Becoming My Own "Original"

I have mentioned in the past few weeks here on RHFactors that I am reevaluating and rethinking my perspective and approach to my career as a ventriloquist.  

In doing this I've been consulting examples of some of the world's most successful "vents" and their style. 

The two current performers that come to mind are Jeff Dunham and Terry Fator. Both are excellent ventriloquists with great characters, material, and techniques. They have been extremely successful at their crafts. But they are not, by far the most successful ventriloquist in modern history of the art. That title goes to Edgar Bergen. 

If you are not familiar with Edgar Bergen and his infamous sidekick and puppet, Charlie McCarthy, I encourage you to find out. In consideration for your time, I'll only give a brief synopsis of his place in show business history in this post. 

Bergen was a phenomenon in the entertainment world for 4 decades, starting in vaudeville and ending on TV. Bergen was an A-list star on all fronts of entertainment during his life: stage, radio, film and television. 

The key to his success was not his ability as a ventriloquist but his strong characters and consistently hilarious and cutting edge material. Ironically, he had almost no lip control. You could see his mouth move all the time. But that didn't matter. The public still loved him. 

As a ventriloquist, I have struggled over the last 8 years with the frustration of mastering the skill of lip control. No matter how much I practice the videos of the performances show my lips moving much more than they should. 

A couple of years ago when I performed at a Christian puppet festival in Nashville, all four of the people who evaluated my act "highly recommended" that I work on lip control. 

Needless to say, I have worked on it but still can't seem to get the skill down. It's been very frustrating for a long time. Then I recently had an epiphany. Why should I worry about it? Edgar Bergen didn't. He embraced it. 

So I have made a decision. Going forward I am going to work on character development and material as the centerpiece of my ventriloquism work. Lip and voice control are secondary for me from now on. Good material and a rapport with my characters are going to be the centerpiece of my performance. 

I've given up pursuing the specialty skills of "the distant voice" and "the baby cry" that are the novelty aspects of the most successful ventriloquist's acts. I don't need them. 

Also, I have been reading the biography of Jim Henson. As I take in the personal history and philosophy of this great puppeteer I realize the importance of showing your own creativity in your act. 

Henson created the first incarnation of his most famous character, Kermit the Frog, from an old coat. All his puppets were his creations. 

Therefore from now on I am going to make all my puppets myself so that they're originals and extensions of me. No more pre-made, professional looking puppets that have been made to seem alive through design created by others. If I can't make the character I won't use it. 

I need to become my own original. That will be what makes my new career as a ventriloquist my own. That way when I succeed I will have made it on my own and not on the backs of others. 

To introduce my new style to everyone, I'm going to start here on this blog. Here's my first ever example of my new original style of ventriloquism. 

Now I know it will take some time for my new approach to be accepted. Even my old style was not widely aclaimed. I couldn't have kept myself in breath mints with the minimal amount of money I've made from ventriloquism over the last 8 years. 

But I've got an idea that's going to get me exposure and  opportunities to book all kinds of gigs. I'm going to take my puppet suitcase and set up in Circus Square park this summer. 

I will do my act for those people who come to downtown Bowling Green for baseball games, TPAC performances, concerts, or just to enjoy the park or perhaps run around in the fountain. 

As people come by and stop to watch me and my puppets, I'll give them my card and ask them if they have a party or an event that would be better with a hilarious ventriloquist as the entertainment. 

I'll be my own publicity agent and booker. I may also rent a booth at the local flea market and put on shows for people to come by and enjoy. The reason they are at the flea market is because they have money they want to spend on something they don't need. Why not give it to me? 

So there you have my new resolve to step outside the box and create myself as an "original."  I really feel that this is the right step for me and look forward to making my passion my career. 

I really would like to get some immediate feedback from my blog readers. Please feel free to email me and let me know what you think of the video and my plans for my future in ventriloquism. My email address is RHavens1423@aol.com. I could use any and all suggestions; especially encouragement. 

This is going to be hard work and I could use all the support I can get.