# Ventriloquism: I don't get it **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923 "2011-08-16T17:47:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/21 "2011-08-16T19:53:34Z")
FWIW, I don’t get it either. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/22 "2011-08-16T19:58:26Z")
Is Jeff Dunham the “onna Stick” guy? That was kinda funny. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/23 "2011-08-16T20:00:57Z")
Best ventriloquist act ever - Chuck and Bob from Soap. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/24 "2011-08-16T20:03:59Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > Is Jeff Dunham the “onna Stick” guy? > > That was kinda funny. Yeah. Back when my family watched “An Evening at the Improv” on A&E in the early 90s, Dunham was known to us as “On a Stick.” The best part was when he’d rapidly cycle through all his puppets’ voices as they tried to convince him _not_ to do the drinking-water trick. “We’re all going to choke to death!” The guy with the dragon was the only other one I liked. Ronn Lucas (who also made a horrible TV show starring said dragon). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/25 "2011-08-16T20:08:11Z")
I never cared for ventriloquist acts until I saw Chuck and bob on the old **Soap** TV series. _Then_ it clicked for me. Chuck’s anxiety when separated from Bob was hysterical, as were Bob’s sojourns to places like the inside of the refrigerator and the men’s room on his own. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/26 "2011-08-16T20:12:40Z")
Terry Fator has also been doing pretty well with the puppets, although they’re not so much the point of the act as a backdrop for his singing abilities. Though it did lead to one of the funnier puppet jokes I’ve seen: Terry: “Hang on, let me get a drink.” _sip_ Puppet: “Hey, can I have one too?” Terry: “Sure.” _sip_ Puppet: [beat] “Jackass.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/27 "2011-08-16T20:19:34Z")
Here’s one way to look at it: You don’t see too many comedy teams/duos around any more, like Abbott and Costello or Burns and Allen. A ventriloquist and his dummy can do that style of comedy. Here’s another way: Some stand-up comics have a persona, and they perform their acts from the point of view of that persona (e.g. Rodney Dangerfield, Larry the Cable Guy), so that a lot of the laughs come (if they come at all) not just from the jokes but from who’s telling them. A ventriloquist like Jeff Dunham or Edgar Bergan can do that character style of comedy, and can even switch characters (hopefully before they wear out their welcome). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/28 "2011-08-16T21:01:12Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Edgar Bergen made a fortune by doing ventriloquism on the radio. Nice gig if you can get it. It’s the characters, obviously, as this circumstance makes clear. Stage actors who are successful–at the craft if not in terms of money–create characters to a sufficient extent that the audience will suspend their disbelief. So it is with ventriloquists, who really are a type of actor. Hearing Eddie Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on the radio worked because of Bergen’s skill at characterization. It probably also didn’t hurt that a lot of people had seen the act in person, or at least on film. The technical part of this is like a musician knowing how to play an instrument; but when you hear a great musician perform on radio or recording, you don’t particularly care that you can’t see him work the valves, press the keys, or pluck the strings. Anyone can “play” a recorder, but a good musician creates and communicates with it. ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/29 "2011-08-16T21:27:38Z")
How would everyone characterize Triumph,the insult comic dog? Personally, I thought he was great. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/30 "2011-08-16T21:29:41Z")
I didn’t enjoy Dunham’s series, but I love his standup. I was watching one of his earlier ones on the youtubes when he and Peanut did a bit and I said to myself, I said, “Damn, Peanut set him up perfectly for that…” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/31 "2011-08-16T21:29:58Z")
