary baby shoes) are drawn over the bottoms of these and also sewn. Large figures, however, sometimes have hands made simply of gloves painted in flesh color and stuffed with cot­ton or excelsior, the short wrists of these being fastened either over the arm-shape or to the in­side of the outer coat sleeves. The clothing is drawn over the shape and fastened by means of tacks or small nails to the box or if the inner shape includes a stuffed bust which also covers the front and sides of the box, the clothing may be sewn directly to that. This is much the better way, as tacks are likely to wear loose and also tear the covering. The Old Woman needs neither lower limbs nor feet, if she is to sit, a wire hoop being fastened to the bottom of the dress to give the necessary fullness. When covered with a bright cover, the box the figures travel in is often used as a seat for them.

For more details on making a ventriloquist dummy visit http://www.ventriloquistsecretsrevealed.com

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The little girl referred to in a previous chapter usually adds much to the effectiveness of a per­formance, and is made to do duty in a variety of ways. An English ventriloquist, Robert Ganthony, to whom I am indebted for many valuable hints concerning the subject, has a little girl figure which stands at the piano and sings to his accompaniment, the mouth being moved by the ventriloquist’s foot. It also plays the violin, the sound being a vocal imitation, while the bow arm is worked by means of a second pedal. Whether the girl stands, sits on the knee or on a stool, sings, plays or recites, depends of course upon the inclination and talent of the performer. Ventriloquial Coloredes have a variety of ac­complishments, ranging from dancing to smok­ing. Some even play the banjo, which is made to hook on the shoulders and is readily detach­able. In this case the arm is worked by means of a wire running from the hand on the inside of the sleeve and through the clothing at the back, where it is held by the exhibitor

 (Fig. 3)

. But the principal use .of the Colored figure is to utter an idiotic laugh whenever an interruption is wanted, an awkward pause takes place, or the proceedings generally want some little enlivenment. If laughter is to be his sole office, the top half of the head should hinge on the lower, and be so balanced that a tug at the string behind causes him to throw his head back in a fit of unre­strained merriment, which of course the ventrilo­quist supplies.

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To this movable floor is then glued a strip of sheepskin or flexible leather, completely covering the cavity from the lower lip to the chin below. Before putting in the lower jaw ” for keeps ” as the boys say, a small screw ring should be in­serted in its underside, to which is fastened a piece of gut string or flexible picture-wire, long enough to reach down through the neck and well into the interior of the body which has yet to be made ; and another screw-ring is inserted on the upper side near the back edge, to which is hooked a spiral spring strong enough to pull the mouth shut smartly after being opened by a tug on the picture wire below. This arrangement is shown at ” D,” Figure 2.

With the exception of the eyes, which may be obtained from a taxidermist at a cost of fifteen or twenty cents, and the hair, the head is then complete except for painting, which of course should be in flesh color with the cheeks well tinted in red. The teeth are merely suggested by alternate red and white stripes on the ridges back of the lips, and the eyebrows are painted in dark red or mahogany color.

The body, the length of which is determined by the size of the head, is simply a box, like that shown at ” E,” the hole in the top being for the neck. When the head is completed, the neck should be cut off at the right length and the opening in its lower end blocked with a round stick, hollow for half its length from the top. Through this extends the picture wire, termi­nating in a ring, which controls, when pulled down by the thumb, the movement of the lower jaw, as shown at ” D.”

After the head is placed in the body, a wire is driven through the neck stick close up to the top of the box to prevent the head from pulling out when in use. This may be fitted loosely enough to allow of being drawn out, making the head readily removable for packing.

For more on ventriloquist dummies construction visit http://www.ventriloquistsecretsrevealed.com

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If you should have occasion to imitate a French­man don’t fail to remember that the Parisian lacks in aspirates what he makes up in r’s; gives a sex to everything, and introduces a little Punch quality into the terminations ending in ” n.”

The German puts a ” b ” where he should use a”p” and vice versa, and a”v” for a ” w.”

Among the characters which you may care to imitate, either for figure working or for Natural ventriloquism are fleshy people, who never have deep or big voices. Use a little voice with mod­erate pitch for a fat man, and a falsetto voice for a fat old lady.

The voice of a jocular young man is hard, loud and thin, and is produced explosively against the front of the palate, immediately above the upper row of teeth.

The loafer or tramp whose voice has been destroyed by chronic hoarseness and drink speaks in a sort of harsh whisper. The only hint that can be given for its production is the statement that it is the Grunt voice without the grunt. On account of its character it is hardly suitable for figures, but with a little appropriate dialogue it may be used at a partly opened door to suggest to the people in a room that there is such a per­son outside who is trying to beg a ” handout” or cast off clothing. Of course the door must be partly opened, not shut, as otherwise the sound would not, in the nature of things, be heard, for it is quite impossible to ventriloquize a whisper.

This voice is usually the product of large cities and does not belong to a countryman. A fair imitation of this voice is often given by so-called” tramp comedians ” of the variety stage.

