Ventriloquists

Seems I only blog nowadays if I have something to say to no one in particular that won't fit in 140 characters or less.

I was just lisening to Luxuria and they were playing a recording of a ventriloquist act which had presumably gone out over the radio sometime between 1920 and 1970.

At first it doesn't seem that odd. But then you realize the fact that the entire point of ventriloquists is that the human being in question is able to speak without moving his lips, creating the illusion that a puppet is speaking.

Do you know of any illusions that work if you can't see them?


Do you suppose the ventriloquist even bothers to bring the dummy to the studio?


This is of interest to me because when I was a child, I used to listen all the time to a collection of like 30 cassette tapes, given to me by my loving Grandma, of Bible stories narrated by a man named Dan, and his dummy named Louie. I was constantly delighted by these tapes and it never, ever crossed my mind that a ventriloquist act was 1.) an act; 2.) that belonged onstage in front of an audience who could see the actual ventriloquism happen.

It's like the ventriloquist-dummy relationship is so real, such a normal feature of life, that we totally buy in to the idea that they sit around at home together.

Those tapes were great, by the way. Now that I think of it the format was actually really (some might say needlessly) complex. The story always started out with a daily problem of Louie's life (he lived the way a schoolchild might; Dan was his guardian and his mother was a fondly remembered tree), and in order to instill life lessons Dan would take Louie to the Bible Storybook Castle. To get there, they had to choose some mode of transportation. The one I usually remember is the noisy garbage truck, but it could be ANYTHING. Anything that could be conjured using sound effects. And in my mind I would envision the fantastic journey. The castle itself was hushed and echoey, and in order to reach the story you had to go to the room that corresponded with the book of the Bible that the story was in. Then, Dan would tell the story.

I remember little about the stories, besides the facts. Obviously the best part was the trip to the castle. I also don't remember any particular religious feeling on my part. It was all very plot driven, though steeped in a sort of gentle Christian lifestyle where we go to church and feel connected to Jesus in our daily lives. I thought it nice and neither identified with it nor was I threatened by it. My household at the time was sort of agnostic Presbyterian, and it didn't concern me one way or another.

Even now, however, I would gladly listen to Dan and Louie rather than even look at a picture of Jeff Dunham. What a disgrace.