Thursday, April 12, 2012

How To Become A Ventriloquist

By Charlie Smith


In the 1900's, Edgar Bergen was famous for his performances in Vaudeville, on radio and later in movies. His legendary Charlie McCarthy inspired other people to learn and become ventriloquists. He was preceded by Paul Winchell, Jimmy Nelson, Senor Wences and Shari Lewis. Their characters bewildered children and adults.

By the 1970's, ventriloquism lost its well-liked appeal. With the top performers no longer identifiable in the media, ventriloquism quickly vanished from the public's mind. TV and films portrayed ventriloquists as mad people who thought their characters were real. The art became the topic of ridicule. Horror films showed puppets coming to life, and puppet phobias developed. Ventriloquists were no longer celebrities; they were performing at children's birthday parties and on cruise ships.

It took a little over 30 years for ventriloquism to become preferred again. Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham had been part of the comedy club circuit for decades. His act had an enormous following, but he was still unknown to most people. Gambling, Jeff financed and produced his first comedy DVD. The show was sold to Comedy Central Television. Jeff immediately contacted his fan base and his TV special pulled in the highest ratings that Comedy Central ever had. they right away signed him for a second special. Jeff is now rated the biggest grossing touring comic in the world.

Terry Fator had been performing his kind of ventriloquism at carnivals and holidays. Deciding to try his luck on the TV show 'America's Got Talent ', Terry went on to win the season. He was signed to a five year, 100 million dollar deal to strap line his very own theatre at the Mirage Casino Hotel in Las Vegas.

With Jeff and Terry both in the public eye, interest in ventriloquism has increased to new heights. To be a ventriloquist needs practice and proper instruction. Thanks to the idolization of the art, new ventriloquists are learning ventriloquism and the future looks even brighter.




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