One performance art that has seemingly gone off the radar recently is ventriloquism. Whether it’s for a stand-up routine or a musical performance, ventriloquism revolves around making it seem like a voice is coming from something separate from the actual person speaking, making for some good laughs through interesting conversations when they’re done right.
Ventriloquism first originated around 2000 B.C. and had spiritual and religious significance. Many thought that the ventriloquists were able to speak to the spirits of the deceased. On the other hand, many also viewed ventriloquism as a form of witchcraft.
As a skill, though, ventriloquism is much more difficult to pull off than it may appear. Most people believe that it’s simply grabbing a puppet and talking in a different voice. However, the difficulty lies in creating the illusion that it’s not the performer talking.
Part of the way this is achieved is by talking without moving your lips. Much like the concept of ventriloquism itself, it’s a simple feat, yet quite difficult to pull off convincingly. When people speak, a lot of mouth movement occurs. When practicing ventriloquism, however, you’ll quickly discover the importance of limiting this movement, which makes it difficult to pronounce certain consonants. One example is how hard it is to not move your lips when pronouncing a word that begins with “B” or “P” because of the air pressure it requires.
The other part of the illusion originates from how the ventriloquist gives personality to the puppet they are using. That way, it seems like there are two unique people in the room instead of one. Of course, this means making up voices that are distinct from your natural one.
Take Jeff Dunham for instance — he and his posse of puppets have been making audiences laugh for decades, but each puppet has a different voice depending on their shtick. For example, his puppet Walter, a sulking old man who hates his wife, sounds very different from someone like Bubba J, a redneck who does nothing but drink beer and watch NASCAR.
Additionally, you must also give your puppet life by making them expressive. If you are talking and your puppet is not, make them do expressions or look around the room while idle. Give the audience the impression that you are not in control of them.
How this can be achieved depends on the puppet. More convincing facial expressions can be pulled off with a puppet that has a control stick with built-in features, especially those pertaining to the eyes for blinking and looking left and right. Conversely, simpler dummies akin to sock puppets require the performer to simulate all mouth and facial movements by flapping their hand around inside the mouth of the puppet.
Combining all of these aspects into one, the puppet is the focus. Therefore, it should be doing most of the movement and talking. The ventriloquist themselves is more like the regulator of conversation, saying phrases or asking questions to humanize the dialogue being heard.
Mastering these talents unlocks potential for other feats, such as singing, which requires musical prowess in addition to ventriloquism skills. However, it takes much practice to master the basics of ventriloquism, especially when learning to multitask with the expressions of the puppet.
Today, ventriloquism is not as popular as it once was. Only a few well-known performers continue to carry the torch, including Jeff Dunham, Darci Lynne, Nina Conti and Terry Fator. Therefore, ventriloquism is a performance art we should try to bring back into entertainment. Anyone can become a ventriloquist with sufficient practice, and it’s quite a spectacle to witness this kind of talent.