ILLUSION (for amateur Ventriloquists)
a Ventriloquist is a illusionist and not a magician let's take a look at creating some illusion.
FLOATING: objects that float.
DISAPPEARING AND REAPPEARING: the Ventriloquist get inside the Ventriloquist trunk on stage and then reappear from backstage to walk on stage to carry the trunk away.
THE WALKING VENTRILOQUIST FIGURE: a ventriloquist figure that walks on it's own.
THE TELEPHONE VOICE: the Ventriloquist carry on a conversation with the telephone voice.
VENTRILOQUIST AND VENTRILOQUIST CHARACTER COUNTING AT THE SAME TIME: the Ventriloquist and the Ventriloquist character count to ten at the same time!
THE VENTRILO-STOP ⌚: the Ventriloquist place a broken stop watch up to a 🎤 microphone to see if it works by listening to it ticking.
THE VENTRILOQUIST CHARACTER HEART ❤️ BEATING: the Ventriloquist places a 🎤 microphone up to the Ventriloquist character heart to listen to the heart beat.
THE BEAT BOX: the Ventriloquist beat boxing while the Ventriloquist character humming at the same time. beat box is when a person mimicking the drums sound of a sound system 🔊 speaker..beat box is also imitation of music instrumental sounds with the lips and vocal cords and tongue..but, for the Ventriloquist it will be with the lips only, most of us know what humming a song is.. the Ventriloquist character will do the humming of the song and the Ventriloquist will provide the drum beats.. both at the same time.
THE CAT IN THE BOX: a kitten is heard meowing in a shoe box but when the Ventriloquist opens the shoe box the box is empty, no kitten inside.
TELEPATHIC: Ventriloquist is blind folded or the Ventriloquist eyes are covered, a volunteer from the audience take out different color of clothes from a box on stage to hold up for the Ventriloquist character to see, the Ventriloquist character says what color the clothes are.
THE LAZARUS EFFECT: the Ventriloquist place his Ventriloquist character inside a bag,such as a sleeping bag or large gym bag, and the Ventriloquist character begins to talk from inside the bag and move it's body around from inside the bag.. (this is a grand illusion if done correctly)..
secret note on creating the LAZARUS effect: you the Ventriloquist will build a bag with hidden rods that you can operate from the outside of the bag that provides gadgets or parts to move inside the bag.. the moving parts inside the bag can make the rooftop of the bag go up and down and even have the bag lift up and down off the surface that the bag is sitting on with quick movements, the bag can also rock from side to side, the rooftop of the bag swaying is a beautiful illusion, swaying is like the waves of the ocean.
GAG: The Ventriloquist mouth is gagged and the Ventriloquist character do all the talking. This is a grand illusion if done correctly..I will give a few secret hints, lip control, breathing control and the clothing that you use to gag your mouth is very thin wear your teeth go giving the illusion that you are biting down on the clothe, the sides of the cloth is thick giving the illusion that the gag is large in size, the voice will travel the same way it does with lip control, the Ventriloquist using facial expressions while the Ventriloquist character is talking make this a grand illusion...it is better to present this illusion as a introduction, this means that the Ventriloquist enter the stage with a gag mouth already, this illusion starts and ends with the ventriloquist character doing all the talking or singing or both.
HOLD YOUR LIPS 👄 and SING: the Ventriloquist hold his lips closed while the Ventriloquist character sing.. I enjoyed performing this illusion because the audience could not believe that it was possible...I will give some hints, when performing this illusion never hold the center of your lips, hold the corner of the bottom and top lips together with your thumb and number one finger as in a pinch,next pull the lips out a little with your pinch position fingers, next blow air gently out to part the lips, that hole is where the sound or the voice will escape, so make sure when your Ventriloquist character is singing while you hold your lips seemly closed that it sings loud.. sometimes when I performed this illusion I also put a pencil ✏️ in my 👃 nose while I hold my lips listening to my Ventriloquist character sing..the secret is breathing control and lip control.
