Puppetry+in+Vaudeville

Ventriloquism

Ventriloquism is really the act of gastromancy, speaking through ones stomach. The ventriloquist controls their voice to make it sound like the voice is coming from another place, but really it is a mind trick because the source of the sound is coming from the ventriloquist. The most popular way to present this is when the ventriloquist has a dummy that carries a conversation with the actor. This practice became really popular in vaudeville because it has a natural special effect. During the popular age of vaudeville (1880-1930) ventriloquist performances ranged from comedic to political to tragic. The use of the dummy allows the ventriloquist to say anything through the dummy, whether politically correct or not, and it is deemed inoffensive because its coming from an inanimate object. Ventriloquism is popular because it gives people a way to communicate their thoughts in a safe way.

Ventriloquism has been around since the beginning of time. it used to be thought of as a religious practice. The sounds emanating from the stomach were thought to be the voices of the dead. This thought prevailed because not everyone can speak through his or her stomach, not everyone can be a ventriloquist. Gastromancy is a gift. So the people who had this gift in ancient Greece were considered prophets including Pythia (the priestess at the Apollo in Delphi).

The man who popularized this ventriloquism in the modern era is Edgar Bergen. He grew up and Michigan and taught himself the art of ventriloquism from a pamphlet at age eleven. When he was sixteen, he commissioned a dummy to be made in the likeness of a trouble-making Irish paperboy he knew. He named this dummy Charlie McCarthy, and Charlie remained Edgars dummy for life. Edgar started his act in vaudeville performances, but got his big break doing radio which is strange due to the fact that no one could see the dummy. The fact that a ventriloquist was so popular on the radio is a real testament to the character development Bergen put into his work. During the 30’s and 40’s, Bergens radio shows entertained the American public. The reason Charlie was a popular character was because he could say dirty things that made the audience giggle. There was a lot more broadcast censorship during that era, but audiences still wanted that racy thrill. Having a puppet say silly double entendres allowed the jokes to be broadcast and deemed appropriate. In this way, the puppet allowed the American public to enjoy jokes without feeling the taboo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnBgqCAZWaY