When you have got the man down from the roof you may send him away on a level by com­pressing the vocal cords and throwing the voice backward, as it were, speaking neither against the palate nor down the throat. ” Good-night ” are the best words for this effect, ” Good-morn­ing,” ” Good-evening ” or ” Good-bye ” being im- practicable. Close your dialogue in some such manner as follows:

Vent. That is all I want of you, and you may go now. Goodnight.

Jack. Goodnight. {A little fainter.)

Vent. Goodnight. {Loud natural.)

Jack. Goodnight. {Still fainter)

Vent. Goodnight. {Almost shouting.)

Jack Goodnight, ha, ha, ha! (Very faint indeed.)

As your own voice becomes louder and the ventriloquial voice fainter, the pauses between the salutations are longer, as would naturally happen were you really calling to a departing caller or workman when, after the last faint, far-away cry you would yell and the answer would be inau­dible. Besides giving, by contrast, greater effectiveness to the ventriloquial voice in this manner, it is necessary in order to fully carry out the deception, as it must be made to appear that the man could not hear your own calls unless you uttered them in an increasingly louder voice as he went away.

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If the student has faithfully followed the pre­ceding instructions he should by this time have attained considerable facility in the imitation of near articulate sounds as employed with figures, and have developed considerable capacity for creating the distant sounds that form the art to which was originally applied the term Ven­triloquism. In fact, he should now be able not only to imitate near voices in caricature, but also to ” throw ” his voice into a box or closet, to the room above and the cellar below, and to cause it to appear gradually to ascend from a level or the basement to the floor or roof above (by simply reversing the method given for making it seem to descend), and even to approach from a distant point on a level until it sounds close at hand, or recede until it is heard no more.

He is therefore now ready to amalgamate these accomplishments to produce a natural effect, or what is a humorous travesty of nature, for enter­tainment purposes. The utterance of sounds with an unmoved countenance is one step toward this end, and the requisite subtlety and device neces­sary to ventriloquial acting, is again another, as is also the proper selection of a ventriloquial vocabulary.

The importance of a right vocabulary can easily be seen by trying to say without moving the lips a sentence containing a number of ” p’s ” or ” b’s ” like ” the persistent pertinacity of the priesthood,” and though you try for a century the effort will not be fully satisfactory. If, on the other hand, you attempt such phrases as “Hullo, down there,” “Yes, I’m here,” “Good­night to you,” you will find no difficulty. Avoid, therefore, as much as possible those words in which occur labial sounds, or letters which can only properly be pronounced by aid of the lips. By substituting for such sentences as trouble you those which may be pronounced without aid of the lips, you have the key to the prevention of any difficulty of this kind which you may expe­rience. Arrange such sentences as do not require labial pronunciation and practice these before a mirror until you can employ ventriloquism, either” Near” or ” Distant” without change of coun­tenance.

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The more artistic plan, however, is to keep your face toward the audience all the time, or at least in profile, and this should always be done on a stage. Stand with your left side to the au­dience and, throwing your head back, look directly upward toward the spot from which you wish the voice to sound. This pose carries conviction to the spectators, because it is the one that would naturally be taken when talking with some one overhead.

The two voices, which have already been elucidated form the basis for nearly every effect pos­sible in ventriloquism. For instance, the first voice (which we will call No. 1) may be used for a box, closet or door effect, as already explained; while if you wish to imitate the sound of a person shouting from the opposite side of a river or road­way, you would use the voice for the “man on the roof,” which we will label No. 2. In this case, however, it should be made a little louder than when apparently heard through an inter­vening obstacle like a ceiling or a wall.

These two voices may, in fact, be used in various ways, and formed into many apparently dissimilar voices by contraction and expansion of the glot­tis and by shortening or lengthening the cavities of the mouth and the throat. By making contor­tions of the mouth and voice in a room alone, the student will get a better idea than any descrip­tion can give him of the many peculiarities of sound and effect which may be created while holding the jaws and tongue in the manner neces­sary to produce the drone.

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Note how the same sound differs when the hands are removed and observe how it is ob­scured when the ears are again stopped. Then with open ears try to imitate the sound which was heard   when they   were muffled.    In this manner try all kinds of tones and noises, and accurately observe their several characteristics. This exercise will bring to the ventriloquist a realization of the range, modulations and capa­bilities of the human voice such as he has never had before. The principal difficulty with the beginner is lack of knowledge concerning the latent possibilities of his own vocal powers, but this can be obviated by practice and the use of the method herein suggested. Because of the fact that ventriloquial effects are produced by using the voice in an unnatural manner, such efforts require greater attention and energy than in ordinary speaking, where the mind is intent upon the subject of the conversation, and the words are uttered without conscious effort.