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Here is another great clip of Paul Zerdin, with a vounteer from the audience to act as his dummy. This is a funny act and the volunteer really helps to make it even funnier. I hope you enjoy it too.

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Assume an air of perfect self-possession, and having seated the audience as described, stand within a foot or two of the screen and make your first bow as a ventriloquist. Put your whole heart into your work and try to imagine that there is really an old lady behind the screen whose personality is wholly distinct from yours. Act as you naturally would if you were talking to such a person, and do not rush through the dialogue as if you were in a hurry to catch a train. Stand in an easy attitude with your face partly turned toward the audience, and let your eyes dwell upon the screen whenever the ficti­tious old lady is speaking.

Probably the first desire of the student of ” Near ” after he has begun to ventriloquize will be to possess a mechanical figure, for the use of such a puppet tends to give added interest to his practice and also a greater self-confidence in his early performances. With such a figure on his knee he can make his early essays in the art of entertaining with fewer misgivings than would otherwise be the case.

But all students perhaps cannot afford to pur­chase a figure at the outset, and to such I would recommend the ” talking hand,” one which can be arranged in a few moments’ time and at no expense whatever.

For a complete quide of how to ventriloquist secrets visit http://www.ventriloquistsecretsrevealed.com

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The student is now ready for actual work with the throat in the production of the different voices required in figure working.

First comes the ” Punch ” voice which, as its name indicates, is a close imitation of that used for the puppet Punch in ” Punch and Judy” shows. A Punch and Judy performer uses a little instrument (made by winding a narrow piece of cloth or tape over and between two curved pieces of tin) to produce this voice, but this is not allowable for a ventriloquist who stands in full view, and the voice must therefore be produced naturally.

To do this, recall just how the Punch voice sounds or take the first opportunity to listen to a good Punch and Judy performer; or think of the higher notes of a clarinet or the sound of a squeaking door. Then bring the teeth together and stretch the tongue until it touches the roof of the mouth near the back of the front upper teeth. Then say, ” Judy, Judy, where are you, Judy? “in as high a tone as you can command. The position of the tongue throws the sound into the cavity of the nose, thus imparting to the voice the strong nasal quality which is needed. It also has the sound of a high-pitched reed in­strument, and the more reedy and metallic you can make it the better.

If the student has difficulty in getting just the right tone, place the tongue as before and say ” Th-e-e-e-k,” prolonging the “e’s” and thinking of the punch voice or the sound made by a clarinet, as before.

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We will now consider the methods used for the production of some of the other voices employed in Near ventriloquism. In direct contrast to the Punch voice is that which is sometimes called the ” Grunt” voice. To produce this, the tongue should be allowed to lie fiat with its tip almost touching the back of the front lower teeth where they enter the flesh. In this position, and with the whole of the vocal cords relaxed, the words are simply grunted at the back of the mouth, with the lips still and only slightly apart, as when using the Punch voice. In other words, make less effort to speak than you would natu­rally, using only the back part of the tongue, so that the sound is made in the lower part of the throat.

This voice is a caricature of that used by old men who no longer have command over tongue and lips and speak with open mouths.    In figure working it is used to supply speech for the Old Man without whom no ventriloquial family is complete, in contrast to the sharp, reedy voice of the Old Woman who is usually his companion, and the less shrill tones of the Irish or the Colored figure. It may also be used for the same pur­pose when the couple are supposed to be behind a screen.

Given the Old Man, Old Woman, Irish and Colored figures, it naturally follows that there should be a little girl to make the family com­plete, and for this we revert to the Punch voice, only it should be made less reedy and more like a child’s. The young of all animals, including the human animal, uses a high key to speak or make the sound peculiar to itself.

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There is a great article and interview in The Orange County Register with ventriloquist Jay Johnson. Is starts like this:

Jay Johnson seems extremely cheery for a man who gets asked the same questions all the time.

Isn’t ventriloquism a dying profession? Aren’t those hand puppets creepy? Are you a repressed person who can express himself only through a wooden doppelganger?

Perhaps that’s because Johnson, 60, is at the top of his admittedly rarified art form. He has been a familiar act ever since his character, Chuck Campbell, and his smart-mouthed puppet pal, Bob, became famous on ABC’s opera parody “Soap” (1977-81), one of the riskiest and most popular TV comedies of its era.

Johnson gained even more respectability when his one-man show, “The Two and Only,” won a Tony Award in 2007. Pretty good for a boy from Lubbock, Texas, whose biggest dream was to land a job, any job, in show business.

Johnson brings “The Two and Only” to the Laguna Playhouse from June 11-20. (The title is deceptive – Johnson’s act includes 11 puppets.) We talked to him about his art, his show, and the love/hate relationship people have with ventriloquism.

The Orange County Register: How did a small-town Texas kid turn into one of the world’s most famous ventriloquists?

You can read the rest here http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/johnson-251605-register-ventriloquism.html#article-comments

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