I have 2 vent puppets for my shows and am not a vent. Do any of you use prerecorded tapes for your shows?

You can pick them up from axtell but I tend to believe that these types of routines are NOWHERE near as good as an actually vent routine.

Reasons?

1) Vent is not that hard to learn the basics of.
2) Tapes do not allows for reactions from the children.
3) Parents and children appreciate the skill in vent.
4) In some areas you will see five or six performers with the same routines on tape.
5) A pre purchased routine will not suit your character exactly.

All valid reasons, but the cd's from axtell are great and a good way to get started. I have had lots of comments that the puppet was the favorite part of the show, and I use a prerecorded routine.

I'd suggest that a BETTER way to get started would be to learn to be a vent!

NO, I don't. I believe in becoming a real vent to truly follow the art form to it's fullest.
To each their own, my two cents.
Chris

I agree with NJJ that learning to be a vent is the way to go. Nothing can beat that. Having said that though, I do use one routine with a recorded voice. The cool thing about it...nobody else has the routine since I had a writer (plays and screenplays) compose it and even used his voice (he's an actor too) for the puppet. The routine is good enough that it does not matter if the voice is recorded. The whole interaction with the puppet is what makes the routine great (not to mention an absolutely great script).

So my advice is if you are going the recorded route, only use it for stage productions (at a birthday party you can get interrupted and can't adlib), and to get a unique script that nobody else has that can be catered to your persona.

Have you thought of perhaps re-recording the routine in your own voice to disguise the fact that's it pre-recorded..using a remote on your mp3...could be in the puppets head for your to press.....and also learning a little vent so you can pause your routine and adlib as bit as well. I use to do vent and loved it but after moving to china, I really cant do it anymore due to the language barriers...but I have thought of this method.

Andy

It seems to me it would be more work to sychronize with the recording than to learn to do ventriloquism.

Especially with children the attention is always on the figure so you don't have to be world class.

Just watch an old Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy movie. His lips moved but you didn't care.

THANK YOU MAGIC GRANDPA!!!!

That is a great idea.

I agree - but whenever I have made posts to that effect here in the past, regarding the magic drawing board, I was always jumped on by the "true" vents among us as not honoring the art of ventriloquism. I think that vent became popular back in the day when kids were amazed to see anything move, but now in the days of animated talking dolls that the mystery and awe that vent work may have once inspired, is somewhat lessened. Not to say that I think that puppetry is old hat, and should not be performed, on the contrary - I like it alot, however I think it is foolish to get all caught up in the fact that sometimes your lips move - just have fun with the kids. If they say "that's a puppet" then make it a joke - say something like "shh - don't say anything - you will hurt his feelings" or "you know that, and I know that, but HE doesn't know that" (pointing to the puppet) or something else that is silly, and continue with your act.

Working with a C/d or digital recorder could have it's possibilities.

Me I have been doing vent for "awhile", and still have fun with my digital recorder.

It opens several possibilities including sound and music cues.

Ax puts out some nice stuff. So far I have only used his "puppet line".(including drawing board)

Anyone tried inhaling speech during a routine of magic or vent.
A couple of days ago it was featured in a TV commercial.(USA)

Harris

I can whistle inhaling!

I've done vent for several years now and would agree that puppet manipulation and the quality of the dialogue are the most important factors. I saw a guy with fairly good lip control recently who's puppet hung there lifelessly while he was talking and it looked so WRONG.
I'd suggest you work on your puppet manipulation and then just learn a routine and get out there and try it.

I might get a kick in the head here but I don't really care about honouring the art of vent. If a pre-recorded tape gave a better result then trad vent then I would go for the tape straight away. However, vent is SO much better then pretaped.

Kimmo - Do you think that the drawing board suffers from being lifeless? I.e. it has VERY limited movement?


We should also seperate these "fake vent" routines from "recorded routines" such as Super Chicken and Banana/Bandana.

Nick - you are quite right in my opinion. To me the drawing board is a fantastic novelty but I give the best lines to the 'real' puppet. My board routine is cut to the bone - I draw the face as fast as possible, it moves, it throws out some funny lines and then I erase it. 3 and a half minutes - done. It gets a terrific reaction and is one of the more memorable parts of my act but if I want to do a longer vent routine I would go with the puppet every time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5yj61-9ehQ

Kimmo that's the best drawing board routine I've ever seen! Great originallity and wonderful to watch. Great reactions! I'm really into the puppets so I'm not sure I"ll ever use the drawing board....right now I"m working on a "non verbal" puppet routine that has gotten great reaction in its "little trials" here and there at shows...maybe I'll add the board someday.
I think you can have fun with prerecordings...I just don't like the idea, personally, of trying to "throw the crowd" by making them think I"m a vent and I'm not during a traditional vent routine...just does'nt seem fair.
Best,
Chris

I'd go for vent, too, but do know many people do use the CDs successfully and have overcome many of the prblems NJJ listed.

"non verbal" puppet routines can be great. I do vent now but still do my monkey routine with my monkey playing a non-speaking role. I'm really glad I tried a non-vent routine before trying vent as it really helped with the animation of the puppet. If they don't speak the audience have to work out what they are thinking by the puppets actions alone. Once the manipulation of the puppet becomes second nature then you have one less thing to worry about when starting vent.

George

I'm going the vent way myself, at the moment my puppets talk only to my ear. Venting them is the next step forward and I like the idea of being free to adlib, but I see nothing wrong in the taped versions.

If you use an Axtrax then try what Billy Wiz does, just get yourself a program like Soundforge and mix a few of the scripts up to make a new one, or Billy's latest idea is to re-do them with his own charactor voices. That way there's no way that someone else is doing the same routine, and because his voice pattern will show through it enhances the illusion of him venting the puppet..

I do think that little adjustments do need to be made to the Axtrax for the scripts to work properly over here anyway, as some of the lines are more suited for the US market than the UK.

I like the idea of a VENT who has plays an Instruction tape when he is doing the voice!