Some one has said that, ” As perspective is to the eye, so is ventriloquism to the ear,” meaning that as the eye is deceived by the skill of the artist in so painting a landscape as to give the effect of distance, although the whole composi­tion is limned on a perfectly flat surface, so the ventriloquist deludes the ear by speaking in such a manner that the voice appears in the distance, although created close at hand.

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The idea is to make the sound as far back in the pharynx as possible, and to prevent it from rising into the cavity of the mouth by compress­ing the vocal mechanism. Note well that this voice is low-pitched and is not exploded against the palate as in voice No. 2, or simply muffled as in voice No. 1.

In other words, you always send the sound originating in the larynx in the direction from which you desire it to come—if from above you pitch it high and force it against the roof of the mouth, or hard palate; if from near at hand you make it near by confining it in the cavity of the mouth; and if from below you pitch it low and send it downward. From this it follows that the ordinary drone effect represents distance, while the method used in the projection of that sound suggests direction. In developing these voices, use the vowel and consonant exercise already rec­ommended before taking up the vocabulary.

Some ventriloquists use one distance voice for every effect, and in justification of this plan ex­plain that it is so difficult to execute the distant voice in different keys that, where it is desirable to introduce a number of characters, it is best to do it by transition. That is, they alter the nat­ural tones of the voice so as to make a very ap­parent distinction between it and the mimetic voice. This can be done so skilfully that the audience will not realize the change, and enthusiastically declare this to be one of the great­est secrets of the art.

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From the box or closet illusion it is an easy step to the production of the voice overhead, from through a wall or under the floor, although in attempting either of these effects there are several striking points or essentials to be care­fully observed.

For the voice on the roof you do not use the drone pure and simple, although you retain the same formation of the vocal organs. This gives the distant effect, but instead of retaining the voice in the back of the throat, as it were, you force it against the back of the hard palate, or roof of the mouth. The quality of the voice should be a kind of gruff falsetto, elevated to a high pitch.

By rolling back the tongue and keeping the jaws rigid, with the lips slightly apart, the palate will be elevated and drawn nearer to the pharynx, thereby forming a cavity in the back part of the mouth and throat. The consonant sounds need not be articulated plainly, all words being formed in the pharynx and exploded, as it were, against the roof of the mouth by sudden expulsions of the breath clear from the lungs at every word.

When you are ready to try this voice in public, take your position as far from the audience as possible, because, as already stated, the more removed you are from the listeners the better the effect will seem to them. If you are not entirely sure of yourself, deliberately turn your back on the company and direct their attention to the ceiling, either by looking upward or by pointing while calling loudly, as if you have reason to be­lieve some one is concealed above. Make your own voice very distinct and loud and as close to the lips as possible to give further contrast be­tween the natural and the ventriloquial voice. In fact, almost shout, and then in exactly the same tone and pitch, but as faint as possible con­sistent with audibility, answer in the manner already described.

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At this point act as if strongly exasperated and apparently push and struggle against an opposing force with all your might. Finally by seemingly a greater effort you cause the door to fly back suddenly and at the same time give ut­terance to a loud ” ha, ha, ha,” in the ventriloquial voice, as if some one were laughing at you in the room or hallway beyond.

Always bear in mind that the eye helps to de­ceive the ear, and make the action of pushing the door, etc., as natural as possible. The more realistic the ventriloquist makes his part the more effect his performance will have upon the public. As far as voice alone goes, there are ventrilo­quists who can manipulate ventriloquism per­fectly, but who, on account of lack of necessary actions, do not succeed in impressing their hearers very strongly. As a rule, between a good actor who is a poor ventriloquist and a good ventriloquist who is a poor actor, the former will be more successful. This topic will be more fully gone into in the paragraphs about ventriloquial acting and entertaining further on.

The foregoing dialogue is merely suggested and intended for preliminary rehearsals rather than for use in public, although of course if the performer is unable to write a better one there can be no objection to such use. The chances are however, that he can obtain suitable material of a more witty and amusing character from other sources and make it ventriloquially effective. One month’s daily practice should be sufficient to enable him, by proper emphasis on a tone or syllable, to illustrate and bring out the salient points of any dialogues he may use, and to sur­prise and astonish those among his friends not familiar with the capabilities of the art, with the strange voices within him. There should be no straining after effect, but the student will find that what he has practiced much he can do well, and by perseverance alone can perfection be obtained.

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