Ventriloquists good - non-ventriloquists evil

Dear reader,

granted, there are some strange ventriloquists out there. Edgar Bergen for example in his later years gave Charlie McCarthy his own room. Candice Bergen, the daughter of Edgar Bergen, was certainly frustrated when she was younger and Charlie McCarthy was called to be her big brother. Al Steven writes in his book „Ventriloquism: Art, Craft, Profession“, that Paul Winchell had massive problems with his mother. That went so far that he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital at one point. He ran away from there one night to go to the graveyard to hallucinate both his figures Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff at his mother's grave. (Stevens takes that from Paul Winchell's autobiography „Winch“, which I haven't read though. So all I can do is repeat what Stevens wrote.)

Al Stevens also writes, rightly so, I think, that there is surely a certain percentage more or less crazy vents out there. But this percentage of crazy also exists in other professions. The thought that vents are crazy therefore is not more often or less than with other people. The media, especially films, however like to spread the image of this crazy vent or the murderous vent figure. It's similar to that image of hypnotists. Many people fear hypnotists, though for other reasons. The thing with hypnotists though is that people believe the hypnotists totally take away their own free will.

More common than the truly crazy vent you find them in films. Be it portrayed by Jay Johnson as “Chuck Campbell” in “Soap”, for whom Bob is as real as a real human. “Soap” isn't quite normal anyway. The series is about two sisters, Mary Campbell and Jessica Tate and their families. Both families are not normal. A vent truly seeing his figure as just that would not have fit in there. Billy Chrystal for example played another brother of the family and was gay. Today this is hardly a drama at all, but around 1980, when the series was shot, it was quite a big thing. One of my favourite scenes is the one with Chuck, Bob and the fridge.

Chuck and Bob's first meeting with both families is also something worth watching for sure. And the scene with Bob as mindreader shows in a very beautiful way that Chuck is not alone in accepting Bob as an independent person. I just love the look Mary gives her husband Burt.


There's no video of it online, but in “Night Court, the episode “The Next Voice You Hear” (season 4, episode 1) Ronn Lucas plays a vent, who talks all right, but without moving his lips and without a figure. He refuses to talk in his normal voice. A successful act, he says, depends on the personality of the figure and the rapport between he and the ventriloquist. He has honed his skills, but he hasn't yet found the perfect other character. Until he does, he refuses to speak as himself.

He's also in the „L.A. Law“ episode „Dummy Dearest“ (season 3, episode 6). As Kenny Petersen, who was kept in a trunk of a car for a couple of days when he was 3 years old, he doesn't speak himself. But he does have a figure, who speaks for him instead. It's not more patient with him than the rest of the people around Kenny, who think him crazy for walking around with a puppet all the time. Again there are no scenes of that episode on the internet to show you here.

I only mention this film here now, because even with the clichee of the crazy ventriloquist, I still think they're quite witty and not the typical “murderous insane”, like many others.

As a vent you're more than just an actor. You're audience, when the figure is active, and yet at the same time you're actor, because you're playing the figure. That's something other actors don't get to do. Either they're in the role or not. Only vents can be actor and audience at the same time.

I'm very fascinated with Ronn Lucas' role in „L.A. Law“ because of that. It goes a bit further than the „usual“ 2 roles of a vent, because on one hand (no pun intended) he has to play a depressed, intimidated vent and at the same time his figure is totally raging against almost everybody he comes across... including Kenny Petersen himself. One especially touching scene is at the end of that episode as Kenny is crouched with his figure in the corner of a room full of records and the figure is totally hitting on him how it makes no sense anymore to speak for him and that he's a lost case. The scene is even more beautiful (as much as such a scene can be beautiful that is) to watch, if you keep in mind that Ronn Lucas doesn't just have no text, but the very angry figure is speaking and that's without twitching lips on Lucas' part or otherwise showing that he's at the same time speaking for a very emotional figure. Scenes like that seem simple. Someone talks and someone else does not. In fact however they're much more complicated as they seem, similar to a magic trick. The art of ventriloquism is that the text of the figure are there right away. It's not something that's added later on by someone speaking the lines. That's the true art. I miss good ventriloquists. The films today are all animated and the actors just speak the lines. Or you help yourself with letting the actor speak the lines “off camera”, invisible for the camera.

As a ventriloquist you can be creative and you have a unbelievably complex task in being two persons at the same time. Also it gives the ventriloquist the possibility to say things which are impossible to say otherwise (because society doesn't like them) or things you don't dare saying (because you're shy). The figures give you the freedom to come out, really say anything and still be shy and withdrawn themselves. Ventriloquism is the safest way to let oneself go and “let out some steam”. Ventriloquists aren't crazy or evil. Crazy are only the people, who just take it all in all the time and don't let it out. Something like that makes people ill and crazy in the long run, I think.

