How to Be a Ventriloquist

Do you want to know How to be a ventriloquist?


Darci Lynn Farmer won America’s Got Talent.

Terry Fator has one of the best show on the Las Vegas Strip.

Jeff Dunham sells out arenas internationally and is one of the highest paid stand-up comedians in the world.

This is the best time to get into ventriloquism.

It is fun, people love to watch, and if you are already performing you will book more gigs by adding it to your act.

What makes it so fun?


Illusion of the Ear

Our ears are not very good at telling the exact spot a sound comes from.

Think of the last movie you went to.

The theater’s sound system uses the same speakers for actors, explosion, or sound effect.

But the sounds all seem to come from specific parts of the screen.

We use our ears to get the general direction but we use things like visual clues, the sound of a person’s voice, and the context to tell exactly who is speaking.

One audio speaker can make us hear lots of different people and one ventriloquist can do that too by making their voice different and giving us visual clues.


Illusion of the Eye

We use our ears to get the general direction of sound but we use visual clues, the sound of a persons’ voice, and the context to find the exact spot.

On screen it is easy to tell who is speaking because we see them talking and hear their specific voice.

A ventriloquist makes it easy to tell who is speaking because we see the puppet’s mouth moving when it speaks and not the ventriloquist.

The movement of the puppet and facial expressions of the ventriloquists help make it clear who is doing the speaking.


Illusion of the Mind

Ventriloquism is fun because even though we know it is just the ventriloquist talking, it is fun and funny to suspend our disbelief and enjoy the show.



What Ventriloquism is NOT

Most people know ventriloquism when they see it, but there are lots of misconceptions about it.


Not Something You Are Born With

No one is born knowing how to do ventriloquism.
It is not some genetic quirk or gift.

Every good ventriloquist you see has spent lots and lots of hours practicing.

Not a Substitution for Entertainment

Ventriloquism is a tool for entertainment.

But the technical skills are not enough.

Jeff Dunham would be a funny stand-up comedian even if he did not do ventriloquism.

Terry Fator would be great at doing musical impressions of famous singers.

Darci Lynn Farmer would be cute, charming, and a great singer.

They use ventriloquism as a tool to take their talent and make it so much more entertaining.

But the key is to be funny and entertaining FIRST.


Not Impossible

You can learn to be a ventriloquist.

If you can speak normally, you can do it.

It is a learned skill that you can do.

ANYONE willing to practice can learn it.


Not Easy

You can be a ventriloquist but it takes time.

It will take lots of practice but it is fun practice and you’ll enjoy the time.




How to Do Ventriloquism

I’m not going to pretend to tell you everything you need to know to be a ventriloquist in this short video.

But, I do want to tell you how to get started. I don’t have any ties to these resources. I am just trying to save you some time.



Lessons

Jeff Dunham has some lessons on YouTube to get you started.

Tom Crowl has a video series and it has five free lessons to get you started. You can see if it is fun and what you want to do.

I asked a lot of ventriloquists and almost all of them said Tom Crowl’s course is the place to start.


You can find it at:

Learnventriloquism.com


And the best place to start when you are ready for your first professional puppet is Axtell Expressions.

Steve Axtell does great work and is just a super nice person too.

Almost all working ventriloquists use (or have used) an Axtell puppet.

The Axtell website is:
Axtell.com



Ventriloquism is fun and it is a PERFORMING art.

So, learn the craft then go perform.

Volunteer for nursing homes, your church, Cub Scouts, anywhere you can.



Who is your favorite ventriloquist?

In the comments below, tell us who your favorite ventriloquist is.