Hi, all:

On another board someone recently posted that there were clips of Chicago vent Terry Bennett on YouTube. He was an early pioneer of children's television in Chicago, and you'll see that his technique was flawless, his characters great, and his comedic timing perfect.

I was thrilled to see these clips, because Terry Bennett is the reason I'm a vent. If I may regale you with a story...

When I was 8, my family lived in a suburb of Chicago. At the time I was really into giving puppet shows for my friends. Well, one rainy afternoon, my running around the house apparently made my mother so crazy that she actually wanted me to watch TV. She grabbed the TV section of the newspaper, found something she thought I'd like, plunked me in front of the old B&W TV, and said, "Here. Watch this. It's puppets."

Well, at first I didn't like the show at all. It wasn't puppets as I understood puppets. I mean the guy working them was out in plain view. But wait a second...how was he making the puppets talk? Wow! This was way better than puppets!!

I asked my mother how the man made the puppets talk, and she told me it was something called ventriloquism. Which sent me right off to our 1959 World Book Encyclopedia to read about it. And another vent was born.

What I was watching was Terry's show "Jobblewocky Place." He showed cartoons and in between did bits with his Marshall figures Red Flannels and Rusty Hinges. So here I am, more than 50 years, later thrilled to see Terry Bennett again. He was really good. I hope you enjoy the clips. And then you can read a lovely bio of this remarkable entertainer here:

http://www.chicagotelevision.com/bennett.htm

As Terry would have said: "OK, boys and girls, back to the cartoons. Igglehockey...Trobblebocky...one...two...Jobblewocky!"

Bob

Bob,

I'm happy to say the Vent Haven Museum has photos of Terry and I believe his vent figures. My good friend Bob Isaacson was a friend of Terry and kept in touch with the family. Glad this vent great wasn't passed by in our vent history.

Mark Wade

Ventriloquist Central has had a link to the Terry Bennet videos on the tribute pages for over a year. They were given to us by Terry's son who also gave us a great history of his dad. Also Terry's first Red Flannels figure ( which was a JC Turner) is in the Ventriloquist Central Collection. You can see this figure and pictures of a very young Terry Bennent on the Arthur Godffrey show by using this link
http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com/turn......tion.htm
Dan
http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com