Until next blog,

sarah

Ventriloquial comeback

Dear reader,

I went back to work again on thursday a while back. Gaston stayed home. But the two therapy puppets Lucy and Fritzchen were still back at work, of course. When most of our guests (that's how we call those we take care of) were gone, I took Fritzchen actually. One man and his wife were still with us. The woman was excited how well I worked Fritzchen. She said to me, "How do you do that? All with hand manipulation?" Fritzchen shook his head very much. "No, no, no", he said. "Face manipulation!" At the end, before the two went, Fritzchen stuck out his tongue at the woman. Before that, when we were talking, she had asked, if he could do it once again and done that several times as we talked. So it seemed like a good way to end the day.

Yesterday night I bought me Charlie McCarthy. If any one of you would like to check him out, type the number 370676756284 on eBay. Even sales that have ended show up that way. At least for a little while. He's looking good, although he's used. On his right eyebrow he has a mark. But who knows how that looks like for real. 145 $ are quite expensive, but for a real vent figure like Charlie that's really cheap, especially since it's shipping included and he will be imported from america.

I like soft figures like Gaston and the therapy puppets, because you have your hand in their head and with the soft material, you can make more with the face. On the other hand I'm very happy not to finally have Charlie McCarthy here soon and with that really one of the classic vent figures of all, not just from the way it is made, a hard figure with headstick, but also because even among the famous figures, well it's Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen's main figure! Yay!

Yay? I will have to buy children's clothings and don't even know where there are shops for that here. Maybe the women at work can sew him some clothings. I'm sure they'll be happy to do that. At the risk of sounding totally stupid and silly: I feel a little bit like someone, who's getting a child and has to prepare for it. Charlie won't stay in my bed though! Since he's a hard figure this may not be that fitting. Gaston is more of a cuddly toy and okay. Although Charlie will be somewhat like a child, he won't be screaming in the middle of the night asking for food or something to drink and I'd have to fix some for him. I won't need to change his pants either. But buying clothings! Horror! The one question I can't avoid any longer: how to test the clothings on Charlie? I can hardly take a "doll" into the changing room. But I also don't want for everyone to see how I take off cloths of Charlie to see how new ones look on him?! What did I do buying a figure on eBay?! Man!!!

Until next blog,

sarah

Home, sweet home?

Dear reader,

that's it now: I've got my own flat. The contract is signed, I've got the keys. The moving can begin.

At the moment there's no happiness yet. Too much to organise for now.

But I will buy a rocking chair soon. I wanted that when I get my own flat and now I have it.

And something else I'll get, too: a Charlie McCarthy. Sadly most of those which are sold on eBay are with a string to pull on the neck to open and close the mouth. The easy version. I at least would like the next version. That's like all professional figures of that kind with a stick to control the moving head, which goes to the back and is controlled there with just one hand. With the string you pull on the string with one hand and hold the figure with the other hand to keep it from falling from the pulling. I don't remember the seller right now, but there is one on eBay, who sells another kind of figures, too. Those are with headstick, and also control to move the eyes of the figure from left to right and with wig for hair. I hope I get one of the second version or maybe I can talk to the seller to get me a mix of the 2nd and 3rd. Because Edgar Bergen's Charlie McCarthy didn't have moving eyes and the hair with the seller is dark brown. What it should be is red. I don't care about the moving eyes or not. But I insist on the red hair - or no hair at all, like with most figures which are sold for play for kids and such. With those the hair is made out of the same material like the rest of the head. So it's version 2. Would be fine with me for my first real figure. Although hair would be nice. Wait and see what the seller has to say. For now I would need my laptop back to begin with!

Until next blog,

sarah

The missing link

Dear reader,

my laptop is away for repair. I am writing a few thoughts on paper for the blog for later and limit my time on my parents' computer to the necessary: reading mails, checking Jay Johnson's blog for new entries (great, I just read that he, too, had a computer problem. After 4 hours of talking on the service phone his problem was solved. My laptop will be back in 3-4 weeks the sales woman said.) Then I also check Bob's Vlog, if there's anything new there. That's it.

Of course I could do more. But I don't want to do that on another computer, even though my parents would let me. I could, for example, typewriting the blog entries and publish them. Would be too much time on another computer for me though. But I don't mind that really. I can write on paper as well.

What I really miss above all else is listening to Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarhty on their radio show. That's right. I don't miss chatting the most, not even the internet in whichever form, but an old radio show. I do have the files on my external hard drive and I could plug it to my t.v. That should work. Wouldn't be as nice as with my laptop though. I've got a few short pieces on my ipod, too. But that's getting boring with just 6 tracks of each about 5 minutes length. The shows are 30-60 minutes and I hadn't listened to half of them when I gave away my laptop for repair.

So my "missing link" is an old radio show.

Until next blog,

sarah