On Ventriloquism

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

Regarding this classic column.

I’d just like to make a few points.

  1. Ventriloquism is really very, very easy to learn, at least for the basics. I got a book out of a library when I was a kid and “got it” in just a couple days of here-and-there practice. The Real Trick is using the throat for producing most sounds. Hence the origin of the term itself. (It involves yawning.)

  2. Cecil mentions trouble with “labials”, but it really isn’t that hard (for most.)

  • I learned to place my lower lip barely touching (if at all) my upper teeth. This of course explains “the silly grin”. Can you think of another natural expression with the lower lip touching the tips of the upper front teeth that doesn’t look any sillier? This gives you “f” and “v”, easy. (Which is why calling them “labials” is not such a good idea.) Not a problem at all. This also gives a really good way to do a “w” that sounds quite close to the original. No "oo"ing required.

  • For “m”, a slight draw in of the lower lip gives a decent approximation. A little lip motion might show here.

  • That leaves “p” and “b”. These are indeed killers. The easy way around it is to avoid those letters! Don’t ask for a “Pepsi in a bottle”, ask for a “Coke in a can”. Since whole books have been written without “e”, writing a routine without “b” or “p” isn’t all that hard. (One wouldn’t use “parachute” jokes for this reason alone.) A second way is to hold the lower lip near the upper lip instead. This means you have a harder time voicing other sounds. But you can switch back and forth every once in a while and most people won’t notice.

So when you’re watching a really good artist. See how they do “p” and “b”, that’s where a good chunk of the skill is. (Another big chunk is quickly changing voices.)

  1. Since basic ventriloquism is so darn easy to learn, what’s the *!%$# deal with Edgar Bergen, Buffalo Bob Smith and Senor Wences??? That is truly a major mystery worthy of investigation by the All Knowing One.

(And don’t get me started on the “castrato” voice used by too many hacks for their dummies. Doing a consistent, pleasant alternate voice is actually much harder than ventriloquism itself.)

2

They had, in their several ways, great acts. Bergen’s act, in particular, was seminal. His best-known successor, Paul Winchell, did a virtual clone of Bergen’s act. Smith, on the other hand, wasn’t even known as a ventriloquist to most of his audience, who, if they were old enough to understand that Howdy Doody, et al., were marionettes, generally thought the voices were done backstage, and, when he had his heart attack, the show shifted to doing just that; he didn’t return to ventriloquism when he came back to the show.

3

Bergen and Smith both made their reputations on the radio, in fact. In that era, mere stunt ventriloquism went out of fashion; it became necessary to be a good comedian, too. Much the same has happened with juggling in the last twenty years.