# Ventriloquist Parachute Joke **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 4, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-parachute-joke/216961 "2003-12-04T15:59:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mogadon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@Mogadon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogadon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-parachute-joke/216961/1 "2003-12-04T15:59:22Z")
I have no issue with the description of showmanship, [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_306.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_306.html) but the parachute joke looks a bit suspect. 75 years ago? Of course they had parachutes then. Why, they experimented with the idea in the Middle Ages, and did the first successful jumps (experimental) in the 1790s. The idea was well established in the 1800s. How old is your grandfather? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-parachute-joke/216961/2 "2003-12-04T19:10:31Z")
I wondered about that myself. Even allowing for the eleven years since the column ran. I almost went and googled for a date of parachute production, but two things held me back: First, it’s just a dumb ol’ joke. Punctiliousness with spelling is laudable, but vetting dumb jokes to filter out nonsensical setups strikes me a a bit over the top. Second, I was distracted by the identity of the questioner, **Joyce K** of Seattle. She has been quite succesful in getting Cecil to answer her questions (I first encountered her name in a _Straight Dope_ I read in 1989. I wonder if she’s a Doper? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-parachute-joke/216961/3 "2003-12-04T22:18:47Z")
While the page says that the column is from '92, I would say from the illustration that the column is from '82. So it’s 21 years. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-parachute-joke/216961/4 "2003-12-05T05:51:53Z")
Well that’s some mighty impressive analysis of the evolution of Slug’s drawing style, **foolsguinea**. Still, the fact remains that **Joyce K** of Seattle succeeded in getting her questions addressed (and eventually immortalized in book form) multiple times during Cecil’s early, pre-SDMB days. Specifically, I recall her contributions to discussions of slugs of the Puget Sound region (the mollusks, not the artist), and the geoduck. Come to think of it, that’s two mollusk-related questions she chimed in on in such a manner as to attract my notice. I’m not sure whether that says more about her or about me . . . Anyway, are you out there in Doper-Land, **Joyce K**? Inquiring minds want to know! ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-parachute-joke/216961/5 "2003-12-05T14:23:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kaylasdad99 \* > \*\*Anyway, are you out there in Doper-Land, **Joyce K**? Inquiring minds want to know! \*\* I think that I shall never say things about geoducks like **Joyce K**. RR ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-parachute-joke/216961/6 "2003-12-05T19:26:49Z")
Cecil passed on the obvious joke to the question: “How do ventriloquists do it?” I suppose that _somebody_ out there has a “ventriloquists do it without moving their lips” t shirt. ---
**Author:** ![Ouisch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/82dd89/32.png) [@Ouisch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ouisch)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-parachute-joke/216961/7 "2003-12-07T05:27:15Z")
How does a ventriloquist “throw” his voice? I read an interview with Shari Lewis and she mentioned that as a kid she threw her voice and fooled her father into thinking her sister was locked in the closet. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-parachute-joke/216961/8 "2003-12-07T19:04:35Z")
Misdirection and enough skill to make the voice sound muffled. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-parachute-joke/216961/9 "2003-12-09T02:48:28Z")
Ditto on JWK’s comment. To wit, the voice doesn’t literally come from somewhere else, the ventriliquist just makes it sound like it does. It’s an audio illusion.