Coldwashed Comedy

The ventriloquist that we popularly know today is an image of a performer sitting on a stool with a dummy on his lap. Nowadays, they are no longer just confined in performing comedic acts at nightclubs. We also see them in our favorite sitcoms and other television programs. Like magicians and their magic tricks, it is interesting to know how one becomes a ventriloquist and how he masters the art and skill of manipulating his voice.

Here are some of the basic rules on how to become a comic ventriloquist.

• Speak without facial expression. Remain passive. Create an illusion that the dummy is speaking and not you. Coordinate how the mouth of the dummy opens and shuts as it corresponds to the words used. This is a very crucial ability because, if done properly, this illusion generates the amusement and entertainment of the audience.
• Speak with still lips. In connection to the first rule, it is as important to speak without lip movement. A good ventriloquist must study how to pronounce the alphabet especially certain letters like b,f,m,p,v,w,y with control because these letters require muscles of lips and cheek to move to produce sound. Since, it is almost impossible to speak these letters distinctly without any lip or facial movement, it is imperative to find for alternatives.
• Learn to throw your voice. The performer must rouse the interest of the last man standing at the end of the theater with his voice following the rules above. His voice must not sound like it is only coming from the performer but from the dummy too.
• Do breathing exercises. In order to carry out the previous rules, one vital aspect of becoming a good ventriloquist is doing proper breathing exercises. This is preferably done every day, early in the morning in open spaces. While standing straight, chest forward, shoulders relaxed, arms hanging loosely on the side, close the mouth and take a deep breath holding the air for a few seconds. This will help the ventriloquist sustain his breath in doing conversations that last a few seconds more than a minute.
• Use a dynamic dummy and dialogue. The dummy usually represents a humorous bizarre character and its appearance corresponds to the voice produced by the performer. Although the dialogue calls for humor and some tolerable mischief, any vulgarity must be weeded out from the script. And to give a good show, the performer must know the script and how he will use the figure to work for him by heart.

Although I haven’t tried learning the trade, I’m pretty sure that to be a ventriloquist requires a great amount of practice and discipline to switch from one voice to another in order deceive and leave the audience in amazement.

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