Etched deep into my memory is the first day I watched a ventriloquist performance. I was 9 years old, and I was amazed by how the performer could sit there, without moving his lips and no expression on his face.. yet the dummy sitting on his knee was talking away, cracking joke after joke. After that performance, at a schoolmate's birthday party, I knew that someday I would want to learn to be a ventriloquist.
My folks didn't believe that I could get into doing it professionally, but they humored me anyway, by getting me a cheap ventriloquist dummy that Christmas. After that, I practiced and practiced for the next two years, but I couldn't get the hang of talking without my lips moving just a bit. I even performed a show for my little sister, who shouted, "Your mouth moved!" every time I tried to talk for the dummy. After a short while, I was frustrated and I eventually gave up my dream.
About 14 years later, I saw my next ventriloquist act. It was at a comedy club, with a very funny and vulgar dummy. It reminded me of how I used to perform for my family and in front of the mirror on so many nights. At that moment, I decided that I would give it another try, but this time I won't give up.
I'm sure that many of you are in the same boat. You saw a performance and were immediately drawn to it. Don't just dream about it! Why not get involved and learn how to be a ventriloquist? There are really a few things to learn, but you must be dedicated and disciplined about it.
You have to practice and commit to your schedule. Becoming a good ventriloquist will not happen overnight, so you must be willing to keep going until you have got it all down. Use the mirror, your family or friends as your audience and set up a schedule, and be disciplined about it, so that you can stay on top of your dialogues.
The trick is to learn different ways of pronouncing certain words without being detected by the audience. Some letters or sounds cannot be pronounced without moving your mouth, so you have to pronounce them differently, so that they sound very similar, yet you can keep you mouth unmoved. This is the art of the illusion of ventriloquism.
Perfect the art of "throwing your voice" before moving on with incorporating the use of a puppet. Using a ventriloquist dummy takes some of your focus away from your voice distortion. After you have perfected the voice technique, then you can afford to lose some focus to handling the puppet. Trying to learn both simultaneously from the beginning might just leave you in frustration.
My folks didn't believe that I could get into doing it professionally, but they humored me anyway, by getting me a cheap ventriloquist dummy that Christmas. After that, I practiced and practiced for the next two years, but I couldn't get the hang of talking without my lips moving just a bit. I even performed a show for my little sister, who shouted, "Your mouth moved!" every time I tried to talk for the dummy. After a short while, I was frustrated and I eventually gave up my dream.
About 14 years later, I saw my next ventriloquist act. It was at a comedy club, with a very funny and vulgar dummy. It reminded me of how I used to perform for my family and in front of the mirror on so many nights. At that moment, I decided that I would give it another try, but this time I won't give up.
I'm sure that many of you are in the same boat. You saw a performance and were immediately drawn to it. Don't just dream about it! Why not get involved and learn how to be a ventriloquist? There are really a few things to learn, but you must be dedicated and disciplined about it.
You have to practice and commit to your schedule. Becoming a good ventriloquist will not happen overnight, so you must be willing to keep going until you have got it all down. Use the mirror, your family or friends as your audience and set up a schedule, and be disciplined about it, so that you can stay on top of your dialogues.
The trick is to learn different ways of pronouncing certain words without being detected by the audience. Some letters or sounds cannot be pronounced without moving your mouth, so you have to pronounce them differently, so that they sound very similar, yet you can keep you mouth unmoved. This is the art of the illusion of ventriloquism.
Perfect the art of "throwing your voice" before moving on with incorporating the use of a puppet. Using a ventriloquist dummy takes some of your focus away from your voice distortion. After you have perfected the voice technique, then you can afford to lose some focus to handling the puppet. Trying to learn both simultaneously from the beginning might just leave you in frustration.
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