RE: The "think system"----maybe what happens is you just "think" you are doing it right----hahahah-------------lol-----------Cheers!---Jimeuax

I can't show you exactly where to place your tongue but if tou use mental imagery .. after a lot of practice ...I mean A LOT thinks start to happen in side your mouth to compansate for you lips.,.... Singers use a lot of imagery to place their voice in differen places in their head for more resonance....I hope this helps you a bit on your road to ventriloquiy !
cardonethemagician.com

Just checked out a bunch of clips on the Onastick.com site and had a real good laugh. If I could even get 10% as good as Jeff Durham I'd be flipped out.

JoJo

Some files are quite big, but I have a 2mb dowload speed, so it was no problem.

You can also go to http://www.venthaven.com and go to the links section and it has limks to nearly everything you may need. From instructional material to vent figure makers.
Yes, once you get bit by the bug you will spend lots of cash on things your wife will never understand. But it can and will pay you back in the long run if that is what you want to do.
Anytime she questions me about it I tell her "Well I could be like other guys and spend it in bars or cars or cars going to bars." She seems to calm alittle after that. That doesn't mean she doesn't still think I'm crazy. She still says that "Who would've known twelve years ago when we met my husband would someday be a clown that talks to dolls."(Puppets)ha

20 + years ago, I used the Maher Tapes and Boley on distant and other technique.

Mostly I learned the old fashion way.

This is by being bad for a long time.

I remember my first audition. The director said, great kid, we didn't see your lips move at all. Too bad we couldn't understand a **&^^ thing the puppet said.

My lips are still fairly still, and people can understand us.

I love adding music and song to our programs.

My usually supportive wife, drew the line recently. She was in the car while I was practicing yodeling in Nigel's voice.

Yodeling is popular with European Vents. I may be responsible for keeping it there.

Harris "The Ugly American" Deutsch
http://www.nearlynormalmagic.com

Learning ventriloqusim is much easier than when I started ,yes there were book but not many and some were very hard to understand. There are so many ways to say your b,p,m,ect. the nice thing of it is you can pick out what work best for you.
Some people use will tell after so many years of venting that they can't tell you
just how they do it with out moving their lips ,I am one but since I started at very early age and I mean early some things seem easy to me .The Maher course in ventriloquism is one of the best. I have the orignal Maher course that I got in the early 70,s and then I purchase a new one to see the different , I like them both.You will find your way of doing sounds that works for you. Good venting.
Alson

I pulled this up from an ancient topic; I think its good information for beginners like myself; I received valuable information reading it.

Yes, any information is good information (usually).
Since this thread is about Ventriloquism instruction, I should probably post here as well, that I have the instructional text from Paul Stadelman's book "Ventriloquism of Today" available as a PDF file. Used to be able to just download it from my Stadelman site, but that's not possible any more, so if anyone would like it, just pm me your email address and I can send it as an email attachment.

The whole "think" idea has more to do with NOT thinking about the substitution. By "thinking," your tongue begins to assume the role of the lower lip and come closer to the sound you're trying to project.

-Philip

Hi Blueshawk,

I just sent you a PM. This should come in handy as we are about to start training a new crop of young vents for a Church group.

Steve
http://www.thedummyshoppe.com

When it comes to the sound substitution for "b", you do place your tongue behind the teeth and with a rolling of the tongue forward you produce the sound "d". The tongue will immediately go back to the position behind the tongue at the end of the sound. The reason they say think "b" while saying "d" is to get you to subconsciencely think the letter-sound you want while saying it a different way. It seems a bit confusing without actually having you sitting in front of me...but the rolling of the tongue to the front making the "d" sound is what works best. When you isolate the sound you can tell it is just a bit different, but whenyou use it in a sentence it melts right in and you can't tell the difference.

Hope this wasn't "clear as mud", but that's how it works. I prefer learning from the Maher Course ..and not because I did the DVD for it. I learned when it was Fred Maher's original course done on a mimeograph machine (I'm not tha told..I found an old Maher Course when a friend of mine bought out a magic store). Good luck..you can do it. Also I would recommend you getting my friend Steve Taylor's materials as well as Lee Cornell's. Great stuff!

Mark
markwade@kidshowvent.com

Can you please elaborate on “rolling of the tongue forward” and “rolling of the tongue to the front”

If the tongue is touching the back of the front teeth, at the gums, forward is straight ahead against the teeth, or how can you go forward; this has been confusing me.

I personally have the new Millenium Maher course with Mark Wade's excellent DVD, all three of Steve Taylor's tapes (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) and Winchell's VHS tape that I got off Ebay. They are ALL superb IMHO! The Taylor and Winchell tapes are better since you can visually SEE on the TV how to produce the hard labials vice being told how in the Maher course. I started with the Maher course but learn best when shown how to do something. A private teacher could not have done better than those tapes or the Maher course, once again, IMHO:o)

The tongue goes from the alveolar ridge (that place in the top of the roof of your mouth where the back of the teeth and the gum comes together.. .you can find it by saying "nan". The last "n" in "nan puts the tongue right on the alveolar ridge at the end of the nonsense word "nan". It feels like a ridge behind the front teeth..) in a gliding,rolling motion over the back of the front teeth to produce the "d" sound that it the correct substitution for "b". By making the sound more pronounced (emphasising the "d" sound) it actually sounds like "b". You need to practice this with a mirror and a small hand-held tape recorder so you can see and hear what I am talking about.

Mark
markwade@kidshowvent.com

Thank you for the explanation; what I am missing is where the tongue is at the final position at the gums, forward or, straight ahead is what you instructed from the back of the teeth,

I can’t move it forward from the back of the teeth, does the tongue go down, or roll back on the alveolar ridge, or stay in place at the top of the ridge?

Thank you for taking the time here.

Nice explanation, Mark!!

Then this should serve you well Steve. Paul used to teach ventriloquism as well, so not only is it good to learn from, but good to teach from.

CaptKirk;

I am now using The New Millennium Maher Course with Mark's excellent DVD

I am reading The idiots Guide To Ventriloquism now when I am away from home and have just ordered the three DVD’s that Clinton sells of Marks instructional DVD’s

I am looking at other instructional DVD’s but don’t want to watch one DVD after another, I am practicing with one method, then experimenting with a new method to see what fits, in time I will own all the DVD’s you recommended.

I am now asking the author questions, and that alone is worth more than any DVD I can purchase IMHO.

Thanks for your input.

Buzz..the tongue will drop below the front teeth and then and then go back to the position on the alveolar ridge to produce the "d" (b) sound. Is this making sense? I hope so..

Thanks for the compliment, Duane. BTW are you going to be able to make it to Vent Haven? I'd love to see you there!

Mark

markwade@kidshowvent.com

I learned to to an excellent substitution by listening to my self say "Buh Buh Buh" over and over. [It's like the word "bug" without the "g."] Then, I said the substitute sound "Duh Duh Duh" over and over, alternating back and forth between Buh and Duh until they sounded identical. Then I noted where my tongue was. By concentrating more on the sound than trying to figure out where to put the tongue first, I found the correct placement for me.

Mark's instructions are excellent, as are the Maher course and Mason book, but the only way to get it right is to do it a few thousand times until the mechanics become automatic.

Dod Daker