623 ventriloquists made the journey to the 2013 Vent Haven ConVENTion this year, me among them. I didn't bring a figure, but if you look closely at the blow-up, you'll see a pair of "Peepers" on my left hand. I bought them in one of the Dealers Rooms. It's a portable puppet!
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| Me and Alan Semok |
I hung out at the Hospitality Suite one evening. I talked shop with Alan Semok, a fine vent figure builder, actor, ventriloquist and all-around nice man. His workshop on the care and feeding of your vent figure was very informative. His comments also made me feel confident about switching from acrylic paint to latex.
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| Me and Dan Horn |
Dan Horn's seminar on puppet manipulation was excellent. There's probably no one better at it than Dan. The nuances of puppet movement he suggested can really bring an inanimate character to life. Three of the most enlightening tips were to have the puppet take a breath now and then, add a very slight mouth movement when a word ends with a plosive consonant, and lean the puppet back a little when he turns to look at you. I wish every celebrity judge on those TV talent shows could hear Dan's lecture, especially the ones who disrespect ventriloquism acts. I think those celebrities would be very impressed with the degree of detail it takes to build a great ventriloquism show.
That group picture is amazing. If only I'd known, back in the day when I was doing lots of shows and there was no Internet. If only I'd known how "not alone" I was. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat "lean the puppet back" tip is a really good one. I'm sorrier every day I didn't go to the con VENT ion.
I so agree with your last sentence Kenny. Ventriloquism isn't just about talking with your mouth closed.
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