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Ventriloquism - How it is done
VENTRILOQUISM…HOW
IT IS DONE!
Have you ever seen a
professional ventriloquist perform? Do
you see how they always have their mouth open (usually in a smile)?
This is called the lip position. Next
time you are in front of a mirror, give yourself a big smile!
Try to make your smile look natural and make sure it is comfortable. Make sure your lips and teeth are slightly parted.
Look in the mirror and say, “Hello!” without moving your lips.
Wow! That was easy!
Wasn’t it?
Now let’s check out the alphabet, shall we?
Try to say the alphabet without
moving your lips. There are six
letters in the alphabet that need lip movement.
They are: B, F, M, P, V, and
W. Try to say the alphabet without
the above letters and without lip movement.
Ready: A, C, D, E, G, H, I, J, K, L, N, O, Q, R, S, T, U, X, Y, Z.
Did your lips move much? The
more you practice, the less they’ll move.
These are the frustrating
letters: B, F, M, P, V, and W! How
do you speak these letters without moving your lips? You can’t! A
lot of ventriloquists move their lips while speaking these letters, but do it
very discreetly. You could not tell
they were moving their lips unless you are right in front of them.
That is wrong! You need to use substitutions, which we will cover
next.
Ventriloquists need to use
substitutions for the “six frustrating letters”.
·
B The
letter D is the substitution for the letter B.
Rather
than saying boat, say doat.
·
F The
“th” sound is substituted for the letter F.
Rather
than saying flat, say thlat.
·
M The
letter N is the substitution for the letter M.
Rather
than saying mad, say nad.
·
P
The
letter T
is the substitution for the letter P.
Rather than saying pencil, say tencil.
·
V
The “th” sound is substituted for the letter V.
Rather than saying vaccine, say thaccine
·
W
The “lu” sound is substituted for the letter W.
Rather than saying want, say luant.
Dialogues
“I’m not good at telling
jokes” say some people. “How can you be a ventriloquist if you are not good
at telling jokes?”. Easy…you
can buy them. When you get jokes
books or ventriloquist dialogues, read through them.
Then, select your favorite jokes (have to be in some category) put them
together and form a funny dialogue.
Looks like we are getting near
the end of Ventriloquism Basics for Beginners.
So, let’s have a quiz, shall we?
1.
What are the three most important things to the illusion of
Ventriloquism?
2.
What is the lip position?
3.
What are the 6 frustrating letters?
Did you do well?
If you didn’t, go back and review the above questions.