Mesmer, you'll find it interesting to see (and hear) the great Paul Winchell in his instructional video on vent. In that video (he made when he was old already) his voice and that of his figure Jerry Mahoney WERE THE SAME VOICE! But the difference was the VOICE CHARACTER of Jerry. Same voice quality, but the manner how Jerry speaks was very different. (And look how he manipulates Jerry!!! Very masterful.)

I hope you've seen that video already. If not yet, you may want to look for it.

Jay Marshall also said his voice and that of his glove figure Lefty were the same.

...but for us newbies, it may still be best to have a different voice for our figure/s...unless we become a Dr Paul Wichell or a Jay Marshall in the future


The manipulation is very important...but it does not stop there. The material is as important...the routine...the timimg...the sound equiptment...blocking...the audience...etc etc,leave one thing for granted and you have a chance to ruin the act.



Wanlu

This is what we called voice illusion.
Ears can't give the direction where the voice/sound is come from, but eyes can. Especially if the voice came from some distant.

Perfect lips synchronization with figure voice, plus vent still lips, can make this illusion believable. And this will be better, if the voice is different for both of you. So even though the audience don't look at you, they know who is talking.

Regards,

Budi Ha Ha

Great Tips Gentlemen

and Budi,congratulations of 2nd Place in the Magic Competition....I just spoke to Deddy few days ago.....let me know when you are in Jakarta

Thank you very much Mesmer! I will let you know, when I go to Jakarta.

Several people in Indonesia are starting to learn ventriloquism now.
Hopefully this art will become more recognized in our country!

Me and mindgames is not count as several people....it is only TWO people....I don't know if many more people in Bandung is start learning Ventriloquist

Here is an exercise to do when alone. (it drives my wife crazy if she is in the room or car)

Every 20 seconds change the channel on your t.v. or radio..

Imitate the nature of the voice...feminine, southern, old, young..irish, german..

what ever comes on the station.. You won't get an imitation of say John Wayne but you will be training your ear and voice for different characters...it can also be used for sounds like birds, dogs, ....

Have fun...

character, voice, animation, dialog and improvisation add up to a great interaction and sharing with your audiences...

Sometimes going for a contrast of voice and character can work...
deep voice for a young puppet or audience volunteer and vice versa..


Harris

Wow!...another great Tips...Thanks Harris

and keep em coming Gentlemens

Yes, I know some others who started to learn ventriloquism. One of them is about 55 years old.

WOW...where did he find 55 Years old Vent Dummy like that?

is it from Tim Selberg?

or from Axtell?

Here's how I found my 'voice'.Whenever ur free... and alone... when ur walkin in the streets or at home alone...throw your voice.Practice your lip movement and pronounciation...slowly, try various voices and eventually somethin will stick to you.

Well, he is a real man.
He like to learn anythings unusual, especially in entertaiment field.

If you like old man figure, there are several figure maker who make it.
Axtell have storyteller figure, Hartz made several (including mine), also Tim Selberg, Tim Cowles (Dummyworks), Clinton Detweiler, Dan Payes and so on.

I also have converted a boy figure, just add mustache and eyeglass. Violla a midle age figure!

I did practice while Im in the shower....or when Im in a Car....it takes time for my Driver to get comfortable with hearing a Squeaky high pitch voice that coming from the back seat ( me! )

I guess it's all comes down to the Real World Performance of using this Voice and combine it with your Dummy.....

mine is on its way....."The Man Eating Plants"....I can only say....Im so excited learning to become Ventriloquist

:punkrocker: