Video& David Strassman16 Jun 2007 10:33 pm
Video& David Strassman16 Jun 2007 10:28 pm
David Strassman - Chuck Wood & Ted E. Bare
Video& David Strassman16 Jun 2007 10:26 pm
David Strassman - “Chuck You” Part II
Video& WilsonTheWiseOne16 Jun 2007 10:22 pm
WickedWilson Episode 2: 72 Virgins
Video& David Strassman16 Jun 2007 10:10 pm
David Strassman - “Chuck You” Part I
David Strassman is my 2nd most favorite ventriloquist of all time (1st is of course, Jeff Dunham!).
Chuck is his main “boy” character, but his teddy bear “teddy” is his funniest.
Video& WilsonTheWiseOne16 Jun 2007 09:58 pm
Wicked Wilson: Woman On A Plane
This is the introduction of Wilson the Wise One (a.k.a Wicked Wilson at times for his evil sense of humor, and anti-women attitude!).
Wilson and Ravi having a chat here in the 1st episode of the spanking new channel, WilsonTheWiseOne (currently hosted at YouTube).
How To Throw Your Voice26 Mar 2007 04:54 pm
Puppets or Dummies? (Chapter 2)
You have two primary options for your partner (in the show): a puppet or a dummy.
Yes, there is a difference.
Puppets are made from cloth, stuffed with soft cloth and sponge, and stitched together. They’re soft, cuddly creatures, that can express more expression and body language than a dummy.
Dummies are made from wood, with moving parts like the mouth, eyeballs and eyebrows.
Puppets are also less expensive than dummies. Check out the chart below to see a comparison of puppets vs. dummies.
|
Puppets
|
Dummies
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Made of…
|
Cloth
|
Wood
|
|
Ease of use
|
Very easy to manipulate. Even little kids have the natural skill to mimic someone talking with their hands.
|
Slightly harder when compared to puppets. The jaw can get heavy when performing for longer durations, and your fingers can start to tire a little.
|
|
Moving parts…
|
Not many
|
More options available (eyes, eyebrow, water-spitting, etc)
|
|
Cost
|
Less expensive
|
More expensive
|
| Expression | The flexible body and shape of mouth enables puppets to have a lot more body language, facial expression (so to speak) and appear to be more real than dummies. | Dummies aren’t very flexible. Made of wood, the jaw movement, eyeball or eyebrow movement is pretty much fixed - you will only get the same movement every time. Can appear a lot less life-like and appear like the wooden dummy it really is (and hence the saying "don’t sit there like a dummy") unless you give it some skillful and continuous movement. |
| Sizes available in | Available in a large range of sizes starting from the smallest finger-puppets to half-body or full-body puppets, to the larger-than-people, over-sized puppets. | Range of sizes not too large, as the smaller ones and larger ones (if they were indeed available) would be very hard to manipulate. |
Click here for Chapter 3: How To Start Your Own Channel On YouTube
How To Throw Your Voice28 Feb 2007 04:15 pm
What is Ventriloquism? (Chapter 1)
The word ventriloquism comes from the Latin words venter meaning “belly or paunch,” and locutus meaning “to speak.” - in short, “speaking from the belly.”
Ventriloquism (quite a mouthful, eh?) is the art of making your voice appear to be coming from somewhere else - usually from a wooden dummy, a cloth puppet, and sometimes even from a suitcase or purse! That’s why it is thought of as “throwing your voice”.
“How difficult is it to throw your voice”, you ask? Extremely difficult in fact - and quite dangerous too!
The very first thing you need to do, even before you think about being a Ventriloquist, is to ask yourself if you are willing to undergo a risky form of surgery on your throat, called as “Ventriloplasty“. The risk here is that you could end up losing your voice altogether!
Alright, alright. Just kidding :D.
You don’t really need surgery - because you don’t really throw your voice.
Like the art of magic, Ventriloquism - a mouthful in the real sense too - is just an illusion caused when a dummy sitting on your lap moves its mouth open and close, in synchronization with the words being spoken; and of course, you are not moving your lips when speaking - so it has to be the dummy that’s speaking, right?
Just like a magician’s sleight of hands, a ventriloquist uses a dummy with an interesting character, timing and dummy-manipulation skills, and most importantly an entertaining script, to create the illusion that she is having a conversation with an actual dummy.
What you need to be a Ventriloquist
* A dummy or a puppet
* Voice-modulation skills
* Ability to talk without moving your lips
* Timing and Puppet-manipulation skills
* A good sense of humor
* A great script
Click here for Chapter 2: Puppets or Dummies?
How To Throw Your Voice26 Feb 2007 02:07 pm
Yeah, the “For Dummies” phrase is trademarked. So, how about “Ventriloquism - With Dummies” sound?
Stating the obvious, but legal for sure 