THE ORIGINAL VENTRILOQUIST DRINKING ILLUSION: the Ventriloquist drink a clear glass of "water" while the Ventriloquist character sing... this illusion is a classic, how is it done the old fashioned way...the Ventriloquist show the audience water going into the glass from a bottle of water then the Ventriloquist character continues to sing, the Ventriloquist take a drink from the glass, while the Ventriloquist character is still singing the Ventriloquist take another drink from the glass, when the song is ending the Ventriloquist take a big drink from the glass while the Ventriloquist character sing loud at a high pitch, the Ventriloquist then turn the glass upside down to show the audience that the glass is empty..here are some hints on how to create the classic drinking illusion: use water only, tilt your chin up slightly, rest the rim of the glass on your bottom lip do not rest the rim of the glass in the center of your lips but slightly over to the side, when you pour a small amount of water into the inside of your bottom lip,the water will leak out and run down your chin, while all this is going on the air flow of breathing and sound of voice should not be effected because your lip control is doing all the work, the ending of the song of your Ventriloquist character singing in a loud high note is misdirection to have the audience look away from Ventriloquists to the Ventriloquist character while the Ventriloquist empty the remaining water on to the chin or neck/throat, then the Ventriloquist quickly hold the glass upright towards the audience then turns the glass upside down for the audience to see that the glass is empty..
The new way to perform the drinking illusion is with flush powder or a magician double wall glass or the comedy trick glass called the dribble glass.. TIPS: pour the water slowly into the glass for visional purposes, use your judgment on the amount of water that you pour in to the glass because remember you are appearing to drink that about from the audience so I say half a glass should be a good amount.
THE MUFFLE VOICE: the muffle voice sounds like someone is hiding under the blankets of a bed or locked inside a closet..this illusion work very well with the ventriloquist character inside the Ventriloquist trunk asking the Ventriloquist to let them out.
EATING AND TALKING AT THE SAME TIME:
the Ventriloquist character talking while the Ventriloquist is eating... secret hints: cotton candy.. whipped cream...ice cream. These food items melt quickly inside your mouth, when you place them in your mouth, place them inside your jaw when you open your mouth, use timing your Ventriloquist character speech with putting the food item into your mouth. have your Ventriloquist character watch you closely for misdirection, have the Ventriloquist character say sentences like that look delicious! or save some for me! make sure you hold the food up for the audience to see before you place it into your mouth, when you are aiming for your mouth aim straight then use slight of hand to place the food inside your jaw, use misdirection of your Ventriloquist character let the food melt inside your jaw, when the food is melting in your inside your jaw the Ventriloquist character voice can speak clearly..make judgement on the amount of food objects you put inside your mouth, also use timing during this illusion you don't want to eat fast or slow, also you need to do some acting such as pretending to swallow the food and using misdirection and slight of hand is very helpful.. keep in mind no matter what these food items are are going to melt quickly inside your mouth,this is why speech timing is the illusion, remember to not put the food on top of the tongue 👅... this illusion is based on timing of speaking, slight of hand and misdirection..a good misdirection is having the Ventriloquist character look at you while you are eating the food then look at the audience with a silent laughter.
THE ECHO EFFECT: this illusion is simple: tell the audience you found a very rear bucket 🪣, it's rear because when you shout into the bucket has a echo.. you the Ventriloquist shout into the bucket hey! when you do the echo sound you start off high then lower your tone of voice as you say the words "hey" for an example high -HEY! low-hey high-HEY! low-hey low-hey -lower-hey..each word spoken into the bucket is high low high low lower..
When you say the word hey in to the bucket it's with moving your lips, the echo are with out moving your lips.
THE VENTRILO-HORN: This illusion is where the Ventriloquist character plays the 🎺 trumpet: imitation of a trumpet and puppetry is what you need to create this entertaining illusion.. you will need both hands be sure you fasten the Ventriloquist character down to the seat securely, place the trumpet in to the character mouth, tell the character that you are going to hold the trumpet while they blow into the trumpet... here's how to create the trumpet 🎺 sound: rest your top front teeth on your bottom lip .. slightly part your lips.. your voice tone will be in a high note imitating the sound a musical horn 📯 instrument.. take a breath in and let the sound flow through your lips slightly open when the sound hit the front teeth resting on the bottom lip, the sound will make a sound of trying to say the alphabet "V" your tongue will turn that "V" pronouncing sound into musical tones by tap the back of the upper front teeth and the roof of the mouth, breath in your nose and exhale your mouth, most importantly the tongue will do the musical notes with your mouth slightly open.. manipulation of your Ventriloquist character as the horn 📯 player is a important misdirection that makes the illusion a wonderful performance.
