Polyphonism, in its entertainment sense, is the imitation of sounds other than speech, such as the humming of bees, the bleating of sheep, the lowing of cattle, the braying of a donkey, or the noise made by planing, sawing, the drawing of a glass of soda, etc., many of which cannot be made ventriloquially, and so form no deception as to the source from which they emanate. A few general hints will aid you in making a be­ginning, and with practice you can produce most of the imitations with sufficient accuracy simply by following the instructions given.

The Mosquito. —Beginning first with the sim­pler sounds try that made by a mosquito. For this you hold your throat and mouth in exactly the same position as for the ventriloquial drone, only you make the sound very shrill—in fact, at the very highest pitch you can reach—while at the same time straining with the chest.

A Bee. —With the vocal organs in the drone position use considerable pressure upon the chest and make the pitch lower than for the mosquito. Produce a handkerchief, and as you sound the drone chase the imaginary bee about the room. After pretending to catch it, put the handker­chief containing the bee (?) into the pocket. Then, apparently forgetting that it is there, pro­duce the handkerchief and appear to allow the bee to escape.

 

Technorati Tags: , , ,

Tagged with: • • •

Filed under: how to be a ventriloquist • Ventriloquist

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!