One of the things I learned from other ventriloquists at I-Fest back in July was that a ventriloquist needs to “flesh out” his characters. What that means is give them everything they need to be a complete character. Dress them like who they are supposed to be. Give them an appropriate tone and pitch in their voice. Give them a back ground and family history. Establish their good and bad habits and their likes and dislikes.
Since learning that I have done my best to “flesh out” all my “old” characters and give the new ones what they needed from the start. Calvin, my little boy character, has a little sister named Sally. Sherman, my old man character, has had many different jobs. The Blabber Mouth, my first originally created character, is from "almost every church in America."As part of the development for another character I have created an entire island nation in the South Pacific.
The island is called “Proboscis” and is the homeland of “Schnozz.” While I have already used him as part of my summer reading presentation at the public library Schnozz has yet to make his first official appearance at my church. When he does he will tell everyone that he is a missionary to the United States from the island of Proboscis. I have created a map of the island and theoretically placed it on the globe just south west of Tahiti.
Proboscis which means “prominent nose” is shaped just like one. The island is 48 miles long and 48 miles wide at it widest point (see picture). Its capitol city is Durante and it has other geographically important places like “Port of Synus” in the northern part of the island and the beaches of Noztrill which form the eastern coastline.
The island has its own language, Probosco, and a very large tourist industry. In fact during the winter in the USA the bungalows on the beaches of Noztrill are just stuffed with tourists. However it is extremely limited in its exposure to western culture. It television and radio stations as well as movie theaters only have programs or features from before 1990. The media culture of Proboscis has had a very strong influence on Schnozz and how he relates to the world and how he preaches the gospel.
Schnozz will make his church debut on Sunday October 12 one of the days my family from Pennsylvania will be here visiting. I have a lot more work to do to make his first time in front of the church a success but the creation of the tiny island nation of Proboscis is the first step.
Since learning that I have done my best to “flesh out” all my “old” characters and give the new ones what they needed from the start. Calvin, my little boy character, has a little sister named Sally. Sherman, my old man character, has had many different jobs. The Blabber Mouth, my first originally created character, is from "almost every church in America."As part of the development for another character I have created an entire island nation in the South Pacific.
The island is called “Proboscis” and is the homeland of “Schnozz.” While I have already used him as part of my summer reading presentation at the public library Schnozz has yet to make his first official appearance at my church. When he does he will tell everyone that he is a missionary to the United States from the island of Proboscis. I have created a map of the island and theoretically placed it on the globe just south west of Tahiti.
Proboscis which means “prominent nose” is shaped just like one. The island is 48 miles long and 48 miles wide at it widest point (see picture). Its capitol city is Durante and it has other geographically important places like “Port of Synus” in the northern part of the island and the beaches of Noztrill which form the eastern coastline.
The island has its own language, Probosco, and a very large tourist industry. In fact during the winter in the USA the bungalows on the beaches of Noztrill are just stuffed with tourists. However it is extremely limited in its exposure to western culture. It television and radio stations as well as movie theaters only have programs or features from before 1990. The media culture of Proboscis has had a very strong influence on Schnozz and how he relates to the world and how he preaches the gospel.
Schnozz will make his church debut on Sunday October 12 one of the days my family from Pennsylvania will be here visiting. I have a lot more work to do to make his first time in front of the church a success but the creation of the tiny island nation of Proboscis is the first step.
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