Learn Ventriloquism, the good, the bad and the ugly

There are many websites out in cyberspace that teach you ventriloquism. Some good, some bad and some just down right ugly. I am going to review a few of these websites and give you my opinion on which ones teach it correctly and which ones do not. Also, below will be some suggestions and tips on ventriloquism and learning it. Hopefully this information will help you inspiring ventriloquists out there.

First the Good

• Axtell's learning ventriloquism - Leave it to Steve Axtell to come up with such a nice tutorial on how to do ventriloquism. This teaches you the correct way on how to do the hard letters. The method that many successful professionals use.


• Burgher's Entertainment - Just the basics with a link at the end to Axtell's page but, again, has the correct substitute letters.

Next, the Bad

• Brownielocks and the 3 Bears - this website uses the old Edgar Bergen techniques that just don't work well. The "M" uses the "ngh" in the back of the throat just doesn't work. You might find some useful information in this website but letter substitution isn't one of them.


• BBC Ventriloquist Page - here is another fine example of how not to substitute letters. Luckily, Valentine Vox didn't use this method!

There are many different training programs that you can purchase for ventriloquism as well. Some of my favorites are:

Maher's Home Study Course - now available through Dummyworks.com and my buddy Tim Cowles. Probably the best course still available.

Pete Michaels Video Ventriloquism - even though I have not personally seen Pete's video. I know Pete and know his talent and I am sure this is a great video to learn ventriloquism.

Lee Cornell's Ventriloquism 101 - guaranteed product! Can't beat that!

Steve Taylor Video Ventriloquism - I know Steve and he is a great trainer as well as ventriloquist and magician. I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

The key thing to ventriloquism is practice, practice, practice. Then, when you feel you have it perfected, practice some more. There's nothing that gives ventriloquism a black eye more than a bad ventriloquist. Unfortunately, there are a lot more bad ventriloquists than good ones. So make sure that you practice long and hard and, video tape your performances. This will help you see what you need to do to improve.

Finally, here is a list of products available through Amazon that teaches ventriloquism.

How unique does an act have to be?

When talking about ventriloquism, how unique does an act have to be. I mean, do we really have to be that unique to make sure that we get bookings? Do we have to do something that no other ventriloquist is doing? Let me give you a few examples: Terry Fator does impressions, Jim Barber does the Barber and Seville where "He" is the dummy. If we are not this creative, should we hang up our figures and go buy some Tenyo products and convert to magic (I didn't just say that did I?).

I know that we have to be creative, heaven knows if you are a good ventriloquist you already are, somewhat, creative. I am not knocking any of the unique ventriloquists out there. I think their acts are great. What I am saying though is that if you have a good routine, and it is just a dialogue between you and your figure, that's O.K.. In all reality, what is Jeff Dunham's show. A dialogue with Peanut, Jose, Walter and whatever other figures he uses for that show. Mind you, it is some very creative dialogue, but it is dialogue none the less. So this takes us to a whole different idea of unique.

A jalapeno on a stick. Unique? You betcha. How about a woozle? Again, an astounding YES! And can anybody say that Walter is not unique? Absolutely not. This is just one of the things that has made Jeff so popular. His characters are unique. So, being unique does not necessarily mean that your whole vent routine is unique. Maybe it's just your characters that are unique. And, to be quite honest with you, I have seen people take Axtell puppets and make them unique. Mind you, this may be a little more difficult to do, being that there are so many ventriloquist that have the same puppet. But with a little creativity, you can make it unique.

I'll tell you one thing I like about Jeff's characters. Sweet Daddy Dee, he started out with a Selberg figure, then designed his own around that character. The same with Melvin, the superhero. He started out with an Oddballs and Orphens figure, came up with the routine, then designed his own figure. As creative and talented as Jeff is, he has that luxury. Unfortunately, many of us aren't as talented. So, can we still make the characters unique? Let me just close with this question. If Jeff was still using the Selberg and Kristin Peterson character, would they be unique? And the answer is ..................................................................... YES! So get working on making your characters unique. More later.

Thou shalt not Steal!

I know that we all have our favorite ventriloquists. Someone that we admire and would like to be like. But when does being like someone turn in to stealing their routine? That is simple. The bottom line is to come up with your own routine. Learn how to write comedy. Anyone can steal a joke but it takes a real talent to write you own material.

Stealing a show even goes into more detail when we talk about stealing characters and effects. Now I'm not going to go as far as saying that you should never use your hand to do ventriloquism like Senior Wences. But you know what I'm talking about. The day someone comes out with a sock puppet that is a lamb is the day that I believe Mallory Lewis has a right to a court case.

Mind you not all ventriloquists are going to get upset but, from my experience, the ones that steal the most are the ones that aren't that good. So when you have someone copying your material and they aren't that good it really becomes a problem. No wonder Ronn got upset when someone said they had seen his show before and they hadn't. They had just seen a bad ventriloquist steal his whole Mask routine.

Bottom line, if your going to use a line from a vent routine, get permission. And just never take someone else's routine, make your own and make it fun! God luck and happy venting.

Ventriloquist Conventions.

Conventions, Conventions, Conventions. Is it really that important to attend a convention and, if so, which convention do I attend? If this is the question that is going through your head let me give your first, my opinion on conventions from a little history about me.

When I was about 12 years old I started performing ventriloquism. I never even knew about ventriloquism, let alone, knew how many ventriloquists there were in the whole country. As far as ventriloquism was concerned, the only ones I knew existed were the ones on TV and the others that came to my home town every once in a while. Soon I started making some money and my Dad bought me my first "professional" ventriloquist figure from Abbott's Magic Company. It was great but I wanted something that was unique. So I check my resources and found Alan Semok who made Ziff for me. Also, through Alan and Mark Wade I found out about VentHaven and at the age of 18, attended my first convention.

What an eye opener! The first thing I did after I had attended the convention that evening was call my dad and tell him "I stink" . There were so many people there that were so much better than me. Here's the thing. They were not standoffish, they did not horde their secrets to themselves. They were willing to share and teach all the techniques that they learned with me. This was amazing, distant voice, telephone voice, muffled voice all were available to me if I would just sit down with someone and listen to them. That being said, my opinion is, you need to attend a convention! That's it. It's that simple.

Now that we have decided that if you ever want to be successful in ventriloquism you should attend a convention. Second is, which convention to attend. By far the convention that has the most successful ventriloquists attending is VentHaven in Ft. Mitchell, Ky. You want to meet Jeff Dunham, Mark Wade, Ken Groves, Bob Ladshaw, Jimmy Nelson, Dan Horn or the numerous others that will be there? This is the place! Great training, great fellowship and rubbing shoulders with the best of the best. This is where I learned many of the great techniques I use today. VentHaven ventriloquist convention is July 18-21, 2007. Click Here for more information.

Another convention that I have attended is One Way Street's I-Fest (International Festival of Puppetery and Ventriloquism). This convention may not have the more popular ventriloquists attending, but it is more relaxing and personal. Great friendships have been made through this convention. Mind you, this is a Christian convention. You won't have any adult routines here. What you will have is classes, lots of them. And a whole week of learning and fellowship. It is held at Olivett University in Bourbonnais, IL. The dates are July 9-14, 2007 (or SuperFest which is July 12-14, 2007). Good food, good fellowship and great worship! This convention is a great place to meet new people and get new ideas for your show. And if you want to learn manipulation, this is a puppetry convention as well! For more information on I-Fest Click Here.

Any convention you attend, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. So what are you waiting for? Go register now!!