> [@priapus](#): > > How would everyone characterize Triumph,the insult comic dog? Personally, I thought he was great. Just a puppet, not strictly a ventriloquist. I don’t know if Robert Smigel can even throw his voice. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/32 "2011-08-16T21:31:43Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I never cared for ventriloquist acts until I saw Chuck and bob on the old **Soap** TV series. _Then_ it clicked for me. Chuck’s anxiety when separated from Bob was hysterical, as were Bob’s sojourns to places like the inside of the refrigerator and the men’s room on his own. Jay Johnson has a one-man, many puppets show called [The Two and Only](http://www.monkeyjoke.com/). It’s both autobiographical and a paean to the history of ventriloquism. Johnson is as much better than Jeff Dunham as Dunham is better than me. If you didn’t think ventriloquism was an art form, then this should convince you otherwise. Extraordinary. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/33 "2011-08-17T00:18:26Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > On top of all that, this isn’t just flash in the pan, the guy has been at it for over 20 years, with the at least one (two?) of the same dummies. I still remember seeing him on Stand Up Spot Light with Rosie O’Donnell on VH1 back in '92. And way further back than that. I went to high school with Jeff in the late 70s (though I didn’t know him personally) and he was already working on it then. > [@brainstall](#): > > Best ventriloquist act ever - Chuck and Bob from Soap. In one of those weird coincidences, Jay Johnson also went to the same high school we did, though way before us. Maybe something in the water? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Bosstrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Bosstrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstrain)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/34 "2011-08-17T00:46:43Z")
Nobody realizes that Jeff Dunham is the puppet and the puppets are the ventriloquists (they’re really bad at it if you ask me, shouldn’t Jeff be moving a lot more if that’s the case?). Oh no, what have I done!..now everyone knows…SSSHHHHHHH!!! I agree, Jeff’s act gets old after a while, but his skill is amazing, and the comedy is hilarious. With so many bad comedians out there being paraded around like they’re the best, it’s nice to see someone who actually deserves to be on the stage for once. However, the thing that peeves me is that when CC gets some good stand up, they play it to death until you almost don’t even like the person doing it anymore. Sure, playing it one or two weeks later is fine, but after that, they need to wait a couple years to play it again. I mean, we all know when they’re gonna’ play it, it’s not like we all haven’t seen it, hell, I even skim through and DVR something if I think it might be good. They should either get some new material, or simply don’t play it at all, jokes only work once… ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/35 "2011-08-17T03:11:42Z")
I like Jeff Dunham, but only with Peanut, Walter, and Achmed. Yes, I know Achmed is un-PC, but that’s what comedy needs these days. Un-PC is hilarious if it’s done right. And Achmed is done right. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/36 "2011-08-17T05:14:27Z")
Absolutely hate it. HATE IT. Those ppl & mimes should be sent beyond the pale. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/37 "2011-08-17T05:20:04Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > As a Recovering Ventriloquist, I have to support the OP. It is a mental illness masquerading as entertainment. Please, don’t laugh at the poor, sick individual with the puppet - they can’t help the way they are. I hear ya. I was about to rip into unfunny performers in general, but you convinced me to pity them instead. So, Recovering Ventriloquists and Card Trick Guys and Canned Improv Schticks and Classic Rock Cover Bands: keep plugging away. But stay in your tech school classes, too. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/38 "2011-08-17T06:30:48Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Yeah. > Back when my family watched “An Evening at the Improv” on A&E in the early 90s, Dunham was known to us as “On a Stick.” The best part was when he’d rapidly cycle through all his puppets’ voices as they tried to convince him _not_ to do the drinking-water trick. “We’re all going to choke to death!” > > The guy with the dragon was the only other one I liked. Ronn Lucas (who also made a horrible TV show starring said dragon). [The fast talking starts about 6 minutes in.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDsjr7O6_T0) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/39 "2011-08-17T06:43:50Z")
Jon Cryer, he of Alan Harper fame on 2.5 Men plays an amateur ventriloquist sometimes on the show, his dummy being “Danny”. Danny brings out how deeply screwed-up Alan is. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923/40 "2011-08-17T16:35:43Z")
The only thing I wonder about is why people used to make such a big deal about how they were throwing their voice. I’ve yet to see a ventroloquist who wasn’t 100% obviously doing the talking. In fact, the better they are, the more likely you can actually even see their lips move. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquism-i-dont-get-it/592923.md?page=3)