The Art of Ventriloquism
Every time we see an act of a ventriloquist, it actually makes us wonder how the heck he/she is doing that?
That illusion of voices coming from elsewhere creates a huge impression in our thought process.
Ventriloquism is the art of “making voices,” an art that consists of speaking in such a way that the sound coming from one’s mouth appears to come from a distance, or at least from another source than the speaker.
Is it so easy to be a ventriloquist?
It’s not easy but rather very hard to be a master in ventriloquism. It takes years for perfection, and if by any means you slip by a whisker (that is, not being perfect), then all your hard work is gone forever. The main underlying idea is to talk without moving your lips so that no one says:-
I can see your lips moving…
People often say that because some ventriloquists can’t perform well and their Adam’s Apple seems to be moving.
What do you need to start?
You definitely need a dummy (it can be a Sock Puppet) and must give a proper voice that suits its character. All ventriloquists give importance to their puppet voice rather than their original voice. The point is coordination amongst the two.
Then try to impersonate any character from movies including his/her voice. In meanwhile make your puppet seem entertaining by waiving hands, changing facial expressions according to the emotions, and nodding at certain times. This will make your puppet alive during the entire show. Also, don’t ever hesitate to show your emotions (both you and your puppet) and that to be done in a proper coordinated way.
The conversations you do with your puppet must be realistic enough so that people shouldn’t feel bored.
The important thing to remember is:-
If the eye sees the puppet’s mouth moving, the brain buys into the illusion the sound comes from the puppet. This is a big part of what makes ventriloquism work. So your job is to make it work.
How can we generate many voices for our puppets?
When trying out for the first time, you must stick to two voices (yours and your puppet). After you gain complete control, then you can generate voices depending on how you manipulate the airflow in the vocal cords. Try hard to not make your lips moving.
Check out this article:- How to do Ventriloquism?
Also, check out the videos in this YouTube playlist:- Be a Ventriloquist
Then, only you can add more puppets and their voices.
Paul Zerdin has a wonderful puppet family.
Is that it?
No, not at all. It’s not that simple that you become a ventriloquist in a month or two. Practice makes perfect. The point of writing this article is only to make you inspire and encourage you to be creative in this path.
There are many resources online to follow along this path.
It’s just the starting step of a fun journey.
See you soon.
✍Ajit Kumar Sahoo
