The topic regarding the preferences between animal and human characters has got me thinking about the hostory of animal characters in general. From what I can gather the English venbtriloquist Terry Hall was about the first person to have an off sider who was an animal as opposed to a cheeky boy.

His lion 'Lenny' was origianlly made from a fox fur and papier mache. As a team they are a very strong memory from my childhood. Hall was among the first vents that inspired me to learn the artform myself when I was a kid.

Unfortunately he passed away in April 2007 I believe but certainly left a legacy as one of the first ventriloquists to have appeared on British TV....I believe he also appeared on the Ed Sullivan show at least once.

Would anyone care to ellaborate on this topic. I am very interested in the origins of animal characters in ventriloquism. Also the genises of the use of soft puppets in ventriloquism might alsobe worth investgating

Dean,
I think a trip to VentHaven would shed some light on the subject!
Tom
http://www.ComedyVentriloquist.com

Tom,

Unfortunately I already have my holiday planned for this year. A trip to the venthaven website might be answer some questions though.

D

You might also consider posting on the WorldVents Newsgroup. I'm willing to bet you'd start a great conversation and get plenty of information.

Tom