Once again, Clinton Detweiler stirs the pot by asking us to define a "professional" ventriloquist. You may remember the recent great debate surrounding the definition of a "professional" vent figure.
The literal definition of a "professional ventriloquist" would be someone who makes all or a portion of their income from performing as a ventriloquist. To do that, one would have to be reasonably accomplished at it. Otherwise gigs would be hard to come by.
That's not to say that amateur ventriloquists can't be as accomplished as a pro. I'm sure there are many expert ventriloquists that choose to perform without remuneration. There are retired pros that are now amateur. There are vents who prefer to perform at their leisure rather than on demand. There are expert ventriloquists who have other successful careers, but pursue ventriloquism as a hobby. There are skilled performers who don't like traveling, and thus do occasional free shows in their community.
There may not be qualitative differences between a professional and an amateur, but "pros" get paid.
Clinton wanted the definition in 25 words or less. Guess I blew that.
Welcome to the DummyStore.net blog, chronicling the adventures (and misadventures) of building professional ventriloquist dummies. It features tips, tricks and utter failures. Please feel free to submit comments, critiques and helpful suggestions.
I am pleased that I found your blog! I am going to enjoy reading your posts. I have a vent figure (Dexter) whom I ‘adopted’ (shhh... purchased ... it would crush him to know that he was something like a commodity) a few years ago. He would love to be able to blink, though, so we are looking for an expert vent figure ophthalmologist who can perform the operation. If you know of anyone, please let me know. Best to you! Paul
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