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"Ventriloquist" redirects here. For the Batman villain, see Ventriloquist (comics).
Ventriloquism is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere. The act of ventriloquism is ventriloquizing and the ability to do so is commonly called in English the ability to "throw" ones voice. However, the term "throwing one\'s voice" is misleading, because it implies that a sound\'s physical origin has changed, when really the change has been perceptual and not physical.
The illusion of ventriloquism is just that, an illusion. A ventriloquist is skilled at speaking without moving his or her lips. The audience therefore actually detects the sound of the voice from the ventriloquist’s mouth, but sees only the mouth of the puppet moving. Thus, two modalities are in conflict. Vision detects the location of the speaker as distinct from where audition (hearing) localizes the speaker. When these two modalities are in conflict, our perceptual system must resolve audition in determining where objects are located in space. The unconscious mind, therefore, resolves the discrepancy between these two modalities by hearing the voice as if it is coming from the moving mouth of the puppet. This short-term change in perception is called capture. This specific capture concerning ventriloquism is an example of ‘visual capture’ because the visual system dominates the auditory system. While the illusion is extremely convincing, ventriloquists do not actually have the ability to ‘throw’ their voices. However, they are skilled at deceiving audiences through their practice of speaking intelligible sounds without moving their mouths and moving the dummy’s mouth in synchrony with the sound of their own voice.[citation needed]
Indian Ventriloquist and Puppeteer Ramdas Padhye defines Ventriloquism as "An Art of throwing your voice and creating an illusion that it is coming from some other place" Inner Voice the World of Ventriloquism in India and Abroad, pg 3
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The Greeks called this gastromancy (Greek: εγγαστριμυθία) and it was often closely aligned with aspects of necromancy in that it was used to make it seem that the spirits of the dead had returned to pass on information retrieved from beyond the grave. In the Middle Ages it was thought to be similar to witchcraft. As Spiritualism led to stage magic and escapology, so ventriloquism became more of a performance art as, starting around the 16th century, it shed its mystical trappings.
Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his best-known sidekick, Charlie McCarthy in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943).
The most familiar type of ventriloquist seen today is a nightclub performer sitting on a stool with a wooden dummy on his or her lap. This comedic style of ventriloquism is, however, a fairly recent innovation, which began in the days of Vaudeville in the late 19th century. The vaudeville acts did not concentrate on humor as much as on demonstrating the ventriloquist\'s ability to deceive the audience and his skill in switching voices. For this reason, many of the performers used multiple figures, switching quickly from one voice to another. Jules Vernon was one of the more famous American vaudeville ventriloquists who used multiple figures. Englishman Fred Russell pioneered the use of a single figure with his dummy Coster Joe. Perhaps the most famous vaudeville ventriloquist, however, The Great Lester, used only one figure Frank Byron Jr., and it is The Great Lester\'s success which paved the way for the ventriloquist-with-one-figure routine which is so ubiquitous today.
Mallory Lewis is the daughter of Shari Lewis, an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children\'s television show host, most popular during the 1960s.
Ventriloquism was immensely popular in the middle of the 20th century, thanks in great part to the work of one of the Great Lester\'s students, Edgar Bergen. Bergen popularized the idea of the comedic ventriloquist. Bergen, together with his favorite figure, Charlie McCarthy, hosted a radio program that was broadcast from 1937 to 1956. It was the #1 program on the nights it aired. Bergen continued performing until his death in 1979, and his popularity inspired many other famous ventriloquists who followed him, including Paul Winchell, Jimmy Nelson, and Senor Wences. Ventriloquism\'s popularity waned for a while, due likely to modern media\'s electronic ability to convey the illusion of voice, the natural special effect that is the heart of ventriloquism. A number of modern ventriloquists have developed a following as the public taste for live comedy grows.
Louis Albert Russo made his first network appearance in 1949. Billed as The One Man Twosome, [ Louis Russo, pseudonym [Russ Lewis]] employed as his primary figure character Brooklyn Birch. His career saw him through burlesque, circus, night clubs and vaudeville at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. There followed the Steve Allen Show, Ed Sullivan Show, The Hollywood Palace, The Dean Martin Show, Rowan and Martin, Mike Douglas Show and Joey Bishop Talk shows. In total, the ventriloquist logged over 30 national TV guest appearances. Las Vegas, major showrooms world tours with numerous legends of the entertainment world -- Liberace, Jayne Mansfield, Alan King, as well as USO shows in Vietnam, and distant Strategic Air Command bases. The actor ventriloquist was a member of the first USO troupe to cross the Arctic Circle, entertain American troops, and perform for a U.S. President, Jimmy Carter. Russo Louis continued to perform into the early 21st century.
Ramdas Padhye, ventriloquist,puppeteer and puppet maker from India, has been performing for the last 40 years, and is famous all over India with his dummies Ardhavatrao and his other puppet Bunny (the rabbit that starred in the commercial Lijjat Papad).Satyajit Padhye, son of Ramdas, is a third generation ventriloquist and puppeteer who is carrying on the art of ventriloquism to next generations.Dr.A.K.Rao, also from India, is a veterinary surgeon by profession; he has actively performed ventriloquism since 1980. With his partner, "Johnny," he had staged more than thousand shows by the year 1990 all over the country, there after though he is still performing this art, he is more or less a quasi professional, because of his professional commitments. Together with many other disciples, Dr. Rao learned this art from Prof. M. M. Roy, who is one of the oldest professional ventriloquists in India, responsible for making this art popular among the masses in India. David Strassman performs his ventriloquism in theaters throughout the British Comonwealth and uses robotics to augment his characters\' movements, expanding upon an idea originated in the early 1950s by New York ventriloquist Stanley Burns.
Jay Johnson co-starred on the sitcom Soap with his dummy Bob. He is currently appearing both on and off Broadway with his one man (but many-dummy) show entitled "The Two and Only." Ronn Lucas and his figure Scorch "burn up" the Las Vegas showrooms.
Terry Fator, the 2007 winner of the NBC reality show "America\'s Got Talent" (season 2), is known for impersonating famous singers through his puppets. He has repeatedly expressed that one of his goals is to bring ventriloquism back into the popular culture as a valid art form.
Jeff Dunham is a modern ventriloquist with several puppets, such as Peanut, Walter, and José Jalapeño. He also owns a small version of himself, which is the puppet from Peanut. His constant self mockery and the diversity of the puppets has led him to winning “Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic”’ at the American Comedy Awards twice, an honor shared with the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Jeff Foxworthy, and Robin Williams. Additionally, for the second time in two years, viewers recently voted Dunham to third place in Comedy Central’s “Standup Showdown.” Jeff tours the comedy circuit and has appeared on many television shows, including his own Comedy Central special, which was made into a double-platinum DVD entitled "Arguing with Myself," and another DVD entitled "Spark of Insanity."
Many ventriloquists attend conferences such as the Vent Haven ConVENTion and I-Fest to hone their skills and to connect with others in their performing community. These gatherings offer performances, competitions, panel discussions, and workshops for beginners and professionals alike.
One difficulty ventriloquists face is that all the sounds they make must be made with lips slightly separated. For the bilabial sounds /b/, /p/, and /m/, the only choice is to replace them with others. The dental sounds /v/, /t/, /d/, and /n/ can replace them successfully enough that, if spoken quickly, it is difficult to notice a difference.
The theme of ventriloquists with sinister puppets and/or a split personality is quite common, well known examples include:
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