I used to make my living singing and writing songs. But before I wrote my own songs, I learned to sing other people's songs. I sang them in my own way, but someone else composed the material. I learned phrasing, voice inflection, consistency of performance and timing. From the knowledge gained, I eventually wrote and performed my own tunes. It's not exactly the same with jokes, but the spirit of the process isn't that different.
Because most ventriloquists are local or regional performers, there is less chance that the same audience will hear the same joke performed by two different ventriloquists. So borrowing from one another is a safe practice. Especially since we all bend material to fit our character and voice. Most of us seem to build routines from a blend of Boley books, borrowed ideas from other vents or comedians and original ideas. Seems as time goes on, the original material increases and the Boley and borrowed material fades away. This appears to be the natural evolution of routines.
With YouTube, we have the opportunity to see many more vents perform, so exposure to other's ideas is more frequent. I suppose this is a blessing and a curse. The chance someone may see the same or similar jokes performed by more than one ventriloquist increases. Even so, it seems to me that we're all so different in voice, character, and demeanor that borrowing and bending is still a safe practice, especially when just beginning to take up the art. I wouldn't condone or recommend walking on stage with a skeleton figure and performing Jeff Dunham's Dead Terrorist routine word for word. But if you can take a joke or idea from the routine, bend it to fit a character you're working with and get laughs from an audience without them immediately thinking, "hey, that's a Jeff Dunham joke", then I think it's fine.
If a performer's goal is to become a nationally-renowned ventriloquist, then all-original material is mandatory. Even among local guys and gals like me, becoming 100% original is a goal most of us work toward and many of us reach it. But if you're an old guy like me, I ask how many of us performed the routine in Paul Winchell's "Ventriloquism For Fun and Profit" word for word until we figured out a joke or two on our own? (Did I see a bunch of hands go up?)
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.
that is stealing!
ReplyDeletethat is stealing!
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ReplyDeleteGasp! I respectfully disagree, Mr. Anonymous (if that's your REAL name!)
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous (are you ashamed of your real name?), I agree with Kenny when he disagrees with you. Taking ideas and specific jokes from someone else's act is not stealing. There is NO such thing as a completely original act/character. Jeff Dunham's dead terrorist character can be traced back to mexican Paco Miller (of Don Roque's fame) and his talking skull. Señor Wences' Johnny character can be seen in an english picture from the late 1700's. Paul Winchell took A LOT from Edgar Bergen... Lou Costello's character was based on Curly Howard's, who in turn was inspired by Joe Penner. Clown Lou Jacobs took the idea for his famous midget car act from swiss clown Toto, and Grock created his clown character with many elements from clown Little Walter. We ALL need some pattern to start with, some referential point in order to create our stage personas. The only originality is in our delivery, our timing, the special touch that only our own real personalities can provide. I assume that all of us would soon get very tired of imitating somebody's material, and that way we would eventually find a method to make our act special and unique. Stealing?. NO. Adapting, embellishing, getting inspired by, improving, paying tribute to?. YES.
ReplyDeleteAnd I forgot another example: comedy creative genius, my very beloved and admired Stan Laurel, took his character (I can almost say he copied it) from Harry Langdon. But the point is... no matter whose work inspired us, we are always original. Because we as human beings, are unique.
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ReplyDeleteThere is a code among ventriloquist/comedians that to use others joke is indeed stealing. This stems from the vaudeville days when each ventriloquist/comedian worked on the same circuit rotating their appearances, so a different vent worked a theater for a two-week period and so people were treated to new material. While it may be acceptable to have a similar character (Knucklehead and Mortimer Snerd) one should never use the jokes that other vent uses. I know that it seems harmless to use one joke from someone else but it is a standard rule in vent/comedy to NEVER do it. If you do, you are branded a thief and a hack and no vent will help you if they know you do it. Ask around about Carlos Mencia who steals material verbatim from others. He is with out a doubt the most hated man in comedy.
ReplyDeleteI respect the point of view. But having worked the comedy clubs in my day, I know about the "the code". And I've observed it's not really adhered to as much as one might desire. That's not to say I think stealing and performing someone else's act is a way to make a living. Wholesale theft is usually the path to career suicide (Mencia excepted, I guess-never seen him). But learning to tell other's jokes is an excellent learning tool for young and novice ventriloquists. It teaches them timimg, technique and comedy principles, which could and should be applied to writing one's own material.(Sort of like mime's learning by performing Marcel Marceau bits). I wouldn't suggest hitting the cruise ship or comedy club circuit with a stolen act. But incorporating a few borrowed jokes at a school assembly or community variety show is a great way for a novice ventriloquist to start. Better that they get a few sure laughs and progress than bomb on poorly-written original material and never get in front of a crowd again.
ReplyDeleteI understand that some may disagree.
Heard any good jokes lately? (I'm kidding, I'm kidding!)